Raven's Ait is an

ait An ait (, like ''eight'') or eyot () is a small island. It is especially used to refer to river islands found on the River Thames and its tributaries in England. Aits are typically formed by the deposit of sediment in the water, which accumu ...

(island) in the

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

between Surbiton, Kingston and

Hampton Court Park Hampton Court Park, also known as Home Park, is a walled royal park managed by the Historic Royal Palaces.

in the

Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames The Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames is a borough in southwest London. The main town is Kingston upon Thames and it includes Surbiton, Chessington, Malden Rushett, New Malden and Tolworth. It is the oldest of the four royal boroughs in Eng ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, in the reach of the river above

Teddington Lock Teddington Lock is a complex of three locks and a weir on the River Thames between Ham and Teddington in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England. Historically in Middlesex, it was first built in 1810. The limit of legal po ...

. Used as a boating training centre for many years, Raven's Ait is currently privately run as a catering facility and a conference and wedding venue.

Geography

Raven's Ait is a

between Surbiton, Kingston and

Hampton Court Park Hampton Court Park, also known as Home Park, is a walled royal park managed by the Historic Royal Palaces.

in the

in the centre of the non-tidal reach above

, and immediately below

Seething Wells Seething Wells is a neighbourhood in southwest London on the border between Surbiton in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames in Greater London, and Elmbridge in Surrey. The area was historically a waterworks that supplied London with water ...

.Map
created by

Ordnance Survey Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of 1745. There was a ...

, courtesy of

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

Access to the island is by ferry from Queen's Promenade on the south bank of the Thames. This is adjacent to the Thames Sailing Club and a small area, once a

draw dock A draw dock (also draw-dock) is a creek or inlet in a navigable river bank, sometimes lined, sometimes not, into which boats or barges may be drawn for repair or to land cargoes.Oxford Engkish Dictionary Online, 'Draw-dock'. Some draw docks, such ...

, used for transporting goods to the area and the former fresh water works to the south. Raven's Ait, 1932, aerial view

Ravens-ait-looking-downstream-from=draw-dock

History

Raven's Ait is a possible site for the signing of documents that led to the ratification of 1215 Magna Carta. In more recent times, the island has been used as a boating centre.

Kingston Rowing Club Kingston Rowing Club (KRC) is a rowing club in England founded in 1858 and a member club of British Rowing. The club is located on the River Thames at Kingston upon Thames, downstream and north-east of Kingston Bridge and Kingston Railway Bri ...

, founded in 1858, occupied Raven's Ait for 76 years before moving in 1935 to Kingston, where it is now based in

Canbury Gardens Canbury Gardens is a public space in the Canbury district of Kingston upon Thames, along the Lower Ham Road, covering 14½ acres area between the road and the towpath along the River Thames, downstream from Kingston Railway Bridge. History In ...

. Raven's Ait was then used by Theatre and Cinema Equipment Ltd as a warehouse, until bought in 1944 and presented to the

Sea Cadet Corps Sea cadets are members of a sea cadet corps, a formal uniformed youth organisation for young people with an interest in waterborne activities and or the national navy. The organisation may be sponsored in whole or in part by the navy or a naval s ...

by an anonymous supporter, for use as a river headquarters. It was the location of the Corps' first national regatta in September 1954. In 1955, The Navy League opened TS Neptune on Raven's Ait to teach sailing, canoeing and boating skills to members of the Sea Cadet Corps, the

Girls' Nautical Training Corps The Girls' Naval Training Corps was formed as part of the National Association of Training Corps for Girls in 1942, with units mainly in Southern England. Its objective was congruent with that of the Sea Cadet Corps, teaching girls aged 14 to 2 ...

. Run with naval discipline, it had day facilities for 200 boys or girls and sleeping accommodation for up to 105 boys. The facilities were also made available to other youth organisations and to schools. The Duke of Edinburgh visited the island in 1958. Originally the island's buildings were wooden clad "Sea Cadet Blue", with old–style dormitories. In 1971 the entire accommodation, except the superintendent's house, was rebuilt by Haymills Construction, replacing all the old wooden structures with today's island buildings. During the rebuilding, a small number of activities were carried on downstream of

Kingston upon Thames Kingston upon Thames (hyphenated until 1965, colloquially known as Kingston) is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, England. It is situated on the River Thames and southwest of Charing Cross. It is notable ...

, at the Albany Park sailing base opposite The

Royal Canoe Club The Royal Canoe Club (RCC), founded in 1866, is the oldest canoe club in the world and received royal patronage in the 19th century. The club promotes canoeing and kayaking, focusing on flatwater, sprint and marathon disciplines. Members of the clu ...

, with instructors commuting daily by boat. The Navy League closed the centre in October 1975 due to escalating running costs. Purchased by the

Inner London Education Authority The Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) was an ad hoc local education authority for the City of London and the 12 Inner London boroughs from 1965 until its abolition in 1990. The authority was reconstituted as a directly elected body corp ...

, the island's facilities were used as a youth and community workers training centre and a water sports activity facility by London schools, until the island was sold to Kingston Borough Council in 1989. The council, after reviewing possible alternative uses, leased the island to a company for use as a conference and wedding centre, the Ravens Ait Hall Management Company Ltd, which went into

administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an administrative officer, admini ...

and closed in December 2008. In early 2009

squatters Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there ...

occupied the island with the declared aim of turning its facilities into an eco conference centre. Kingston Council, who owned the freehold, took court action and the occupants were evicted on 1 May 2009. According to local media reports, during their stay the squatters had used as much electric power as would supply 45 homes. However this was disputed by the squatters who said that this was because before they arrived large industrial refrigerators and other appliances had been left running by the owners. Since 2009 the island has been used mainly as a venue for weddings and corporate events.

