Platts Eyot
| Platt's Eyot | |
|---|---|
 Port Hampton on Platt's Eyot |
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 Platt's Eyot
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| Platt's Eyot shown within Greater London | |
| OS grid reference | TQ133691 |
| • Charing Cross | 12.5 mi (20.1 km) ENE |
| London borough | |
| Ceremonial county | Greater London |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | HAMPTON |
| Postcode district | TW12 |
| Dialling code | 020 |
| Police | Metropolitan |
| Fire | London |
| Ambulance | London |
| EU Parliament | London |
| UK Parliament | |
| London Assembly | |
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.
The island was a typical ait used for growing osiers but was also used for dumping spoil from excavation of the Stain Hill Reservoirs, creating the large hill on the island's western end. There is a suspension bridge connecting the island to Hampton. The entire island is listed within the River Thames site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation, with the western end of the island being listed as part of the Metropolitan Green Belt. It is the westernmost island on the River Thames in Greater London.
The name of the island is derived from Platt of Molesey who used it for growing withers.
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.
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 Thorneycroft'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 Thorneycroft's principal yard, but the Platt's Eyot yard continued to operate in both World Wars to build small naval craft. In 1916 the Admiralty commissioned a new type of fast torpedo-carrying motor launch which Thorneycroft 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, and these examples are now Listed and inspected by Historic England.
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Wikipedia