Riverside south bank West of the Tower. Monkey Island




Riverside south bank West of the Tower. Monkey Island


This post covers sites on the south bank only,.The north bank is Dorney Reach and Amerden

Post to the south Monkey Island Lane and north end of the Eton Rowing Lake
Post to the west Bray and Bray Lock



M4
The M4 is the London to South Wales Motorway.
Thames Bridge, motorway bridge built in the 1960s. There is a pedestrian walkway on either side of the bridge, to allow access to Bray Village from Dorney

Monkey Island
Monkey Island. This is a small island in the River. The name probably comes from a site owned by Merton Prior nearby – and refers to Monks. In the 17th rubble from London buildings was dumped here making it more solid than otherwise. In 1738 it was acquired by the Duke of Marlborough who was a keen fisherman and he built a fishing lodge and a fishing temple, which remain. They were designed by Robert Morris out of wood cut to look like stone.
Pavilion. Inside is the Monkey Room with paintings of monkeys by Andieu de Clermont done  before 1738.  The only other room is a kitchen.
The Temple, This once had an open ground floor with a billiard room upstairs. It has a ceiling with decorative plasterwork
Monkey Island Hotel.  By 1840, the Pavilion had become a pub. In 1963, the River Room was added with a glass-wall over the Thames. The Marlborough Room was added in 1970 with walls were painted with battle scenes. 30 bedrooms were also added.
Footbridge. This was connected in 1956.


Monkey Island Lane
Weir Bank. The house here was developed by Hugo Cunliffe-Owen in the early 20th. He was a horse owner and breeder.  It was burnt down in the 1970s and is now in other ownership and run as a business centre.
Weir Bank Stud Farm an important archaeological site


Pigeonhill Eyot
Pigeonhill Eyot.This is an island in the Thames near Bray Lock.  Weirs run from the island to the Bray bank. It is small and tree-covered and Bronze Age artefacts have been found here.

Sources
Monkey Island Hotel. Web site
SABRE. Roaders Digest
Weir Bank. Web site
Wikipedia. Pigeonhill Eyot. Web site

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Bromley by Bow

South Norwood

River Lea/Bow Creek Canning Town