Lot's Ait facts for kids

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 Borough of Hounslow, London, England.

History

Lot's Ait, covering 1.724 acres (0.7 ha), 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.

In 2011, a lease on the island was granted to a local company, John's Boat Works, who has commenced boat building works on the island for the first time in over 30 years and put it back into use. In January 2012 Dahlia Bridge (a new footbridge) was installed to link the island to the Brentford bank of the Thames at Smith Hill. The bridge was designed by Beckett Rankine and built and installed by MSO Marine.