Activities as a Navy League watersports venue

Raven's Ait was accredited by the

Royal Yachting Association The Royal Yachting Association (RYA) is a United Kingdom national governing body for sailing, dinghy sailing, yacht and motor cruising, sail racing, RIBs and sportsboats, windsurfing and personal watercraft and a leading representative for i ...

and by the

British Canoe Union British Canoeing, formerly known as the British Canoe Union (BCU) is a national governing body for canoeing in the United Kingdom, established in 1936 as the British Canoe Union. In 2000 it federalised to become the umbrella organisation for ...

to conduct training in their respective disciplines. It also provided a semi-permanent mooring for ''

Sparkle Sparkle may refer to: * Sparkle (catamaran), a catamaran designed by Angus Primrose * Sparkle (drink), a lemon-flavored soft drink * Sparkle, a brand of paper towels owned by Georgia-Pacific * Sparkle Plenty, a character in the ''Dick Tracy'' c ...

'', a catamaran designed by

Angus Primrose Angus Primrose (missing at sea, 1980) was a designer and naval architect, whose best known designs for around the world races included Sir Francis Chichester's ''Gypsy Moth IV'' (with John Illingworth) and Galway Blazer II (1969) of Commander ...

to be sailed by persons of restricted physical ability and mobility.

Motor boating skills

The boats were almost all naval stock, diesel powered: *A 25-foot

naval cutter A cutter is a type of watercraft. The term has several meanings. It can apply to the rig (or Sail plan, sailplan) of a sailing vessel (but with regional differences in definition), to a governmental enforcement agency vessel (such as a coast gu ...

(Twin-cylinder diesel), centre pseudo-cabin housing engine *Several "Viking" open tenders (single-cylinder air-cooled diesel) with poor handling *A Workboat with a cuddy, acquired from Haymills Construction after the rebuild, similar to the Vikings, but with better handling *"Number 8", a small

clinker-built Clinker built (also known as lapstrake) is a method of boat building where the edges of hull planks overlap each other. Where necessary in larger craft, shorter planks can be joined end to end, creating a longer strake or hull plank. The techni ...

smart, stubby, open launch, about 16-foot LOA with relatively low

freeboard In sailing and boating, a vessel's freeboard is the distance from the waterline to the upper deck level, measured at the lowest point of sheer where water can enter the boat or ship. In commercial vessels, the latter criterion measured relativ ...

(Single-cylinder Lister air-cooled diesel)

Pulling (rowing)

Basic pulling skills were taught, usually to Sea Cadets, either in the ASC or in one of a pair of admiralty whalers (a clinker built pulling boat of approximately 28' LOA, slim beam, designed for naval pulling races, but originally a practical ship's boat).

Sailing

Boats were a mixture of typical naval stock and somewhat strengthened "ordinary" dinghies. There were the following fleets: * ASCs - the "Admiralty Sailing Craft" 16 foot gaff rigged dinghy, sometimes known as the GRP16, moored alongside the island. *

Bosun A boatswain ( , ), bo's'n, bos'n, or bosun, also known as a deck boss, or a qualified member of the deck department, is the most senior rate of the deck department and is responsible for the components of a ship's hull. The boatswain supervi ...

s, allegedly able to be swung out from Her Majesty's ships on a torpedo hoist in the middle of any ocean * Cadets, a class of sailing dinghy designed to be sailed by two children up to the age of 17 *

Coypu The nutria (''Myocastor coypus''), also known as the coypu, is a large, herbivorous, semiaquatic rodent. Classified for a long time as the only member of the family Myocastoridae, ''Myocastor'' is now included within Echimyidae, the family of t ...

s, a redoubtable short, fat, slow gaff rigged dinghy * Fireballs, kept at

Island Barn Reservoir The Island Barn Reservoir lies south of the River Thames in England at West Molesey and north of Lower Green, Esher. The reservoir is large with a capacity of 992 million gallons and is managed by Thames Water. It is within the borough of Elm ...

for trapeze training *

GP14 The GP14 is a popular dinghy sailing, sailing dinghy, with well over 14,000 built. The class is active in the UK, Ireland, Australia, South Africa, Sri Lanka and parts of north-eastern USA, and the GP 14 can be used for both racing and cruisin ...

s, heavily strengthened * Puffin Pacers, a light Jack Holt design made by Polycell Prout with a tendency to scoop up a large volume of water over the leeward quarter when hardening up.

Schools which used Raven's Ait

A number of schools used Raven's Ait for watersports under the Navy League, including: *

Epsom College Epsom College is a co-educational independent school on Epsom Downs, Surrey, England, for pupils aged 11 to 18. It was founded in 1853 as a boys' school to provide support for poor members of the medical profession such as pensioners and orph ...

* Stockwell Manor * Forest Hill School * Glyn County Grammar School * Sutton County Grammar School

Notes

External links

Raven's Ait website
{{coord, 51, 23, 55, N, 00, 18, 40, W, type:isle_region:GB-KTT_scale:10000, display=title Geography of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames History of Surrey Islands of London Islands of the River Thames Squats in the United Kingdom