Desborough Island

It was formed in the 1930s by the digging of a channel – the Desborough Cut – by the Thames Conservancy as a meander cutoff of narrow width on the right bank.

The 3⁄4–mile (1–km) Desborough Cut takes the Thames directly between the brief Weybridge bank to the upper (south) part of the Walton bank — creating Desborough Island between it and the river meanders which front much of Old Shepperton and Lower Halliford in Shepperton.

[1] The cut alleviated flooding at Hamm Court and in Shepperton[2] and halves the distance of travel from its start to its finish.

The late 2000s decade saw paths re-laid, seating added and hedges relaid to improve plant diversity and provide animal habitats.

[6][7] The island and the surrounding river stood in for the banks of the Mississippi in the music video for "Karma Chameleon" by Culture Club in 1983.