Lot's Ait is a 1.724-acre (0.7 ha) ait (river island) in the Thames. It is on the Tideway near Brentford, in the London Borough of Hounslow, England.
History
Lot's Ait, covering 1.724 acres (0.7 ha),[1] has a very narrow divide from larger, downstream Brentford Ait. It was for centuries used for growing of grass and osiers: basket willows, used for basketry, furniture, and cart-making, as well as cattle fodder. It was once known as Barbel Island being a fruitful area for fishing. It contained a yard where barges were repaired until 1980, when it was sold. It acquired a wild character with naturalised willows, rotting boats and rusting dock roofs and became a haven for wildlife. In 2002, the island was offered for sale with outline planning permission for a restaurant, a leisure facility and boat storage. It is accessible by footbridge, at low tide in sturdy boots across the thick, shifting mud bed of the channel against the Brentford shore, and by water from the slipway Goats Wharf off Brentford High Street.[2]
In 2011, a lease on the island was granted to a local company, John's Boat Works, which commenced boat building works on the island for the first time in over 30 years and put it back into use.[3] In January 2012, a new footbridge, Dahlia Bridge, was installed to link the island to the Brentford bank of the Thames at Smith Hill. It was designed by Beckett Rankine and built and installed by MSO Marine.[4]
In popular culture
- Film scenes in
- Lots Ait boatworks featured in an episode of George Clarke's Amazing Spaces
- Site of the art performance "Offshore Rig" (1987) by Bow Gamelan Ensemble, which was the subject of an Alter Image (channel 4) documentary. [5]
See also
Notes
- ↑ OS 25-inch map of 1910 Ordnance Survey London sheet LXXXIV revised 1891-94, published 1897.
- ↑ "News". Brentford Dock. Neil O'Dwyer. August 2002. Archived from the original on 9 May 2008. Retrieved 5 January 2009.
- "Map". English Heritage. Archived from the original on 24 April 2012. - ↑ "Blog". John's Boat Works. September 2011. Retrieved 10 January 2012.
- ↑ "Planning". Agenda Item. London Borough of Hounslow. September 2011. Retrieved 10 January 2012.
- ↑ ""Offshore Rig" Bow Gamelan".
References
- Hatts, Leigh (2005). The Thames Path: From the Sea to the Source (2nd ed.). Milnthorpe: Cicerone Press. ISBN 978-1-85284-436-3. OCLC 276222230.
- "Syon and Mortlake Reaches: PLA 307 & 308 Main Surveys (Extract)" (PDF). Port of London. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 5 January 2009.
- Bolton, Diane K; Croot, Patricia E C; Hicks, M A (1982). "Chiswick: Introduction". In Baker, T F T; Elrington, C R (eds.). A History of the County of Middlesex. Vol. 7: Acton, Chiswick, Ealing and Brentford, West Twyford, Willesden. Oxford: Oxford University Press for the University of London, Institute of Historical Research. pp. 50–51. OCLC 59178433. Retrieved 5 January 2009.
External links
- Lot's Ait.com official site
