Largest of the Islands of Fleet, a scatter of small tidal islands in Fleet Bay on the Solway coast, Ardwall Isle is reached at low tide by walking out across the sand from Carrick shore, a few miles from Gatehouse of Fleet. Check the tide times before you cross and again before you head back, since the crossing depends entirely on the state of the tide.
On the island are the low remains of a chapel and burial ground, first used as early as the 6th century and excavated in the 1960s; burials continued around the ruined chapel for centuries after it stopped being used for worship. There’s also a cairn, and an old cottage from more recent times. Ardwall’s smaller neighbours, Barlocco Isle and the Murray Isles, sit further out in the bay and are harder to reach.
