Red Kirk near Gretna is shown on maps but there are no visible remains of the Kirk. However, the location sparked an interest and a group of archaeologists from St. Andrews University became involved looking at the effects of coastal erosion and features uncovered.
A guided walk along this part of the shoreline was organised by Nic Coombey of Coastwise and so we booked our places.
We were transported by minibus as close to the shore as possible and along with 20 others set off for the shore.
The first feature was an unusual set of wooden posts running at an angle to the waterline. These have only been visible since high tides during winter washed away layers of sand and mud.
Experts showed us how the river channels had changed over many years and this only helped to make speculation about these posts even more difficult.
If you look carefully at the outer posts you can see 'wattle' weaving between the posts. So not just a jetty!!
General concensus of amateur opinion was something related to boats as the pillars were shaped like the hull of a boat. However, locals had no knowledge of any structure having been here in living memory.
Further along the muddy coast brought us to exposed layers of peat with exposed ancient tree logs and stumps. These have been tested and found to be 7000 years old!!
From here we could look out to the river channels and see the Red Sandstone bedrock where the Red Kirk would have been built but again not in living memory.
As we rounded Redkirk point, we came across more recent posts sunk into the gravel and sands of the estuary but these were related to historic fishing practices but as the straining posts were metal and remnants of nets were synthetic, these were more modern.
The representatives of Solway Firth Partnership and SCHARP were taking photos and drone videos and one can be viewed here
It was a pity the cool (cold!) wind had spoilt the sunny day but we came away with heads full of new facts.
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