The Hilbre Islands ( ) are an archipelago consisting of three islands at the mouth of the estuary of the River Dee, the border between England and Wales at this point. The islands are administratively part of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral. They are a Local Nature Reserve and are within the estuary Site of Special Scientific Interest. As of 2012, the islands have no permanent residents. The name is thought to derive from a chapel built on the Island and dedicated to St. Hildeburgh. During the summer months tourists travel by foot to the Islands from West Kirby. Origin of the name Hilbre Island's name derives from the dedication of a medieval chapel built on the island to St. Hildeburgh, an Anglo-Saxon holy woman, after which it became known as Hildeburgheye or Hildeburgh's island. Hildeburgh is said to have lived on Hilbre Island in the 7th century as an anchorite. Some consider that she never existed, while others equate her with Saint Ermenhilde, the mother of Saint Werburgh to whom Chester Cathedral is dedicated, or St Edburga of Mercia, daughter of the pagan king Penda. The 19th-century St Hildeburgh's Church, Hoylake, built nearby on the mainland, is named for her. History The islands are thought to have been occupied on and off since the Stone Age: several finds of Stone and Bronze Age items and Roman pottery items were discovered in 1926. Hilbre Island may already have been a hermitage before the Norman invasion or at least a place of pilgrimage based around the lore of St Hildeburgh. In about 1080 a cell and church for Benedictine monks was established on Hilbre Island as a dependency of Chester Cathedral. Although not named directly, it is believed that all three islands were mentioned in the Domesday Book in which mention is made of Chircheb (West Kirby) having two churches: one in the town and one on an island in the sea. The islands were part of the lands of the Norman lord Robert of Rhuddlan. He gave the islands to the abbey at Saint-Evroul-sur-Ouche in Normandy, who in turn passed responsibility to the Abbey of St. Werburgh in Chester. The islands became a common place for pilgrimage in the 13th and 14th centuries. At the dissolution of the monasteries two monks were allowed to remain on the islands, as they maintained a beacon for shipping in the river mouth. The