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, s ...

of approximately on the reach above

Sunbury Lock Sunbury Lock is a lock complex of the River Thames in England near Walton-on-Thames in north-west Surrey, the third lowest of forty four on the non-tidal reaches. The complex adjoins the right, southern bank about downstream of the Weir Ho ...

, 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 Republic of Ireland, Ireland, and a basic unit of the postal delivery system.Royal Mail, ''Address Management Guide'', (2004) Including the correct post town in t ...

Sunbury-on-Thames Sunbury-on-Thames, known locally as Sunbury, is a town on the north bank of the River Thames in the Borough of Spelthorne, Surrey, England, southwest of central London. Historically part of the county of Middlesex, in 1965 Sunbury and other su ...

however in the

Borough of Elmbridge Elmbridge is a local government district with borough status in Surrey, England. Its council is based in Esher, and other notable towns and villages include Cobham, Walton-on-Thames, Weybridge and Molesey. The borough lies just outside the a ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

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 Sunbury Lock Ait is the ait (island) in the River Thames in England adjacent to Sunbury Lock between Walton-on-Thames, and Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey. It is unpopulated, but accessible by a footbridge over the lock cut from a wide section of the ...

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 The Wildlife Trusts, wildlife trusts covering Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Great Britain, Northern Ireland, Isle of Man and Alderney. ...

and

Surrey County Council Surrey County Council is the county council for the non-metropolitan county of Surrey, England. The council is composed of 81 elected councillors, and in all but one election since 1974 the Conservative Party has held the majority. The leader ...

. 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 a village in the Borough of Spelthorne, Spelthorne district, in north Surrey, England, around south west of central London. The settlement is on the north bank of the River Thames, between the towns of Chertsey and Sunbury-on-Tha ...

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. He played an important role in the negotiations behind the 1925 Locarno Pact between Germany and its ne ...

., 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, known locally as Walton, is a market town on the south bank of the Thames in northwest Surrey, England. It is in the Borough of Elmbridge, about southwest of central London. Walton forms part of the Greater London Built-up ...

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, also known as social housing, refers to Subsidized housing, subsidized or affordable housing provided in buildings that are usually owned and managed by local government, central government, nonprofit organizations or a ...

. 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