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→Buildings of the island: Fixed an error. Sir Thomas Rich founded his grammar school - Reading Blue Coat founded by Richard Aldworth. There is no mention of Reading Blue Coat in the reference provided - and Rich’s own wiki page makes it clear which school he founded. The original author made a simple misunderstanding/error
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{{Short description|A hamlet on the River Thames in Oxfordshire}}

{{EngvarB|date=October 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2013}}
{{infobox UK place|
{{infobox UK place|
|country= England
|country= England
|static_image = [[Image:SonningBridge01.JPG|240px]]
|static_image_name = SonningBridge01.JPG
|static_image_caption = [[Sonning Bridge]] from the Sonning Eye bank of the [[River Thames]]
|static_image_caption = [[Sonning Bridge]] from the Sonning Eye bank of the [[River Thames]]
|coordinates = {{coord|51.4760|-0.9156|display=inline,title}}
|latitude= 51.4760
|longitude= -0.9156
|official_name= Sonning Eye
|official_name= Sonning Eye
|population=
|population=
|civil_parish= [[Eye & Dunsden]]
|civil_parish= [[Eye & Dunsden]]
|shire_district= [[South Oxfordshire]]
|shire_district= [[South Oxfordshire]]
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}}
}}


'''Sonning Eye''' is a [[Hamlet (place)|hamlet]] on the [[River Thames]] in [[Oxfordshire]], [[England]], in the [[Civil_parish#United_Kingdom|civil parish]] of [[Eye & Dunsden]], at the very southernmost tip of Oxfordshire.
'''Sonning Eye''' is a [[Hamlet (place)|hamlet]] on the [[River Thames]] in the [[Sonning Common]] ward of [[South Oxfordshire]], England, in the [[Civil_parish#United_Kingdom|civil parish]] of [[Eye & Dunsden]] (one of its four small settlements), at what is since 1974 the southernmost tip of [[Oxfordshire]].


== Overview ==
==Geography==
Until 1866, Sonning Eye formed part of the Oxfordshire section of Sonning [[civil parish]].{{Citation needed|date=July 2009}} It is about {{convert|3|mi|km}} northeast of [[Reading, Berkshire]]. Sonning Eye is opposite the village of [[Sonning]], [[Berkshire]], to which it is linked by the historic brick-arched [[Sonning Bridge]] and the more modern [[Sonning Backwater Bridges]].
Sonning Eye is about {{convert|3|mi|km}} northeast of [[Reading, Berkshire]]. Sonning Eye is opposite the village of [[Sonning]], [[Berkshire]], to which it is linked by crossing the 18th-century brick-arched [[Sonning Bridge]] combined with [[Sonning Backwater Bridges]]. Sonning Eye is surrounded by the alluvial [[floodplain]] of the [[River Thames]], much of which has been extracted for gravel, forming a number of lakes, especially upstream on this bank.


⚫
In particular, a long [[Sport rowing|rowing]] lake has been made, the [[Redgrave Pinsent Rowing Lake]], named after Olympic oarsmen [[Steve Redgrave]] and [[Matthew Pinsent]]. Other local sports include sailing and [[water skiing]]. [[Berry Brook]], a small tributary runs through the floodplain west and north of Sonning Eye, joining the Thames at [[Hallsmead Ait]] to the northeast. On the riverside near the [[Sonning Backwater Bridge]]s is the [[French Horn, Sonning Eye|French Horn]], a luxury hotel and restaurant. There is a small public car park here, a place to launch small boats, and a grass area by the river bank that is popular with fishermen.
The [[Toponymy|toponym]] "''Sonning''" is derived from the [[Viking]] name ''[[Sunna (Saxon chief)|Sunna]]'' and "''Eye''" meaning ''[[island]]'' (cf. ''eyot'') since it is a small gravel mound surrounded by the river's [[flood plain]]. There is also a true islet at Sonning Eye between two branches of the Thames.


==History==
The heart of Sonning Eye is a conservation area and there are a number of notable Grade II [[listed buildings]] including several historic [[Barn (building)|barns]] that have now been converted for modern use. One house has some excellent [[William De Morgan]] tiles.
Its [[Toponymy|toponym]] "''Sonning''" is derived from the [[Anglo-Saxons|Anglo-Saxon]] chieftain ''[[Sunna (Saxon chief)|Sunna]]'' and "''Eye''" meaning ''island'' (cf. ''eyot'') since it is a small gravel mound surrounded by the river's [[flood plain]]. Within this low land is a true island (permanent since management of the river levels) on the Thames. Until 1866, Sonning Eye formed part of the [[Oxfordshire]] section of Sonning [[civil parish]].{{fact|date=October 2014}} The heart of Sonning Eye is a [[conservation area]], including 12 architecturally [[Grade II listed]] buildings, five of which are [[Barn (building)|barns]] that have now been converted for modern use. One house has some excellent [[William De Morgan]] tiles.


