Constable's Sands
Other OS name in the Parish of St Oswald's
Historical Forms
- the constable sondes 1521 Life
Etymology
( lost ) , the constable sondes 1521 Life . Bradshaw (EETS lxxxviii179–81) reports that William fitz Nigel , constable of Chester , crossed the Dee Estuary with his army by a ford created at Hilbre by a miracle of St Werburgh , to rescue Richard earl of Chester ( 1109 – 1119 ) who was ambushed by the Welsh at Holywell Fl , and that the place of this miraculous crossing was known ' to this day ' ( i.e. 1521 ) as ' the constable sondes ' . In 1842 OS a shoal off Chester Bar , lying off Rhyl and Colwyn Bay in N . Wales , is named Constable Bank , ( v. banke ) , which probably preserves the local tradition . It must be remembered that the sands of Dee are notorious for their shifting . The historical importance of the Constable 's Sands is discussed in Brownbill 29 – 30 , 137 , and the possible relevance of their legend to Sir Gawain and the Green Knight inEENS 19 – 25 .