Chiswick Eyot
Chiswick Eyot | ||
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Chiswick Eyot from the opposite bank of the Thames | ||
Waters | Thames | |
Geographical location | 51 ° 29 '15 " N , 0 ° 14' 45" W | |
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length | 300 m | |
width | 50 m | |
surface | 1.1 ha | |
Residents | uninhabited |
Chiswick Eyot is a small, uninhabited island in the Thames . It is located in the London borough of Chiswick in the south-west borough of Hounslow .
General
The approximately 1.1 hectare island takes its name from the Anglo-Saxon word for island, Eyot or Ait or Ayt , the name is often used for small islands along the Thames. It lies, like a ship in shape, parallel to the north bank of the Thames along Chiswick Mall . The island is known among rowers , it is a landmark in the annual Boat Race . The small canal between Chiswick Mall and the island falls partially dry when the Thames is low , so the island can be reached on foot from the banks of the Thames.
The closest London Underground stations are Stamford Brook and Ravenscourt Park on the District Line .
Previous use
The island was previously known for the abundance of fish in this part of the Thames, the last salmon in the Thames was caught near the island in 1812.
The grass growing on the island was mowed to care for the animals in the time when cows were still kept in the London borough .
In earlier times, the island's willow stock was used to make fish baskets.
The sighting of a porpoise near the island is known from 1895 .
Danger
The island is currently losing area, about 6 meters in width in recent years. The reason for this are the caves and passages that are created by an introduced species of crab, the Chinese woolly crab, originally native to Asia . The animals undermine the subsoil, especially in the area of the reed stock, so that the bottom is washed away at these points by the vertical flow effect of the tides .
The island was declared a Local National Reserve in 1993 .
See also
literature
- Leigh Hatts: The Thames Path - from the sea to the source , 2nd Edition, Cicerone, London 2010, ISBN 978-1-85284-436-3
- Derek Pratt: The Thames - a photographic journey from source to sea , 1st Edition, A & C Black Publishers Ltd., London 2008, ISBN 978-0-7136-8832-0
- Bella S. Galil; Paul F. Clark; James T. Carlton: In the wrong place: alien marine crustaceans - Distribution, Biology and Impacts , Springer Dordrecht, Heidelberg London New York 2011, ISBN 978-94-007-0591-3
- Charles John Cornish: The Naturalist on the Thames , Wildhern Press, Teddington (Middlesex) 1902
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Pratt: The Thames - a photographic journey from source to sea , p. 98.
- ^ Cornish: The Naturalist on the Thames , pp. 116f.
- ↑ Pratt: The Thames - a photographic journey from source to sea , p. 98.
- ^ Hatts: The Thames Path - from the sea to the source , p. 52.
- ^ Cornish: The Naturalist on the Thames , p. 116.
- ↑ Bella S. Galil; Paul F. Clark; James T. Carlton: In the wrong place: alien marine crustaceas - Distribution, Biology and Impacts , p. 562.
- ↑ Bella S. Galil; Paul F. Clark; James T. Carlton: In the wrong place: alien marine crustaceas - Distribution, Biology and Impacts , p. 563.
- ↑ http://www.lnr.naturalengland.org.uk/special/lnr/lnr_details.asp?C=17&N=&ID=100