Sonning Eye is a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

on 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 ...

in the

Sonning Common Sonning Common is a village and civil parish in a relatively flat, former common land part of the Chiltern Hills in South Oxfordshire, centred west south-west of Henley-on-Thames and north of Reading. History During the English Civil War ...

ward of

South Oxfordshire South Oxfordshire is a local government district in the ceremonial county of Oxfordshire, England. Its council is temporarily based outside the district at Abingdon-on-Thames pending a planned move to Didcot, the district's largest town. The a ...

, England, in the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

of Eye & Dunsden (one of its four small settlements), at what is since 1974 the southernmost tip of

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primaril ...

Geography

Sonning Eye is about northeast of

Reading, Berkshire Reading ( ) is a town and borough in Berkshire, southeast England. Located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the rivers Thames and Kennet, the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway serve the town. Reading is east ...

. Sonning Eye is opposite the village of

Sonning Sonning is a village and civil parish in Berkshire, England, on the River Thames, east of Reading. The village was described by Jerome K. Jerome in his book ''Three Men in a Boat'' as "the most fairy-like little nook on the whole river". Geo ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Ber ...

, to which it is linked by crossing the 18th-century brick-arched Sonning Bridge combined with

Sonning Backwater Bridges Sonning Backwater Bridges are the road bridges across the first two of three branches of the Thames at Sonning Eye, Oxfordshire, England. Built in 1986 to replace older wooden structures, one bridge spans a main weir stream – traditiona ...

. Sonning Eye is surrounded by the alluvial

floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...

of the

, much of which has been extracted for gravel, forming a number of lakes, especially upstream on this bank. In particular, a long

rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically ...

lake has been made, the

Redgrave Pinsent Rowing Lake The Redgrave Pinsent Rowing Lake is a rowing lake in the United Kingdom, named after the Olympic rowers Sir Steve Redgrave and Sir Matthew Pinsent. The lake and its boathouse are specifically designed for training use, and provide training, me ...

, named after Olympic oarsmen

Steve Redgrave Sir Steven Geoffrey Redgrave (born 23 March 1962) is a British retired rower who won gold medals at five consecutive Olympic Games from 1984 to 2000. He has also won three Commonwealth Games gold medals and nine World Rowing Championships gold ...

and

Matthew Pinsent Sir Matthew Clive Pinsent, (; born 10 October 1970) is an English rower and broadcaster. During his rowing career, he won 10 world championship gold medals and four consecutive Olympic gold medals. Since retiring, he has worked as a sports br ...

. Other local sports include sailing and

water skiing Water skiing (also waterskiing or water-skiing) is a surface water sport in which an individual is pulled behind a boat or a cable ski installation over a body of water, skimming the surface on two skis or one ski. The sport requires suffic ...

. Berry Brook, a small tributary runs through the floodplain west and north of Sonning Eye, joining the Thames at Hallsmead Ait to the northeast. On the riverside near the

Sonning Backwater Bridge Sonning Backwater Bridges are the road bridges across the first two of three branches of the Thames at Sonning Eye, Oxfordshire, England. Built in 1986 to replace older wooden structures, one bridge spans a main weir stream – traditio ...

s is the

French Horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most ...

, a luxury hotel and restaurant. There is a small public car park here, a place to launch small boats, and a grass area by the river bank that is popular with fishermen.

History

Its

toponym Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of ''toponyms'' ( proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of ...

"''Sonning''" is derived from the

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo-Saxons happened wit ...

chieftain '' Sunna'' and "''Eye''" meaning ''island'' (cf. ''eyot'') since it is a small gravel mound surrounded by the river's

flood plain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...

. Within this low land is a true island (permanent since management of the river levels) on the Thames. Until 1866, Sonning Eye formed part of the

section of Sonning

. The heart of Sonning Eye is a

conservation area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

, including 12 architecturally

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

buildings, five of which are

barns A barn is an agricultural building usually on farms and used for various purposes. In North America, a barn refers to structures that house livestock, including cattle and horses, as well as equipment and fodder, and often grain.Allen G ...

that have now been converted for modern use. One house has some excellent William De Morgan tiles.

Buildings of the island

The island is roughly heart-shaped, cut through by a millrace. On the islet is '' The Mill at Sonning'', a restored 18th century

watermill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in the production ...

on a medieval site, now converted to a

dinner theatre Dinner theater (sometimes called dinner and a show) is a form of entertainment that combines a restaurant meal with a staged play or musical. "Dinner and a show" can also refer to a restaurant meal in combination with live concert music, where pat ...

. The millrace runs through what is now the theatre bar, and powers a small turbine powering an 18.5 kW

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...

generator that supplies the National Grid. Set behind this on the island is ''Mill House'', a

building owning some of the island. It was originally built in the 17th Century and once owned by the wealthy Rich family, Lords of the Manor of Sonning, hence owning its manor house towards the top of Sonning's Thames Street as well.

Sir Thomas Rich Sir Thomas Rich, 1st Baronet (c. 1601 – 15 October 1667) was an English merchant and politician who sat in House of Commons in 1660. He established Sir Thomas Rich's School, a grammar school.Reading Blue Coat School ('Truth Conquers All) , established = , closed = , type = Independent day school Public school , religious_affiliation = Church of England , president = , head_lab ...

just south of here in 1766 by endowing it with the income with his neighbouring farmland. In 2014, the Mill House was bought by the American film star

George Clooney George Timothy Clooney (born May 6, 1961) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is the recipient of numerous accolades, including a British Academy Film Award, four Golden Globe Awards, and two Academy Awards, one for his acting and the ot ...

and his British wife, human rights lawyer

Amal Alamuddin Amal Clooney (; ar, أمل علم الدين; born 3 February 1978) is a Lebanese and British barrister. Her clients include Filipino and American journalist Maria Ressa; former President of the Maldives Mohamed Nasheed; Julian Assange, the ...

, at a cost of around £10 million.

Paintings and sketches

The area has been a favourite location for artists, especially views of the old, disused brick bridge and viaduct from the river bank just downstream of the island with surrounding lush flora.

George Price Boyce George Price Boyce (24 September 1826 – 9 February 1897) was a British watercolour painter of landscapes and vernacular architecture in the Pre-Raphaelite style. He was a patron and friend of Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Life Boyce was born in ...

, the Victorian

watercolour Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to ...

painter associated with the

Pre-Raphaelite The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (later known as the Pre-Raphaelites) was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, Jam ...

art movement, visited and painted in the area.

Gallery

File:Backwater of the Thames at Sonning - geograph.org.uk - 112764.jpg, Backwater of the Thames at Sonning Eye, with a view of the French Horn at Sonning. File:Sonning_Bridge_-_1799.jpg, Print of Sonning Bridge (1799), linking Sonning Eye (right) with

(left) and St Andrew's Church tower in the background File:The French Horn from Sonning Backwater Bridge.JPG, View from the main

along the B478 road in Sonning Eye with the French Horn hotel on the right File:Old Cottages at Sonning Eye - geograph.org.uk - 65912.jpg, Waterside cottages at Sonning Eye File:The B478, Sonning Eye - geograph.org.uk - 763858.jpg, View of the B478 road in the snow with the French Horn in the background

References

External links

Sonning Eye Action Group

Sonning & Sonning Eye Society

The French Horn hotel and restaurant

The Mill at Sonning dinner theatre
{{South Oxfordshire Islands of the River Thames Populated places on the River Thames Eye Hamlets in Oxfordshire South Oxfordshire District