Wheatley's Ait or Wheatley Eyot 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

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...

of approximately on the reach above Sunbury Lock, close to the northern side and in the

post town A post town is a required part of all postal addresses in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and a basic unit of the postal delivery system.Royal Mail, ''Address Management Guide'', (2004) Including the correct post town in the address increases ...

Sunbury-on-Thames Sunbury-on-Thames (or commonly Sunbury) is a suburban town on the north bank of the River Thames in the Borough of Spelthorne, Surrey, centred southwest of central London. Historically part of the county of Middlesex, in 1965 Sunbury and other ...

however in the

Borough of Elmbridge Elmbridge is a local government district with borough status in Surrey, England. Its principal towns and villages are Esher, Cobham, Walton-on-Thames, Weybridge and Molesey. It directly borders the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames and ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

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 ...

Detailed description

Its long downstream part, separated by a narrow additional storm weir from the long upstream part, contains a few residential properties, some midsection boatyards, dredging facilities and moorings for the

Environment Agency The Environment Agency (EA) is a non-departmental public body, established in 1996 and sponsored by the United Kingdom government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with responsibilities relating to the protection and enha ...

and is for its bulk accessed by a road and footbridge to the northern bank;Grid reference Finder measurement tools
/ref> its southern tip is accessed by footbridge from the southern, upstream part. This northern part links to Sunbury Lock Ait by a private footbridge across Sunbury Weir which is closed to the public. The upstream part consists only of houses and chalets in riverside plots of land and is accessed by footbridge from the residential road, The Creek, on the northern bank. A controlled third weir, Tumbling Bay, touching the south of Wheatley's Ait marks the start of a quite shallow creek used for

kayaking Kayaking is the use of a kayak for moving over water. It is distinguished from canoeing by the sitting position of the paddler and the number of blades on the paddle. A kayak is a low-to-the-water, canoe-like boat in which the paddler sits fac ...

and fishing.Spelthorne Map showing extent of the adjoining borough and Site of Nature Conservation Importance (SNCI) status of most of the River Thames and The Creek
identified by

Surrey Wildlife Trust Surrey Wildlife Trust (SWT) was founded in 1959 as Surrey Naturalists' Trust and it is one of forty-six wildlife trusts covering Great Britain, Northern Ireland, Isle of Man and Alderney. SWT carries out conservation activities on a considerable ...

and

Surrey County Council Surrey County Council is the county council administering certain services in the non-metropolitan county of Surrey in England. The council is composed of 81 elected councillors, and in all but one election since 1965 the Conservative Party has ...

. Wheatley's Ait ranges from 450m to 1.3 km from the parish church of

. ''Scotland Eyot'' is a former name. Thomas Vincent owned the land and Watersplash Farm in the 19th century prior to selling it, a

Shepperton Shepperton is an urban village in the Borough of Spelthorne, Surrey, approximately south west of central London. Shepperton is equidistant between the towns of Chertsey and Sunbury-on-Thames. The village is mentioned in a document of 959 AD ...

landowner related to

Edgar Vincent, 1st Viscount D'Abernon Edgar Vincent, 1st Viscount D'Abernon, (19 August 1857 – 1 November 1941) was a British politician, diplomat, art collector and author. Early life Vincent was born at Slinfold, West Sussex on He was the youngest son of Sir Frederick Vin ...

., having acquired it from Thomas Carr.

Demography

In the 2001 census it was included in an output area the most part of which was in

Walton on Thames Walton-on-Thames, locally known as Walton, is a market town on the south bank of the Thames in the Elmbridge borough of Surrey, England. Walton forms part of the Greater London built-up area, within the KT postcode and is served by a wide ran ...

but which contained 146 properties of which 31 were on the island and a further 12 were unoccupied holiday chalets or houses on the island; 16.8% of the population (291) were aged over 65, eight households had no car or van, 50.0% had one car or van.2001 Census Output Area E00154841
/ref> Only 14.5% of the 249 adults (of a population of 291) were "grade D or E" (semi-skilled and unskilled manual workers, on state benefit, unemployed, lowest grade workers) as defined by the 2001 census. 91.8% of the population stated they were ethnically "white British". 136 of the 172 workers worked full-time. 10.8% of the population lived in an apartment with a lowest floor level above the ground floor and not on the island. 13.0% of property was rented, three units (16% of this) as

social housing Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the details, terminology, def ...

. Three people worked in agriculture, hunting or forestry, just over double the average for the borough.

Postcodes

*TW16 6BU *TW16 6DA

References

{{coord, 51, 23, 57, N, 00, 24, 55, W, region:GB-SRY_type:isle_scale:5000, display=title Islands of the River Thames Sunbury-on-Thames

Detailed description

Demography

Postcodes

See also

References