Pharaoh's Island, River Thames

Pharaoh's Island is an island in the River Thames, in Surrey, England, 270 m (300 yds) upstream of Shepperton Lock.

Pharaoh's Island from The Thames Court (taken when the river was red-boarded to navigation)

Overview

The island has a length of 280 m and a maximum width of 60 m. Shepperton Lock is 270 m downstream and two other channels leading to weirs diverge off after the island to its southeast. These channels then surround Lock Island and Hamhaugh Island.[1] The island is only accessible by boat, with the facilities of Lock Island downstream and moorings there or by the pub The Thames Court almost opposite its eastern tip on the nearer, north bank.

River level

Above the lock, the variation in river level has been between 0.08 m at the lock gate and 0.99 m. This compares favourably with variation below the lock at between 2.67 m and 4.95 m in depth.[2]

History

It was purchased by the Treasury to give to Admiral Nelson after the Battle of the Nile (1798).[3] He used it as a fishing retreat.[4] The island was known as Dog Ait until at least of the end of the 19th century. Tory MP and High Court Judge Sir Cyril Atkinson[5] built the first house on the island in 1903 and named it Sphinx due to his interest in Egyptology.[6]

Residential development

Since the late 20th century it has hosted 23 homes with individual moorings.[7] Most of the properties have Egyptian names.[8]

The property names are, clockwise, starting in the west:[9]

Deaths in January 2011

In January 2011, a small dinghy ferrying people from the island capsized with the loss of two lives. The fatalities were named as university academic Dr Rex Walford OBE,[10] and record producer Keith Lowde.[11]

Media representations

As the home of his family, the island was the setting for director John Boorman's two semi-autobiographical films: Hope and Glory in 1987 and Queen and Country in 2014.[12]

Notable residents

Ian Hendry and his wife, fellow actor Janet Munro, lived on the island in the 1960s.[13]

See also

References
  1. Grid Reference Finder distance tools
  2. Environment Agency daily measurements at lock stations Retrieved 2013-07-14
  3. The Thames Path, page 75, Leigh Hatts, Cicerone Press Limited, 3rd Ed. 2016 (1st. Ed. 1998)
  4. Ben Flanagan (29 June 2003). "Living with the Nelson touch". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
  5. Mandy Lebentz (25 June 2018). "Luxury riverside home for sale but you can only reach it by boat". SurreyLive. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  6. "Shepperton's Islands". Shepperton Matters. 3 June 2013. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  7. Grid square map Ordnance survey website
  8. Caroline McGhie (26 July 2006). "Nelson's Egypt-on-Thames". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
  9. "House prices in Pharaohs Island, Shepperton TW17 stand at £866,281 on average - Zoopla". www.zoopla.co.uk.
  10. Mike Younger and Joan Whitehead (10 March 2011). "Rex Walford obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
  11. Harrison, David (9 January 2011). "The Sunday lunch on a river island that ended in tragedy" – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  12. Readers Digest, retrieved 24 December 2016
  13. "Ian Hendry Rowing Home Across The Thames To Sphinx, Pharoah's Island, Shepperton". Ian Hendry.com. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
Next island upstream River Thames Next island downstream
Laleham Burway (including Abbey Mead) Pharaoh's Island
Grid reference TQ068659		 Lock Island
Hamhaugh Island

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