Sashes Island is an island in theRiver Thames inEngland atCookham Lock nearCookham,Berkshire. It is now open farmland, but has Roman and Anglo-Saxon connections.
The island is located betweenHedsor Water and the present navigation channel leading toCookham Lock. It can be reached from Cookham by footbridges across three channels of the River Thames viaFormosa Island and Mill Island. Its name is derived from Sceaftesege or "Sceaf’s Isle".[1]
The earliest known map of the island was by Hynde, and dates from circa 1580. It shows 'Sashes stream', which cuts the island in half.[2]
The island is believed to have been at the point where the Thames was crossed by aRoman road calledCamlet Way, which ran fromSt. Albans toSilchester. Wooden piles and stakes were found here in the nineteenth century and again in 1969 which may indicate the remains of a substantial bridge. Cookham may derive its name from a river port here named "Cwch-ium", which in theCeltic language means "Boat-Place".[3]
In Saxon times, Sashes Island was the site of aburh built underAlfred the Great as a defence against theDanes. It was listed in the 914 ADBurghal Hidage. The Burghal Hidage reports that the defences of "Sceaftessige" were 4,125ft long. No trace of this burh has been found, but this may be as a result of the digging of the lock cut in the 1830s, which disrupted the terrain. Late Saxon weapons have been found in the cut.[1]
There is a landscape painting of Sashes Island byGilbert Spencer, brother ofStanley Spencer who was born at Cookham.[4]
| Next island upstream | River Thames | Next island downstream |
| Gibraltar Islands | Sashes Island | Formosa Island |
51°33′50″N0°41′56″W / 51.5639°N 0.6989°W /51.5639; -0.6989