Eel Pie Island Museum

About the museum

The Eel Pie Island Museum opened in February 2018 in a semi-derelict building on Richmond Road, on the Twickenham side of the river opposite Eel Pie Island. The singer Don Craine and the inventor Trevor Baylis opened it, after a team had spent years collecting material about the island.

The displays follow three themes. The first is music heritage: between 1956 and 1970 the ballroom of the Eel Pie Hotel hosted jazz, blues, rhythm and blues and rock bands, and the museum names acts such as the Rolling Stones, Jeff Beck, Rod Stewart and Eric Clapton. The second is the island’s boatyards, which have built and repaired boats on the Thames since 1893. The third is invention and creativity, covering the artists who settled on the island from the late 1980s and Trevor Baylis, who invented the clockwork radio in his workshop there.

The island itself is private. Visitors learn about it through the museum, guided walking tours from the museum and the artists’ open studios held twice a year.

Highlights

• Story of the Eel Pie Hotel ballroom and its 1956–1970 music scene
• History of the island’s boatyards since 1893
• Exhibits on Trevor Baylis, inventor of the clockwork radio
• Guided “Eel Pie & Blues” walking tours from the museum

Permanent exhibitions

• Music heritage – The Eel Pie Hotel ballroom and the bands that played on the island between 1956 and 1970.
• Boatyards – More than a century of boat building and repair on the island’s Thames boatyards.
• Invention and creativity – The artists’ community on the island and the work of the inventor Trevor Baylis.

Founded

2018

Admission & discounts

Single visit £5 since 1 May 2025. Passport holders receive 15% off food at the Eel Pie pub.

Accessibility

• Wheelchair accessible
• Elevator: no information
• Accessible restroom: not available
• Accessible parking: no information
• Service dogs welcome: no information
• Tactile models & exhibits: no information
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description: no information

The museum is fully wheelchair accessible. It has no accessible toilet; the nearest one is in the Civic Centre across the road. Lightweight fold-up walking stools can be borrowed for walking tours, and the walking tour has no steps unless the tide is high.

Kids & families

Children under 16 enter free when accompanied by an adult.

Getting there & parking

The museum is opposite the Civic Centre, next to the Shell garage.

Amenities & dining

The Eel Pie pub nearby offers food; no café on site.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Plan your visit