Thames Ditton Island
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Three river islands (aits) form a linear group, close to the junction of the two main old streets of Thames Ditton village, in the River Thames in a corner of modern Surrey, on the
Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the five most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...
reach above Teddington Lock. Thames Ditton Island, the dominant ait, is long and has 48 houses with gardens (and moorings); Boyle Farm Island has one house; Swan Island, between the two, is the smallest.


History

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...
lived at Hampton Court 300 years before there were any Thames locks; these reached Teddington from upriver by 1810. Kingston Bridge was the only bridge above
London Bridge Several bridges named London Bridge have spanned the River Thames between the City of London and Southwark, in central London. The current crossing, which opened to traffic in 1973, is a box girder bridge built from concrete and steel. It r ...
and below the (at latest 1530s-built)
Chertsey Bridge Chertsey Bridge is a road bridge across the River Thames in England, connecting Chertsey to low-lying riverside meadows in Laleham, Surrey. It is downstream from the M3 motorway bridge over the Thames and is close to Chertsey Lock on the reach ...
.Fred S. Thacker ''The Thames Highway: Volume 1 General History'' David & Charles 1968 Travelling from London to Hampton Court, instead of carriages through villages of Middlesex including the market town of
Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...
monarchs down to the last regular visitor, George II, tended to be rowed up from Westminster to the palace. As the lack of locks and limited fish weirs (under
Magna Carta (Medieval Latin for "Great Charter of Freedoms"), commonly called (also ''Magna Charta''; "Great Charter"), is a royal charter of rights agreed to by King John of England at Runnymede, near Windsor, on 15 June 1215. First drafted by the ...
) attest, the river beside the palace was a broad but twisting
creek A creek in North America and elsewhere, such as Australia, is a stream that is usually smaller than a river. In the British Isles it is a small tidal inlet. Creek may also refer to: People * Creek people, also known as Muscogee, Native Americans ...
, especially at low tide at times of lower rainfall. To have a grander arrival and alleviate flooding of the village,
Cardinal Wolsey Thomas Wolsey ( – 29 November 1530) was an English statesman and Catholic bishop. When Henry VIII became King of England in 1509, Wolsey became the king's almoner. Wolsey's affairs prospered and by 1514 he had become the controlling figur ...
or Henry had the main channel locally dug out straighter , doing away with the ford from the grounds of Hampton Court on the north bank (in Middlesex). Before locks and weirs controlled the levels, Summer Road in Thames Ditton would flood at most high tides – its mud would not dry in the winter months, making it impassable, hence its name. Before Hampton Court Bridge a ferry to Hampton Court served Oatlands Palace and the western third of Surrey, laden with carriages and carts. This lane ran northwards along Thames Ditton High Street, over what is now a public slipway where the river is wide, and at lowest water through the ford to the other side. When the tide was in, ferrymen would charge a groat or two. In heavy flows the river came to tidal slack water often locally; this fertilised the broad banks of flood-meadows and flooded the island and ferry in winter. Controlled flows resembled the modern level by early 19th century as any agricultural benefit was outweighed by the homes of those near the river engaged in more modern forms of work. The first wooden bridge over the river at Hampton Court opened in 1753 and had a
toll Toll may refer to: Transportation * Toll (fee) a fee charged for the use of a road or waterway ** Road pricing, the modern practice of charging for road use ** Road toll (historic) The road toll was a historical fee charged to travellers and ...
collected by a bridge-keeper. A ferry remained at the Swan Inn near the islands until at least 1911, and charged less than the toll. The original rather rickety bridge was replaced by a more substantial timber one in 1778. In 1865 this was replaced by a steel and brick bridge, and in 1933 this was in turn replaced by the existing concrete structure. The Thames locks began to appear late in the 18th century, 'Moulsey' (today called Molesey) was built in 1815. Boyle Farm was in the 19th century the property of the 1st Lord St Leonards (1781—1875), a
jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyses and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal qualification in law and often a legal practitioner. In the Uni ...
(legal researcher and publisher), barrister, and Lord Chancellor. Until the 20th century Thames Ditton Island was part of Middlesex, and then of
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from 1965. The residents petitioned Middlesex County Council in 1930, requesting to be transferred from Middlesex to
Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...
. The island was finally transferred from the
London Borough of Richmond upon Thames The London Borough of Richmond upon Thames () in southwest London forms part of Outer London and is the only London borough on both sides of the River Thames. It was created in 1965 when three smaller council areas amalgamated under the London ...
, Greater London to
Esher Urban District Esher Urban District was an urban district in Surrey, England created by merging two urban districts and adding two parishes to the south-west. It existed from 1933 to 1974 and was governed by the elected Esher Urban District Council which shared ...
, Surrey on 1 April 1970.


