Human settlement in England
Platt's Eyot
or
Platt's Ait
is an
island
on the
River Thames
at
Hampton
, in the
London Borough of Richmond upon Thames
,
England
, on the reach between
Molesey Lock
and
Sunbury Lock
.
Geography
[
edit
]
The island was a typical
ait
used for growing
osiers
added to by soil and sandy subsoil from excavation of the
Stain Hill Reservoirs
, creating the large hill as to the island's west. A suspension bridge links the island to Hampton.
The island is in the River Thames site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation. Its west part is in the
Metropolitan Green Belt
. It is the westernmost (and most upriver) island on the Thames in London, on a reach
a full extra lock
above
Teddington Lock
(where the upper estuary begins).
It is in a
parish
of the
Church of England
that is medieval, and did not change to reflect its links in 1970 (see below),
West Molesey
.
[1]
It is geodesically within 850 metres (2,790 ft) of the medieval village hubs of
Hampton
and
West Molesey
.
History
[
edit
]
The name of the island is derived from Platt of
Molesey
who used it for growing withers.
[2]
Boatbuilding began on the island in 1868, when Thomas Tagg, who had been running a business since 1841 on
Tagg's Island
, about 1 km (0.62 mi) downstream, expanded by building a boatyard and house on the eastern end of Platt's Eyot. A waterworks and electrical works with a charging station were also constructed on the island; the latter was used to power electrically powered pleasure launches and canoes that were built on the island.
[3]
Around 1904
John Isaac Thornycroft
set up the Hampton Launch Works on the island, an offshoot of the
Chiswick
boatyard that he had established in the 1860s. This boatbuilding works concentrated on cabin cruisers and speedboats, but the success of Thornycroft's operations on Platt's Eyot led to the award of contracts from the
Admiralty
. A new and larger facility was built in
Southampton
, which became Thornycroft's principal yard, but the Platt's Eyot yard continued to operate in both World Wars to build small naval craft. During the
First World War
, in 1916 the Admiralty commissioned a new type of fast torpedo-carrying motor launch which Thornycroft constructed secretly in its Platt's Eyot facility. Four new boat sheds were constructed on the island, probably in the same year (though the date is disputed by some), to a design by Augustine Alban Hamilton Scott. They were built using the
Belfast truss
system, developed during the First World War to roof wide structures such as aircraft hangars. Very few boat sheds were constructed using the technique,
[3]
and these examples are now listed and inspected by
Historic England
.
During the
Second World War
, the boatyard was used to construct
motor torpedo boats
,
[4]
motor launches and
landing craft
. Thornycrofts closed its boatbuilding operation on Platt's Eyot when it was taken over by Vospers in the mid-1960s. In 1960 the island was bought by Port Hampton Ltd., which diversified the use of industrial space.
Since 1941 the island has been connected to Hampton's
left
bank of the Thames, by a suspension bridge assembled by the
Royal Engineers
.
Reflecting the dominant north bank labour pool and its bridge, the island was transferred from
Esher Urban District
in Surrey to the
London Borough of Richmond upon Thames
in Greater London on 1 April 1970,
[5]
by the minister's Order in Council mechanism (after due notice in
The London Gazette
and considering representations and whether to hold a local inquiry by the
London Government Act 1963
).
[6]
The change was an administrative exchange, in that
Thames Ditton Island
transferred at the same time.
[6]
[5]
In the 21st century, several recording studios were established on the island.
[4]
On 3 May 2021, a large fire consumed the ex-industrial boat sheds.
[7]
See also
[
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]
References
[
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]
External links
[
edit
]
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