From Alan James – 1 May 2020
For sea level changes along the Solway coast, see Peter Friend, Scotland, Collins New Naturalist 2012, 87-9. The sea-level curve at fig. 56 shows a drop of nearly 4 metres in the past 2000 years, quite sufficient to make a marked difference to the geography of the bays and estuaries. Add sand-dune formation (ibid. 91) and sedimentary deposits, the appearance of the Bay would have been very different when the Vikings arrived 1000 years back. Remember there was still a creek in Kirkcudbright as far in as the Soaperie Gardens where high tides probably reached as recently as the 17th century.