A PRIVATE island in the UK that hoped to be home to the ‘Savoy on Thames’ is open to the public – with a music festival on it every summer.
D’Oyly Carte Island was previously called Folly Eyot before being bought by Richard D’Oyly Carte (behind the Savoy Hotel) in 1890.
D’Oyly Carte Island has a riverfront bar open to the public[/caption]
The island was once privately owned[/caption]
The island property is being renovated[/caption]
However, it remained closed to the public until last year, after it was bought by Andy and Sheila Hill in 2021.
Last summer the island hosted a number of summer music events as part of larger Weymouth Festival.
This year, the island is hosting the D’Oyly Carte Island Summer Concerts 2025 from July 4-6.
Bands include Flo Collective, Yacht Brothers and Miami Coast.
Running from 11am to 4pm, tickets cost £20 per person although kids under 10 go for free.
Previously, people could only visit the island by using a chain ferry to pull themselves onto it.
A footbridge was later built in 1964, which allowed easier access to the island.
Now, people can park just outside the island, before walking the free foot bridge.
The island is also home to D’Oyly’s, an outdoor cafe where people can order food and drinks such as alcohol cocktails as well as crepes.
People can visit on the island and sit in the outdoor garden or even pull up on the side by boat.
Guests can even moor on the island with 45 pitches that have electricity and water, along with heated toilets on the island.
New this year are a number of wellness events such as yoga, pilates and forest bathing with a number of classes already sold out.
Original owner Richard D’Oyly Carte was dubbed the Simon Cowell of the Victorian era due to his creation of the Savoy Opera Theatre as well.
After buying the island in the late 1800s, he also built the huge Eyot House on the island complete with a grand ballroom and even a real crocodile.
It was hoped that the hotel would become the “Savoy on Thames” with a dedicated boat service between the two hotels.
However, after being denied an alcohol license, the 13-bedroom property remained as their home, where they invited friends and family over instead as well as having their own private concerts.
The Grade-II listed mansion was was left abandoned for years, was sold in in 2021 for £3million along with the island.
It is now being converted, with the 13 rooms being reduced to 10 en-suite bedrooms and will eventually be open to the public.
Until then, the hotels’ grand ballroom opens every year to just 50 people as part of the D’Oyly Carte Music with “intimate performances” by top artists, yet to be revealed.
In the mean time, here are some private islands you can buy off the coast of the UK.
And a man who has been to more than 100 Scottish islands reveals his favourites.
You can access the island by footbridge[/caption]
