The Isis - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Isis is the name given to the part of 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,...

above Iffley Lock

Iffley Lock

Iffley Lock is a lock on the River Thames in England near the village of Iffley, Oxfordshire. It is on the southern outskirts of Oxford. The original lock was built by the Oxford-Burcot Commission in 1631 and the Thames Navigation Commission replaced this in 1793...

which flows through the city of Oxford

Oxford

The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...

. The name is especially used in the context of rowing

Rowing (sport)

Rowing is a sport in which athletes race against each other on rivers, on lakes or on the ocean, depending upon the type of race and the discipline. The boats are propelled by the reaction forces on the oar blades as they are pushed against the water...

at the University of Oxford

University of Oxford

The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...

. Historically, and especially in Victorian

Victorian era

The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...

times, gazetteers and cartographers insisted that the river Thames was correctly named the River Isis from its source until Dorchester-on-Thames

Dorchester, Oxfordshire

Dorchester-on-Thames is a village and civil parish on the River Thame in Oxfordshire, about northwest of Wallingford and southeast of Oxford. Despite its name, Dorchester is not on the River Thames, but just above the Thame's confluence with it...

, where the river meets the River Thame

River Thame

The River Thame is a river in Southern England. It is a tributary of the larger and better-known River Thames.The general course of the River Thame is north-east to south-west and the distance from its source to the River Thames is about 40 miles...

and becomes the "Thame-isis" (from which the Latin (or pre-Roman Celtic) name Tamesis is derived), subsequently abbreviated to Thames; current Ordnance Survey

Ordnance Survey

Ordnance Survey , an executive agency and non-ministerial government department of the Government of the United Kingdom, is the national mapping agency for Great Britain, producing maps of Great Britain , and one of the world's largest producers of maps.The name reflects its creation together with...

maps still label the Thames as "River Thames or Isis" until Dorchester

Dorchester, Oxfordshire

. Since the early 20th century this distinction has been lost in common usage even in Oxford, and some historians suggest the name Isis is nothing more than part of Tamesis, the Latin name for the Thames.

A number of rowing regattas are held on the Isis, including Eights Week

Eights Week

Eights Week, also known as Summer Eights, is a four-day regatta of bumps races which constitutes the University of Oxford's main intercollegiate rowing event of the year. The regatta takes place in May of each year, from the Wednesday to the Saturday of the fifth week of Trinity term...

, the most important Oxford University regatta, in the Trinity term

Trinity term

Trinity term is the name of the third and final term of Oxford University's and the University of Dublin's academic year. It runs from about mid April to about the end of June and is named after Trinity Sunday, which falls eight weeks after Easter, in May or June.At the University of Sydney, it was...

(summer), Torpids

Torpids

Torpids is one of two series of bumping races held yearly at Oxford University, the other being Eights. Over 130 men's and women's crews race for their colleges in six men's divisions and five women's; almost 1200 participants in total...

in the Hilary term

Hilary term

Hilary Term is the second academic term of Oxford University's academic year. It runs from January to March and is so named because the feast day of St Hilary of Poitiers, 14 January, falls during this term...

(spring) and Christ Church Regatta

Christ Church Regatta

Christ Church Regatta is a boat race in the University of Oxford which is held annually during seventh week of Michaelmas term, in which novice crews representing each college, compete against each other...

for novices in the Michaelmas term

Michaelmas term

Michaelmas term is the first academic term of the academic years of the following British and Irish universities:*University of Cambridge*University of Oxford*University of St...

(autumn). Because the width of the river is restricted at Oxford, rowing eights normally have a staggered start near Donnington Bridge

Donnington Bridge

Donnington Bridge is a modern road bridge over the River Thames, in the south of the city of Oxford, England. At this point the river is sometimes called the Isis. The bridge carries the B4495 road from Abingdon Road to Iffley Road...

and must then aim to "bump" the eight in front (i.e., catch up and touch or overlap with it sufficiently). The leading eight aims to "row over" (i.e., finish the race without being bumped).

The name Isis is also used for the second rowing crew of Oxford University Boat Club

Oxford University Boat Club

The Oxford University Boat Club is the rowing club of the University of Oxford, England, located on the River Thames at Oxford. The club was founded in the early 19th century....

, who race against the second crew of the Cambridge University Boat Club

Cambridge University Boat Club

The Cambridge University Boat Club is the rowing club of the University of Cambridge, England, located on the River Cam at Cambridge, although training primarily takes place on the River Great Ouse at Ely. The club was founded in 1828...

, Goldie, before the annual Boat Race on the Thames in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

.

The Isis, like much of the Thames, has long been popular among anglers for its freshwater

Freshwater

Fresh water is naturally occurring water on the Earth's surface in ice sheets, ice caps, glaciers, bogs, ponds, lakes, rivers and streams, and underground as groundwater in aquifers and underground streams. Fresh water is generally characterized by having low concentrations of dissolved salts and...

fish, including trout

Trout

Trout is the name for a number of species of freshwater and saltwater fish belonging to the Salmoninae subfamily of the family Salmonidae. Salmon belong to the same family as trout. Most salmon species spend almost all their lives in salt water...

and crayfish

Crayfish

Crayfish, crawfish, or crawdads – members of the superfamilies Astacoidea and Parastacoidea – are freshwater crustaceans resembling small lobsters, to which they are related...

. The Oxford region is home to several angling clubs. W.F. Wallett

W.F. Wallett

William Frederick "W.F." Wallett was a popular circus clown in Victorian England, who also enjoyed modest celebrity in the United States...

, a popular Victorian clown, shares in his memoirs his own humorous anecdote about fishing in the Isis with the celebrated circus proprietor Pablo Fanque

Pablo Fanque

Pablo Fanque was the first black circus proprietor in Britain. His circus, in which he himself was a performer, was the most popular circus in Victorian Britain for 30 years, a period that is regarded as the golden age of the circus...

:

Sculptures of Isis and Tamesis

Tamesis

Tamesis was the ancient name for the River Thames.Sculptures entitled Tamesis and Isis by Anne Seymour Damer can be found on the bridge at Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire. The original terracotta and plaster models were exhibited at the Royal Academy, London, in 1785. They are now on show at the...

by Anne Seymour Damer

Anne Seymour Damer

Anne Seymour Damer, née Conway, was an English sculptor.-Life:Anne Conway was born into an aristocratic Whig family, the only daughter of Field-Marshal Henry Seymour Conway and his wife Caroline Bruce, born Campbell, Lady Ailesbury , and was brought up at the family home at Park Place, Remenham,...

can be found on Henley Bridge

Henley Bridge

Henley Bridge is a five-elliptical-arched stone road bridge built in 1786 at Henley-on-Thames over the River Thames, between Oxfordshire and Berkshire. The bridge links Hart Street in Henley with White Hill leading up a steep hill to Remenham Hill...

downstream at Henley-on-Thames

Henley-on-Thames

Henley-on-Thames is a town and civil parish on the River Thames in South Oxfordshire, England, about 10 miles downstream and north-east from Reading, 10 miles upstream and west from Maidenhead...

, Oxfordshire

Oxfordshire

Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....

See also