Pharaoh's Island, River Thames

Overview

The island has a length of 280 m and a maximum width of 60 m. Shepperton Lock is 270 m downstream and two other channels leading to weirs diverge off after the island to its southeast. These channels then surround Lock Island and Hamhaugh Island. The island is only accessible by boat, with the facilities of Lock Island downstream and moorings there or by the pub The Thames Court almost opposite its eastern tip on the nearer, north bank.

River level

Above the lock, the variation in river level has been between 0.08 m at the lock gate and 0.99 m. This compares favourably with variation below the lock at between 2.67 m and 4.95 m in depth.

History

| image-width = 4000 | image-left = -2700 | image-top = -1000 It was purchased by the Treasury to give to Admiral Nelson after the Battle of the Nile (1798).The Thames Path, page 75, Leigh Hatts, Cicerone Press Limited, 3rd Ed. 2016 (1st. Ed. 1998) He used it as a fishing retreat. The island was known as Dog Ait until at least the end of the 19th century. Tory MP and High Court Judge Sir Cyril Atkinson built the first house on the island in 1903 and named it Sphinx due to his interest in Egyptology.

Residential development

Since the late 20th century it has hosted 23 homes with individual moorings. Most of the properties have Egyptian names.

The property names are, clockwise, starting in the west:

• Kantara
• Memphis
• Nyanzh
• Thebes
• Nile
• Nakhti
• Isis
• Willow Hayne
• Nada
• Mannana
• Maleesh
• Philae
• Sphinx
  • (annex)

--

• Sunset Cottage
• Lotus
• Mabrouk
• Pyramid
• Osiris
• Amasis
• Ishta
• Pharaos Cottage
• Luxor
• Minoru

As of May 2020, Sphinx has fetched the highest cost, £1.318 million. This took place in 2013.

Deaths in January 2011

In January 2011, a small dinghy ferrying people from the island capsized with the loss of two lives. The fatalities were named as university academic Dr Rex Walford OBE, and record producer Keith Lowde.

Media representations

As the home of his family, the island was the setting for director John Boorman's two semi-autobiographical films: Hope and Glory in 1987 and Queen and Country in 2014.

Notable residents

Ian Hendry and his wife, actress Janet Munro.

References

Hamhaugh Island

References

1. [http://gridreferencefinder.com/ Grid Reference Finder] distance tools
2. [http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/homeandleisure/floods/riverlevels/136496.aspx?StationId=7216&Sensor=D&RegionId=0&AreaId=0&CatchmentId=0 Environment Agency daily measurements at lock stations] Retrieved 2013-07-14
3. Ordnance Survey: Map of Surrey 1871-1882, Sheet 011
4. (29 June 2003). "Living with the Nelson touch".
5. (25 June 2018). "Luxury riverside home for sale but you can only reach it by boat.".
6. (3 June 2013). "Shepperton's Islands".
7. link. (30 December 2013 [[Ordnance survey]] website)
8. Caroline McGhie. (26 July 2006). "Nelson's Egypt-on-Thames". [[The Daily Telegraph]].
9. "House prices in Pharaohs Island, Shepperton TW17 stand at £866,281 on average - Zoopla".
10. landregistry.data.gov.uk/app/ppd/search?et%5B%5D=lrcommon%3Afreehold&et%5B%5D=lrcommon%3Aleasehold&limit=100&nb%5B%5D=true&nb%5B%5D=false&postcode=TW17+9LN&ptype%5B%5D=lrcommon%3Adetached&ptype%5B%5D=lrcommon%3Asemi-detached&ptype%5B%5D=lrcommon%3Aterraced&ptype%5B%5D=lrcommon%3Aflat-maisonette&ptype%5B%5D=lrcommon%3AotherPropertyType&tc%5B%5D=ppd%3AstandardPricePaidTransaction&tc%5B%5D=ppd%3AadditionalPricePaidTransaction
11. Mike Younger and Joan Whitehead. (10 March 2011). "Rex Walford obituary". [[The Guardian]].
12. Harrison, David. (9 January 2011). "The Sunday lunch on a river island that ended in tragedy".
13. O'Brien, Christy. (5 September 2022). "Surrey island that's like being in Egypt and once home to famous actors and scene of boat tragedy". Surrey Live.
14. (7 November 2017). "Ian Hendry Rowing Home Across The Thames To Sphinx, Pharoah's Island, Shepperton".