The Thames from Hampton Court to Sunbury Lock

benn’s ait

Benn’s Ait

This was called Church Eyot, then Kember’s Eyot around 1700, but now named after the family that owned Benn’s Boatyard on the Middlesex bank, which was demolished in 1947. It’s a tiny island, mostly occupied by Hampton Sailing Club, which uses a chain ferry connected to the Hampton bank.

 

The clubhouse, which occupies most of the island, was built in 1962. Before that the club had used a retired Gosport ferryboat—the King Edward VII—as their clubhouse.

 

An earlier sailing club—the Thames Valley Sailing Club—had used Benn’s Boatyard as their HQ before moving to a houseboat on Benn’s Ait, which was destroyed in a fire around 1900.

This is Benn’s Ait with Hampton Ferry in the foreground. If you ever come across members of Hampton Sailing Club on the river it’s best to keep well away from them because, like most dinghy sailors, they have problems with wind