Tagg's Island facts for kids
Tagg's Island is a unique island located on the River Thames in London. It's found in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, just above Molesey Lock. This island is famous for its lively community of houseboats.
Island Features
The center of Tagg's Island has a pretty lake. This lake connects to the main river, and it has private spots where boats can dock, called moorings. The lake is surrounded by trees and has a small footbridge crossing it.
Even though the island is very close to the Surrey side of the river, near East Molesey, it's actually connected to the Middlesex side by a long, single-lane road bridge. This means it's officially part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. The island's mail goes through Hampton (TW12). You won't find regular houses built on the island itself. Instead, it's surrounded by many houseboats. The people who own these houseboats also own their mooring spots. This gives them the right to be part of the island's residents' association, which owns the entire island. Some of the most expensive houseboats on the Thames are found here. This area is even called the "Thames Riviera." Many of these houseboats are quite large, with up to three levels!
Island History
Tagg's Island has had a few different names in the past, like Walnut Tree Ait and Kent's Ait. Long ago, people used to grow willow trees here to make baskets. The island got its current official name from a boat builder named Thomas Tagg. He started renting out boats on the island in 1841.
In 1872, Thomas Tagg built the Thames Hotel on the island. This hotel quickly became a popular place for London's fancy high society, including Edward, Prince of Wales, who later became King Edward VII.
The Karsino Era
In 1912, a famous show producer named Fred Karno bought the island. Fred Karno was the person who discovered the legendary comedian Charlie Chaplin! Karno rebuilt the hotel and hired a well-known theater architect, Frank Matcham, to add a music hall called The Karsino. The island became a very popular resort. Besides the hotel and music hall, it had a boathouse and other fun seasonal attractions. Fred Karno even had his own fancy houseboat permanently docked at the island. He proudly called his resort "the hub of the universe for river people."
However, things changed when the First World War started. The war caused money problems, and the island's popularity began to fade. The hotel was renamed The Casino, but it never regained its old fame. Karno sold it in 1926. Two years later, it reopened as the Thames Riviera, and a car ferry was even started to bring cars to the island. But in 1940, it closed again. Over the years, many people tried to bring the hotel back to life or use the building for other things, but they often ran into financial trouble. Finally, the building was torn down in 1971 and was never rebuilt.
In the mid-1960s, the Casino briefly hosted a music club called the Crawdaddy Club. Famous bands like Chris Farlowe & The Thunderbirds and Pink Floyd played there!
Today, the Astoria houseboat is visible from the island on the northern bank. This houseboat was built by Fred Karno and is now owned by Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour. Eventually, the houseboat residents bought Tagg's Island. They turned it into the friendly houseboat community you see today.
The Sundial
Near the bridge leading to Tagg's Island, in the park of St Albans Riverside by Hampton Court Road, there's a cool sundial. It looks like a steel globe and was designed by an artist named David Harber.
Below the sundial, there's a plaque that explains it:
This special sundial was made just for Tagg's Island. It has 13 fins, a half-sphere, and rings that show the Tropic of Capricorn, the Tropic of Cancer, and the two polar circles. This sundial is set up for the exact location of Tagg's Island.
To tell the time (Greenwich Mean Time), you need to find the two opposite hour fins that are both in sunlight. The shadow from these fins falls on a band that has marks every 13 minutes. So, if the shadow is on the left side of a fin, it's half past the hour. When there's no shadow from a fin, it means it's exactly on the hour.
David Harber Sundials
Henley-on-Thames
MCMXCIX
The sundial was asked for by the wife of Gerald George "Gerry" Braban (1931–1993). Gerry Braban worked hard to get the bridge to Tagg's Island built in the 1990s and also helped pay for it.
