- Tagg's Island
Tagg's Island is an island in the
River Thames in England on the reach aboveMolesey Lock , nearEast Molesey ,Surrey . It just aboveAsh Island and close to the Surrey bank. It is not permitted to build houses on the island so it is surrounded by houseboats, some of which are three stories high. The island is connected to the further Middlesex bank by a long single track road bridge.The island had previous names including "Walnut Tree Ait". It is now named after Tom Tagg who hired out boats on the island and built the Thames Hotel there in 1872. The hotel was popular with London Society including Edward Prince of Wales. In 1912
Fred Karno who discoveredCharlie Chaplin purchased the island and rebuilt the hotel to include a music hall called the Karsino. Karno sold the hotel in 1926 and after a chequered history involving many financial collapses, the building was demolished in 1971 and never rebuilt. The island was eventually acquired by the houseboat residents who set the island up as a houseboat community.The Astoria Houseboat, owned by Karno is a short way up the reach on the Middlesex Bank.
ee also
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Islands in the River Thames External links
* [http://www.taggs-island.com/ Tagg's Island Web Site]
* [http://www.marketingreinforcements.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/index_taggsisland1.html The Thames from Hampton Court to Sunbury Lock]
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