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PLACE NAMES


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Eel Pie Island
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Eel Pie Island is an 8.9-acre (3.6 ha) island (or ait) in the River Thames at Twickenham in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. It is on the maintained minimum head of water above Richmond Lock, the only lock on the Tideway, and is accessible by boat or from the left (generally north) bank by a footbridge. The island had a club that was a major venue for jazz and blues in the 1960s.
The name may have come from eel pies which were served by the inn on the island in the 19th century. Its earlier names chronologically were the Parish Ait and Twickenham Ait, the latter co-existing until at least the 1880s. Before the 19th century it was for many centuries three parts - the core of each safely above high water, if not narrowly separated, as shown by a map of 1607.-
Some Mesolithic implements hand-made from red deer antlers have been retrieved from the island's shore.
There was an inn on the island by 1743, and in the 19th century it was a popular stopping point for steamer excursions. When a new inn was built in 1830 to replace it, the former venue was alternatively called a "dingy wooden cottage" or an "unassuming but popular little barn".
Samuel Lewis's national gazetteer of 1848 devotes a large minority of the text covering Twickenham to the island; saying it is called Twickenham Ait. This island comprises about eight acres, chiefly pleasure-grounds, and in the centre is the Eel-Pie House, noted for the last two centuries as a favourite resort for refreshment and recreation to water parties, and persons repairing hither [coming here] for the amusement of fishing; the old building was taken down in 1830, and a commodious edifice, comprising a good assembly-room measuring 50 feet by 15, erected on the site.
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