D'Oyly Carte Island

D'Oyly Carte Island is a small private island in the River Thames, England, administratively and historically part of Weybridge, near its other inhabited islands and near part of Old Shepperton, on the reach above Sunbury Lock, 200 metres downstream from Shepperton Lock. Before 1890 the island was known as Folly Eyot.

Eyot House, footbridge and gate in front
Residential narrowboats pictured in front of D'Oyly Carte Island looking west from Desborough Island

Geography

The wooded island is 145 metres in length, and apart from its two points, 30–45 metres in width.[1] It is 16.8 miles (27.0 km) from Charing Cross, London.[2][1] Weybridge is the parish[3] and post town. Elmbridge and Surrey County Council are the district and county-level local authorities.[4]

Etymology

The island was called Folly Eyot until the eponymous owner bought it. Richard D'Oyly Carte was the producer of the Gilbert and Sullivan comic operas from 1875 to 1896, founder of the Savoy Theatre and Royal English Opera House (now the Palace Theatre) in London, and a hotelier. He bought the island in about 1890, and it acquired his middle name and surname.[5]

History

Carte intended to use the island as a special secluded annex, accessible by boat, to his new Savoy Hotel, but a panel of local magistrates refused to grant him an alcoholic drinks licence for the property.[5] Among the famous guests who stayed at Carte's house on the island were the dramatist W. S. Gilbert and the composer Arthur Sullivan.[6] Carte's widow Helen sold the island, and in 2019 it was again for sale for £3.2 million; House Beautiful reported that the house "has lost the grandeur of its Victorian glory days".[7]

Features

Carte built the main structure on the island, Eyot House, which he used as a residence. It has a large garden, which he and his wife helped to design, surrounded by trees.[8][9] The house has 13 bedrooms, five bathrooms, four reception rooms, a ballroom and 1.9 acres (0.8 ha) of grounds.[7]

A single-span footbridge built in 1964 provides access to the house. It consists of the high arch of a single steel box girder, with treads, brutalist railings and gates.[10] The island has moorings for small boats.[2]

gollark: Backwards!
gollark: i.e. trading with other players but no drop competition.
gollark: You could have halfsingleplayer.
gollark: Wouldn't be very interesting, though.
gollark: Singleplayer DC. A fascinating idea.

See also

References
  1. Grid Reference Finder distance tools
  2. "D'Oyly Carte Island marina" Archived 7 November 2012 at the Wayback Machine, World Marine Guide, 2009, accessed 12 November 2012.
  3. Weybridge St James Archived 29 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine Church of England
  4. Surrey Council Council interactive maps (various) (exact URLs and platform changeable) Retrieved 2013-10-26
  5. Barrington, Rutland (1908). Rutland Barrington: A Record of 35 Years' Experience on the English Stage, By Himself, p. 73.
  6. Winn, Christopher. I Never Knew That about the River Thames (London: Ebury Press, 2010), p. 138.
  7. Cornish, Natalie. "Private island in the Thames with Grade-II listed Victorian mansion for sale for £3.2m", House Beautiful, 1 July 2019
  8. Pauling, Keith. "Richard D'Oyly Carte", Thames Pathway: Journal of a Walk Down the River Thames, 2009 ISBN 1445222396
  9. "Shepperton Lock", About the Thames, accessed 11 April 2009
  10. A Guide to the Industrial Archaeology of the Borough of Elmbridge
Next island upstream River Thames Next island downstream
Lock Island
Hamhaugh Island		 D'Oyly Carte Island Desborough Island

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.