Historic use

For many centuries, the island formed part of the lands of the Manor of Imworth (Imber) appurtenant to land that became Forde's Farm and later Boyle Farm. In a survey of the manor of Imber in 1608, the island was known as Colly's Eite (Ait or Eyot meaning a small island) and is recorded as '2 acres of pasture'. On the Surrey bank opposite, where the Swan Inn was built, the slipway and nearby wharf provided a useful dock for the passage of goods and people up and down the river. Large sailing barges from the Port of London would moor here to load or unload, their crews and attendant waggoners taking rest and sustenance at the inn. The island was then not much more than a muddy hump, but the skiffs of the
day trippers A day trip is a visit to a tourist destination or visitor attraction from a person's home, hotel, or hostel in the morning, returning to the same lodging in the evening. The day trip is a form of recreational travel and leisure to a location tha ...
from
Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the five most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...
would be moored there to allow their occupants to enjoy a riverside picnic. In the early 20th century came a fad for riverside weekend bungalows: the idea spread and a number of holiday chalets were built on the island. Life there must have been a matter of indoor camping, as there were no facilities of any kind: water and
paraffin Paraffin may refer to: Substances * Paraffin wax, a white or colorless soft solid that is used as a lubricant and for other applications * Liquid paraffin (drug), a very highly refined mineral oil used in cosmetics and for medical purposes * Alkane ...
had to be ferried over in cans, and only the smarter sheds had a roof over the
earth closet A pail closet or pail privy was a room used for the disposal of human excreta, under the "pail system" (or Rochdale system) of waste removal. The "closet" (a word which had long meant "toilet" in one usage) was a small outhouse (privy) which con ...
. As time passed, the attractions of the waterside location drew more and more people, so that by 1930, the whole of the perimeter was covered in wooden bungalows, with the owners' boats moored at the bottom of their gardens. The building of the suspension bridge in 1939 by David Rowell & Co. really opened up the island as a place for permanent occupation by providing passage on foot, carrying water, electricity and gas in, and enabling installation of WCs by transferring sewage out to the town drains. Originally leased from the island's owner, the publican at the Olde Swan, by 1963 all the houses had passed into freehold ownership and a limited company was formed to take over the bridge and adjacent gardens and to provide maintenance services.


Boyle Farm Island

Boyle Farm Island is the second largest of the three islands, natural apart from one family house, and light bank reinforcement. () It is directly opposite the historic mansion of Boyle Farm converted to a Home of Compassion. Whereas its larger partner, Thames Ditton Island, was part of Middlesex and then Greater London, Boyle Farm Island has always pertained to land in Surrey and within the county's authorities.


Swan Island

Swan Island is the smallest of the three islands. () On it was once the ferryman's hut, recently rebuilt by the present owner. Local historian Philip J. Burchett surmised that the original incumbent must have passed a meagre life, taking people across the main stream and to and from the island for a small fee at all times of the day and night. After flooding removed part of the upstream end of the main island, Swan Island has become linked to it by a bridge of vegetated sediment at normal flows.


Use of the island today

Each householder on the island is a member of the maintenance company, whose main functions are the purchase of water and the regular repainting of the bridge.Thames Ditton Island Website
Maintenance Company, a Private company limited by guarantee.
Properties are private homes with dedicated
moorings A mooring is any permanent structure to which a vessel may be secured. Examples include quays, wharfs, jetties, piers, anchor buoys, and mooring buoys. A ship is secured to a mooring to forestall free movement of the ship on the water. An ''a ...
– in total, 47.Map
created by Ordnance Survey, courtesy of English Heritage
Nearly all the dwellings are raised on brick piles, to reduce the chance of flood damage, but in the
2007 floods 2007 floods may refer to: * 2006-2007 Malaysian floods * 2007 United Kingdom floods * 2007 South Asian floods * 2007 Sudan floods * June 2007 Hunter Region and Central Coast storms * 2007 Midwest flooding in the United States * 2007 Mozambican fl ...
the river rose to cover the island in several feet of water. In early 2014, the island was again flooded to a depth of several feet.Homes at risk as Thames rises
BBC News Report, 9 February 2014
The river level at Thames Ditton was the highest since recording began in 2003.
, Surrey Mirror, 9 February 2014


See also

*
Islands in the River Thames This article lists the islands in the River Thames, or at the mouth of a tributary (marked †), in England. It excludes human-made islands built as part of the building of forty-five two-gate locks which each accompany a weir, and islets subordi ...


References


External links


Official website
{{S-end Islands of the River Thames Borough of Elmbridge