==Buildings of the island==
Aberlash House is a Grade II listed house situated on a 5 acres island in the River Thames near Sonning Eye. It was originally built in the 17th Century and once owned by the well known Rich family, Lords of the Manor of Sonning.
⚫
The island is roughly heart-shaped, cut through by a [[millrace]]. On the islet is ''[[The Mill at Sonning]]'', a restored 18th-century [[watermill]] on a medieval site, now converted to a [[dinner theatre]].<ref>[http://www.millatsonning.com/index.html The Mill at Sonning] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090309195127/http://www.millatsonning.com/index.html |date=9 March 2009 }}.</ref> The millrace runs through what is now the theatre bar, and powers a small turbine powering an 18.5&nbsp;kW [[hydroelectric]] generator that supplies the [[National Grid (UK)|National Grid]].<ref>[http://www.millatsonning.com/Hydro.html The Mill at Sonning: Hydro Scheme] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091008001035/http://www.millatsonning.com/Hydro.html |date=8 October 2009 }}.</ref> Set behind this on the island is ''Mill House'', a [[Grade II listed]] building owning some of the {{convert|5|acres}} island.


It was originally built in the 17th century and once owned by the wealthy Rich family, Lords of the Manor of Sonning, hence owning its manor house towards the top of Sonning's Thames Street as well.<ref>{{NHLE|num=1047410}}</ref> [[Sir Thomas Rich]] founded [[Sir Thomas Rich's School]] just south of here in 1766 by endowing it with the income with his neighbouring farmland.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51287 |title=Somerford, Little – Sotwell |editor=Samuel Lewis |publisher=Institute of Historical Research |date=1848 |work=A Topographical Dictionary of England |access-date=8 June 2013 }}</ref> In 2014, the Mill House was bought by the American film star [[George Clooney]] and his British wife, human rights lawyer [[Amal Alamuddin]],<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.readingchronicle.co.uk/news/reading/articles/2014/10/09/104321-hollywood-star-george-clooney-and-wife-amal-alamuddin-eye-sonning-home/ | title=Updated: Hollywood star George Clooney and wife Amal Alamuddin eye Sonning home | newspaper=[[The Reading Chronicle]] | date=9 October 2014 | access-date=11 October 2014 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/11154328/Welcome-to-Sonning-Mr-and-Mrs-Clooney.html | title=Welcome to Sonning, Mr & Mrs Clooney | newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]] | first=Patrick | last=Sawer | date=10 October 2014 | access-date=11 October 2014 }}</ref> at a cost of around £10 million.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/11152701/George-Clooney-snaps-up-10-million-manor-house-in-Sonning-Berkshire.html | title=George Clooney snaps up £10 million manor house in Sonning, Berkshire | newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]] | first=Patrick | last=Sawer | date=9 October 2014 | access-date=11 October 2014 }}</ref>
⚫
Sonning Eye is surrounded by the alluvial [[floodplain]] of the River Thames, much of which has been extracted for gravel, forming a number of lakes. In particular, a [[Sport rowing|rowing]] lake has now been formed, named the [[Redgrave Pinsent Rowing Lake]], after Olympic oarsmen [[Steve Redgrave]] and [[Matthew Pinsent]]. Other local sports include [[sailing]] and [[water skiing]]. [[Berry Brook]] runs through the floodplain west and north of Sonning Eye, joining the Thames at [[Hallsmead Ait]] to the northeast.


==Paintings and sketches==
On the riverside near the Sonning Backwater Bridges is the [[French Horn, Sonning Eye|French Horn]], a luxury hotel and restaurant. There is a small public car park here, a place to launch small boats, and a grass area by the river bank that is popular with fishermen.
The area has been a favourite location for artists, especially views of the old, disused brick bridge and viaduct from the river bank just downstream of the island with surrounding lush flora. [[George Price Boyce]], the [[Victorian era|Victorian]] [[watercolour]] painter associated with the [[Pre-Raphaelite]] art movement, visited and painted in the area.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.artnet.com/artists/george-price-boyce/at-sonning-eye-oxfordshire-3YndMl_PqNR5MBQq3N9rHQ2 | title=At Sonning-eye, Oxfordshire | first=George Price | last=Boyce | year=1860 | publisher=[[Artnet]] | access-date=11 October 2014 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/LotDetailsPrintable.aspx?intObjectID=298395 | title= At Sonning-Eye, Oxfordshire – Lot 30 / Sale 5876 | work=[[Archive.org]] | publisher=[[Christie's]] | location=London | date=7 November 1997 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160304225950/http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/LotDetailsPrintable.aspx?intObjectID=298395 | access-date=31 December 2019 | archive-date= 4 March 2016 }}</ref>

