Chapel Island

Chapel Island is a limestone outcrop that lies in the Leven estuary of Morecambe Bay in England, less than one mile (1.6 km) from the shoreline at Bardsea in the area known as Ulverston Sands. It is located at 54.1741°N 3.0416°W / 54.1741; -3.0416 (OS grid ref. SD 321759). It is one of the Islands of Furness in the county of Cumbria, in the area of the historic county of Lancashire ("Lancashire north of the sands"). The island is approximately 450 yards (410 m) long and just over 100 yards (91 m) at its widest. Its area is about 7.5 acres (3.0 hectares). Chapel Island, known as Harlesyde Isle in 1593, got its present name in 1795. The name was coined by Mrs. Radcliffe in her book ‘Tour of the Lakes’. In the 14th century Augustinian canons from nearby Conishead Priory built a small chapel on the island to serve the needs of travellers and fishermen working in the Leven fisheries. The Island lies on the path of the ancient crossing from Cartmel to Conishead and would have been a place of haven to travellers caught out by the tide. Tradition describes its purpose to be the meeting for prayers with the travellers who cross the bay. In 1843 Jopling notes that the crossing passed to the south of the island, implying that the route past the island varied over time. Nothing remains of the original chapel, although Thomas West noted that these ruins were still extant in 1774. In 1821 Colonel Thomas Richard Gale Braddyll commenced building the modern-day Conishead Priory and to enhance the view from the priory he had a mock pseudo-classical ruin built on the island. This chapel ruin is now sometimes mistaken for the remains of the original. There was also a cottage on the island, probably also built in the early 19th century, which was ostensibly occupied by fishermen. It is mentioned that fishermen occupy the cottage ‘at the instance of the owner of the Priory who has erected a cottage close to the ruins. In 1851 the cottage was occupied by Thomas Benson, a mariner, his…