Chiswick Eyot

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Chiswick Eyot on the River Thames London, looking upstream

Channel between Chiswick Eyot and Chiswick Mall on the River Thames London, looking downstream at low tide (left) and high tide (right)

Chiswick Eyot (pronounced /ˈtʃɪzɪk ˈeɪt/) is a small, narrow, uninhabited island in the river Thames in England. It is on the Tideway near Chiswick and has an area of 1.1 hectares.

The island is beside The Championship Course and is a well-known landmark in the commentary on The Boat Race. There is a green pole on one end of the island, which is used as a landmark by rowers. Small craft can pass between the island and the Chiswick Mall on the Middlesex bank for about two hours at high tide, but the small channel is generally impassable otherwise, and at low tide it is sometimes possible to walk across it to the island.

Chiswick Eyot was formerly used for the growing of grass and osiers (basket willows, used for basketry, furniture, cart-making, as well as cattle fodder). It has been much eroded over time.

The London Borough of Hounslow declared the island a Local Nature Reserve of Greater London in 1993.

[edit] See also

• Islands in the River Thames

[edit] References

• Cornish, C.J., "Chiswick Eyot", The Naturalist on the Thames, p68. (1902)
• Tideway: Boating on the Tidal Thames
• Local Nature Reserves: Chiswick Eyot

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Coordinates: 51°29′15.27″N 0°14′44.89″W / 51.487575, -0.2458028