Sonning Eye is a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

on the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...

in the Sonning Common ward of

South Oxfordshire South Oxfordshire is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Oxfordshire, England. Its council is temporarily based outside the district at Abingdon-on-Thames pending a p ...

, England, in the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

of Eye & Dunsden (one of its four small settlements), at what is, since 1974, the southernmost tip of

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

Geography

Sonning Eye is about northeast of

Reading, Berkshire Reading ( ) is a town and borough in Berkshire, England, and the county town of Berkshire. It is the United Kingdom's largest town, with a combined population of 355,596. Most of Reading built-up area, its built-up area lies within the Borough ...

. Sonning Eye is opposite the village of

Sonning Sonning (traditional: ; modern: ) is a village and civil parish in Berkshire, England, on the River Thames, east of Reading, Berkshire, Reading. The village was described by Jerome K. Jerome in his book ''Three Men in a Boat'' as "the most fair ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

, to which it is linked by crossing the 18th-century brick-arched Sonning Bridge combined with Sonning Backwater Bridges. Sonning Eye is surrounded by the alluvial

floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river. Floodplains stretch from the banks of a river channel to the base of the enclosing valley, and experience flooding during periods of high Discharge (hydrolog ...

of the

, much of which has been extracted for gravel, forming a number of lakes, especially upstream on this bank. In particular, a long

rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically a ...

lake has been made, the Redgrave Pinsent Rowing Lake, named after Olympic oarsmen Steve Redgrave and

Matthew Pinsent Sir Matthew Clive Pinsent, (; born 10 October 1970) is an English rower and broadcaster. During his rowing career, he won 10 world championship gold medals and four consecutive Olympic gold medals. Since retiring, he has worked as a sports b ...

. Other local sports include sailing and

water skiing Water skiing (also waterskiing or water-skiing) is a surface water sport in which an individual is pulled behind a boat or a cable ski installation over a body of water, skimming the surface on one or two skis. The sport requires sufficien ...

. Berry Brook, a small tributary runs through the floodplain west and north of Sonning Eye, joining the Thames at Hallsmead Ait to the northeast. On the riverside near the Sonning Backwater Bridges is the

French Horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most o ...

, a luxury hotel and restaurant. There is a small public car park here, a place to launch small boats, and a grass area by the river bank that is popular with fishermen.

History

Its

toponym Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of ''wikt:toponym, toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage, and types. ''Toponym'' is the general term for ...

"''Sonning''" is derived from the

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

chieftain '' Sunna'' and "''Eye''" meaning ''island'' (cf. ''eyot'') since it is a small gravel mound surrounded by the river's

flood plain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river. Floodplains stretch from the banks of a river channel to the base of the enclosing valley, and experience flooding during periods of high Discharge (hydrolog ...

. Within this low land is a true island (permanent since management of the river levels) on the Thames. Until 1866, Sonning Eye formed part of the

section of Sonning

. The heart of Sonning Eye is a

conservation area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewoo ...

, including 12 architecturally

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

buildings, five of which are barns that have now been converted for modern use. One house has some excellent William De Morgan tiles.

Buildings of the island

The island is roughly heart-shaped, cut through by a millrace. On the islet is '' The Mill at Sonning'', a restored 18th-century

watermill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as mill (grinding), milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in ...

on a medieval site, now converted to a dinner theatre. The millrace runs through what is now the theatre bar, and powers a small turbine powering an 18.5 kW

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...

generator that supplies the National Grid. Set behind this on the island is ''Mill House'', a

building owning some of the island. It was originally built in the 17th century and once owned by the wealthy Rich family, Lords of the Manor of Sonning, hence owning its manor house towards the top of Sonning's Thames Street as well. Sir Thomas Rich founded Sir Thomas Rich's School just south of here in 1766 by endowing it with the income with his neighbouring farmland. In 2014, the Mill House was bought by the American film star

George Clooney George Timothy Clooney (born May 6, 1961) is an American actor, filmmaker, and philanthropist. Known for his leading man roles on screen in both blockbuster and independent films, Clooney has received numerous accolades, including two Ac ...

and his British wife, human rights lawyer Amal Alamuddin, at a cost of around £10 million.

Paintings and sketches

The area has been a favourite location for artists, especially views of the old, disused brick bridge and viaduct from the river bank just downstream of the island with surrounding lush flora. George Price Boyce, the Victorian

watercolour Watercolor (American English) or watercolour ( Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin 'water'), is a painting method"Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to the ...

painter associated with the

Pre-Raphaelite The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (PRB), later known as the Pre-Raphaelites, was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, ...

art movement, visited and painted in the area.

Gallery

File:Backwater of the Thames at Sonning - geograph.org.uk - 112764.jpg, Backwater of the Thames at Sonning Eye, with a view of the French Horn at Sonning. File:Sonning_Bridge_-_1799.jpg, Print of Sonning Bridge (1799), linking Sonning Eye (right) with

(left) and St Andrew's Church tower in the background File:The French Horn from Sonning Backwater Bridge.JPG, View from the main Sonning Backwater Bridge along the B478 road in Sonning Eye with the French Horn hotel on the right File:Old Cottages at Sonning Eye - geograph.org.uk - 65912.jpg, Waterside cottages at Sonning Eye File:The B478, Sonning Eye - geograph.org.uk - 763858.jpg, View of the B478 road in the snow with the French Horn in the background

References

External links

Sonning Eye Action Group

Sonning & Sonning Eye Society

The French Horn hotel and restaurant

The Mill at Sonning dinner theatre
{{South Oxfordshire Islands of the River Thames Populated places on the River Thames

Eye An eye is a sensory organ that allows an organism to perceive visual information. It detects light and converts it into electro-chemical impulses in neurons (neurones). It is part of an organism's visual system. In higher organisms, the ey ...

Hamlets in Oxfordshire South Oxfordshire District