⚫
On the islet is [[The Mill at Sonning]], an 18th century [[watermill]] now a converted [[dinner theatre]].<ref>[http://www.millatsonning.com/index.html The Mill at Sonning].</ref> The [[millrace]] runs through what is now the theatre bar, and powers a small turbine powering an 18.5 KW hydroelectric generator that supplies the [[National Grid (UK)|National Grid]].<ref>[http://www.millatsonning.com/Hydro.html The Mill at Sonning: Hydro Scheme].</ref>

The area has been a favourite location for artists, especially views of the old brick bridge from the river bank just downstream of the bridge. [[George Price Boyce]], the [[Victorian era|Victorian]] [[watercolour]] painter associated with the [[Pre-Raphaelite]] art movement, visited and painted in the area.<ref>''[http://www.artnet.com/Artists/LotDetailPage.aspx?lot_id=2E6AAEB22FD5CB0C At Sonning-eye, Oxfordshire]'' by George Price Boyce, 1860. (Sold at [[Christie's]], London, 1997.)</ref>


==Gallery==
==Gallery==
<gallery>
<gallery>
File:Sonning_Bridge_-_1799.jpg|Print of [[Sonning Bridge]] (1799), linking Sonning Eye (right) with [[Sonning]] (left) and [[St Andrew's Church, Sonning|St Andrew's Church]] tower in the background.
File:Backwater of the Thames at Sonning - geograph.org.uk - 112764.jpg|Backwater of the Thames at Sonning Eye, with a view of the [[French Horn at Sonning]].
File:The French Horn from Sonning Backwater Bridge.JPG|View from the main [[Sonning Backwater Bridge]] along the B478 road in Sonning Eye with the [[French Horn, Sonning Eye|French Horn hotel]] on the right.
File:Sonning_Bridge_-_1799.jpg|Print of [[Sonning Bridge]] (1799), linking Sonning Eye (right) with [[Sonning]] (left) and [[St Andrew's Church, Sonning|St Andrew's Church]] tower in the background
File:The French Horn from Sonning Backwater Bridge.JPG|View from the main [[Sonning Backwater Bridge]] along the B478 road in Sonning Eye with the [[French Horn, Sonning Eye|French Horn hotel]] on the right
File:Old Cottages at Sonning Eye - geograph.org.uk - 65912.jpg|Waterside cottages at Sonning Eye.
File:The B478, Sonning Eye - geograph.org.uk - 763858.jpg|View of the B478 road in the snow with the French Horn in the background.
File:Old Cottages at Sonning Eye - geograph.org.uk - 65912.jpg|Waterside cottages at Sonning Eye
File:The B478, Sonning Eye - geograph.org.uk - 763858.jpg|View of the B478 road in the snow with the French Horn in the background
</gallery>
</gallery>


==See also==
==See also==
⚫
*[[Caversham Lakes]]
*[[Islands in the River Thames]]
*[[Islands in the River Thames]]
⚫
*[[List of civil parishes in England]]
⚫
*[[List of places in Oxfordshire]]
⚫
*[[Redgrave Pinsent Rowing Lake]]
*[[Sonning Bridge]]
*[[Sonning Bridge]]
*[[Sonning Regatta]]
*[[Sonning Regatta]]
⚫
*[[Caversham Lakes]]
⚫
*[[Redgrave Pinsent Rowing Lake]]
⚫
*[[List of places in Oxfordshire]]
⚫
*[[List of civil parishes in England]]


== References ==
== References ==
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[[Category:Sonning|Eye]]
[[Category:Sonning|Eye]]
[[Category:Hamlets in Oxfordshire]]
[[Category:Hamlets in Oxfordshire]]
[[Category:South Oxfordshire]]
[[Category:South Oxfordshire District]]

Latest revision as of 22:22, 30 December 2023

Sonning Eye
Sonning Bridge from the Sonning Eye bank of the River Thames
Sonning Eye is located in Oxfordshire
Sonning Eye
Sonning Eye
Location within Oxfordshire
OS grid referenceSU7576
Civil parish
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townReading
Postcode districtRG4
Dialling code0118
PoliceThames Valley
FireOxfordshire
AmbulanceSouth Central
UK Parliament
WebsiteEye & Dunsden Parish Council
List of places
UK
England
Oxfordshire
51°28′34″N 0°54′56″W / 51.4760°N 0.9156°W / 51.4760; -0.9156

Sonning Eye is a hamlet on the River Thames in the Sonning Common ward of South Oxfordshire, England, in the civil parish of Eye & Dunsden (one of its four small settlements), at what is since 1974 the southernmost tip of Oxfordshire.

