Fry's Island, also known as De Montfort Island, is an island in the River Thames

River Thames

The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...

 in England. The island is on the reach above Caversham Lock

Caversham Lock

Caversham Lock is a lock and weir situated on the River Thames in England at Reading, Berkshire. The lock is connected to De Bohun Island, a somewhat larger than normal lock island...

 at Reading

Reading, Berkshire

Reading is a large town and unitary authority area in England. It is located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, and on both the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway, some west of London....

, Berkshire

Berkshire

Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...

. The centre of Reading is to the south and the suburb of Caversham

Caversham, Berkshire

Caversham is a suburb and former village in the unitary authority of Reading, England. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, within the royal county of Berkshire, on the opposite bank from the rest of Reading...

 to the immediate north.

Fry's Island is a natural island, the only access to it being by boat. It is home to a private house (Demontfort House), a boatyard with a residence (Caversham Boat Services) and a private bowling

Bowls

Bowls is a sport in which the objective is to roll slightly asymmetric balls so that they stop close to a smaller "jack" or "kitty". It is played on a pitch which may be flat or convex or uneven...

 club (the Island Bohemian Club). Each of these occupants runs their own private ferry service.

History

Fry's Island is famous as the location of the duel between Robert de Montfort and Henry of Essex

Henry d'Essex

Henry of Essex or Henry d'Essex was a Norman noble who held the honours of Rayleigh, Essex, Haughley , and the office of Constable of England during the reigns of Kings Stephen and Henry II...

, the standard bearer to King Henry II

Henry II of England

Henry II ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France. Henry, the great-grandson of William the Conqueror, was the...

. The duel took place while the court was in residence at Reading Abbey

Reading Abbey

Reading Abbey is a large, ruined abbey in the centre of the town of Reading, in the English county of Berkshire. It was founded by Henry I in 1121 "for the salvation of my soul, and the souls of King William, my father, and of King William, my brother, and Queen Maud, my wife, and all my ancestors...

 in 1163. Robert had accused Henry of Essex of cowardice and treason, because he dropped the standard and called out the King was dead during a previous battle with the Welsh

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

. Henry of Essex denied these charges.

King Henry decreed that this dispute must be resolved in a trial by combat

Trial by combat

Trial by combat was a method of Germanic law to settle accusations in the absence of witnesses or a confession, in which two parties in dispute fought in single combat; the winner of the fight was proclaimed to be right. In essence, it is a judicially sanctioned duel...

, to be undertaken on what is now Fry's Island. At the height of the combat, Henry of Essex fell wounded and, in the belief he was dead, the King ordered the monks to carry him away and bury him. However he was not dead, and the monk

Monk

A monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, living either alone or with any number of monks, while always maintaining some degree of physical separation from those not sharing the same purpose...

s nursed him back to health. Because he had lost the combat he was adjudged guilty and stripped of his lands; however he was permitted to become a monk at the abbey where he remained for the rest of his life.

The first reference to the Island Bohemian Club dates back to 1908, when it held an annual general meeting

Annual general meeting

An annual general meeting is a meeting that official bodies, and associations involving the public , are often required by law to hold...

 under the name of the Old Codgers Club. The present name was adopted in 1909, and purchased the freehold of its part of the island in two phases in 1961 and 1968.

Demontfort House was built in 1897. During WW2 the house was used as an American Services 'club'. In the 1960s the house operated as the 'Blue Beat Island Club', the club was the subject of a police raid in 1965.

Caversham Boat Services was established in 1970. The residence and large workshop are housed in the former Reading Rowing Club

Reading Rowing Club

Reading Rowing Club is an amateur rowing club, on the River Thames in England. It is situated on the Berkshire bank of the Thames at Reading, Berkshire just above Caversham Bridge and on the reach above Caversham Lock....

 building built in 1893. The adjacent boatyard of Bridge Boats was established in 1958 as a builder of wooden boats, becoming a boat hire business in the 1980s. The business was taken over and merged with Caversham Boat Services in 2009.

Reference