Oliver's Island is a tree-covered ait (

river island River Island (stylised as RiverIsland and abbreviated as RI) is a London-based, multi-channel fashion brand, founded in 1948 by Bernard Lewis (entrepreneur), Bernard Lewis. The retailer has a presence in over 125 of worldwide markets, in stores ...

), 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, s ...

in England. It is in the

London Borough of Hounslow The London Borough of Hounslow ( ) is a London borough in west London, England, forming part of Outer London. It is governed by Hounslow London Borough Council. The borough stretches from near Central London in the east (Chiswick) to the b ...

, on the Tideway, facing

Kew Kew () is a district in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its population at the 2011 census was 11,436. Kew is the location of the Royal Botanic Gardens ("Kew Gardens"), now a World Heritage Site, which includes Kew Palace. Kew is ...

and Strand-on-the-Green in the

London Borough of Richmond upon Thames The London Borough of Richmond upon Thames () in south-west Greater London, London, England, forms part of Outer London and is the only London boroughs, London borough on both sides of the River Thames. It was created in 1965 when three smaller ...

, and is owned by the

Port of London Authority The Port of London Authority (PLA) is a self-funding public trust established on 31 March 1909 in accordance with the Port of London Act 1908 to govern the Port of London. Its responsibility extends over the Tideway of the River Thames and its ...

Description

The thickly-wooded islet is a haven for

heron Herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 75 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genus ''Botaurus'' are referred to as bi ...

s, cormorants and

Canada geese The Canada goose (''Branta canadensis''), sometimes called Canadian goose, is a large species of goose with a black head and neck, white cheeks, white under its chin, and a brown body. It is native to the arctic and temperate regions of North ...

. It is mid-stream equidistant from Priory Park Allotments,

and Strand-on-the-Green,

Chiswick Chiswick ( ) is a district in West London, split between the London Borough of Hounslow, London Boroughs of Hounslow and London Borough of Ealing, Ealing. It contains Hogarth's House, the former residence of the 18th-century English artist Wi ...

Etymology and alternate name

The

islet An islet ( ) is generally a small island. Definitions vary, and are not precise, but some suggest that an islet is a very small, often unnamed, island with little or no vegetation to support human habitation. It may be made of rock, sand and/ ...

derives its name from a story that

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English statesman, politician and soldier, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in British history. He came to prominence during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, initially ...

once took refuge on it, but there is almost certainly no truth in this story. It was called Strand Ayt until a century after the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

, by which time a myth had arisen that Cromwell had set up an intermittent headquarters at the Bull's Head, Strand-on-the-Green. The story was embellished with the suggestion that a secret tunnel connected the island to the inn, but no evidence of any tunnel has ever been found. Olivers island

History

In 1777 the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

's navigation committee installed a

tollbooth A tollbooth (or toll booth) is an enclosure placed along a toll road that is used for the purpose of collecting a Toll (fee), toll from passing traffic. A structure consisting of several tollbooths placed next to each other is called a toll p ...

on the islet to levy charges on passing craft to fund improvements to the river's navigability. This was a wooden structure in the shape of a small castle, and a barge was moored alongside, from which the tolls were taken. The "City Barge" gave its name to the inn at Strand-on-the-Green. Successor barges were often stationed here to collect tolls until a dock was built on the Surrey (south) shore. A smithy was on the island by 1865 and it became a place where barges were built and repaired, the Thames Conservancy Works spanning its north shore and the facing the north shore; in 1857 the

Thames Conservancy The Thames Conservancy (formally the Conservators of the River Thames) was a body responsible for the management of River Thames, that river in England. It was founded in 1857 to replace the jurisdiction of the City of London up to Staines-upon-T ...

took over the above-mentioned roles of the City of London and in 1909 assigned the islet to the

(PLA), which used its small building as a storage depot and all its shores as a wharf, with crane, for derelict vessels. When the PLA tried to sell the island in 1971, the Strand on the Green Association, an amenity society formed by residents for their locality, led the protests. The plan was quickly dropped. The smithy was demolished in 1990.

References

Sources

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