Geography

[edit]

Sonning Eye is about 3 miles (4.8 km) northeast of Reading, Berkshire. Sonning Eye is opposite the village of Sonning, Berkshire, to which it is linked by crossing the 18th-century brick-arched Sonning Bridge combined with Sonning Backwater Bridges. Sonning Eye is surrounded by the alluvial floodplain of the River Thames, much of which has been extracted for gravel, forming a number of lakes, especially upstream on this bank.

In particular, a long rowing lake has been made, the Redgrave Pinsent Rowing Lake, named after Olympic oarsmen Steve Redgrave and Matthew Pinsent. Other local sports include sailing and water skiing. Berry Brook, a small tributary runs through the floodplain west and north of Sonning Eye, joining the Thames at Hallsmead Ait to the northeast. On the riverside near the Sonning Backwater Bridges is the French Horn, a luxury hotel and restaurant. There is a small public car park here, a place to launch small boats, and a grass area by the river bank that is popular with fishermen.

History

[edit]

Its toponym "Sonning" is derived from the Anglo-Saxon chieftain Sunna and "Eye" meaning island (cf. eyot) since it is a small gravel mound surrounded by the river's flood plain. Within this low land is a true island (permanent since management of the river levels) on the Thames. Until 1866, Sonning Eye formed part of the Oxfordshire section of Sonning civil parish.[citation needed] The heart of Sonning Eye is a conservation area, including 12 architecturally Grade II listed buildings, five of which are barns that have now been converted for modern use. One house has some excellent William De Morgan tiles.

Buildings of the island

[edit]

The island is roughly heart-shaped, cut through by a millrace. On the islet is The Mill at Sonning, a restored 18th-century watermill on a medieval site, now converted to a dinner theatre.[1] The millrace runs through what is now the theatre bar, and powers a small turbine powering an 18.5 kW hydroelectric generator that supplies the National Grid.[2] Set behind this on the island is Mill House, a Grade II listed building owning some of the 5 acres (2.0 ha) island.

It was originally built in the 17th century and once owned by the wealthy Rich family, Lords of the Manor of Sonning, hence owning its manor house towards the top of Sonning's Thames Street as well.[3] Sir Thomas Rich founded Sir Thomas Rich's School just south of here in 1766 by endowing it with the income with his neighbouring farmland.[4] In 2014, the Mill House was bought by the American film star George Clooney and his British wife, human rights lawyer Amal Alamuddin,[5][6] at a cost of around £10 million.[7]

Paintings and sketches

[edit]

The area has been a favourite location for artists, especially views of the old, disused brick bridge and viaduct from the river bank just downstream of the island with surrounding lush flora. George Price Boyce, the Victorian watercolour painter associated with the Pre-Raphaelite art movement, visited and painted in the area.[8][9]

[edit]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ The Mill at Sonning Archived 9 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine.
  2. ^ The Mill at Sonning: Hydro Scheme Archived 8 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine.
  3. ^ Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1047410)". National Heritage List for England.
  4. ^ Samuel Lewis, ed. (1848). "Somerford, Little – Sotwell". A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research. Retrieved 8 June 2013.
  5. ^ "Updated: Hollywood star George Clooney and wife Amal Alamuddin eye Sonning home". The Reading Chronicle. 9 October 2014. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  6. ^ Sawer, Patrick (10 October 2014). "Welcome to Sonning, Mr & Mrs Clooney". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  7. ^ Sawer, Patrick (9 October 2014). "George Clooney snaps up £10 million manor house in Sonning, Berkshire". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  8. ^ Boyce, George Price (1860). "At Sonning-eye, Oxfordshire". Artnet. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  9. ^ "At Sonning-Eye, Oxfordshire – Lot 30 / Sale 5876". Archive.org. London: Christie's. 7 November 1997. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sonning Eye.
Next island upstream River Thames Next island downstream
Sonning Hill island Sonning Eye Buck Ait
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