Thames bridges

Barnes Bridge

In 1847 the Windsor, Staines and South-Western Railway was given permission to build a line from Barnes to Feltham. The bridge to carry this line across the Thames was designed by Joseph Locke and Thomas Brassey and opened in 1849. The line was popular for passengers and freight, avoiding as it did the busy and congested route through Richmond.

The bridge was also very popular as a vantage point from which to see the closing stages of the University Boat Race - special trains were laid on to allow spectators to enjoy the view from the comfort of a railway carriage.

The bridge was strengthened to cope with increasing traffic in 1891-95, at which time the footbridge was added. This was made especially strong to support the crowds that traditionally gathered for the Boat Race. However, the footbridge is now closed during the race. 

Blackfriars Bridge

This bridge was designed by Joseph Cubbit and opened by Queen Victoria in 1869. 

It replaced an earlier stone structure and features stone pillars shaped like pulpits between iron arches. These pillars were designed to resemble the interior of a church to commemorate the 13th century Dominican monastery that gave its name to Blackfriars.

Chelsea Bridge

The first Chelsea bridge was designed by Thomas Page and opened in 1858. Like the present bridge, this was a suspension bridge and was described at the time as the most beautiful of the bridges that crossed the Thames. It gave access to Battersea Park, which had been laid out just before the bridge was built. Tolls were payable, and this led to complaints that "Government gave a park to the people but placed a toll-bar at the gate to keep them out". The tolls were abolished in 1879.

The old bridge was demolished in 1935 and the new suspension bridge was provided with much stronger foundations to cope with increasing traffic levels.

Grosvenor Railway Bridge

This bridge is also known as the Victoria Bridge and the first railway bridge to cross the Thames into central London. It was designed by Sir John Fowler for the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway and opened in 1860.

A second bridge to match the existing structure was designed by Sir Charles Fox for the London, Chatham and Dover Railway. This was built alongside the existing bridge in 1866.

A third bridge was built in 1907 to increase the number of tracks into Victoria Station up to ten.

All three bridges were replaced between 1963 and 1967 and there are now in effect ten separate bridges each carrying one railway line.

Hungerford Bridge and Golden Jubilee Bridges

These bridges take their name from Hungerford Market which was situated on the site now occupied by Charing Cross Station.

The first bridge at this location was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel and opened in 1845 to provide pedestrian access to the Market. The bridge was purchased in 1859 by the South Eastern Railway so it could extend the line from London Bridge to the proposed new Charing Cross Station. The chains and other suspension parts of Brunel's Thames bridge were used to finish his other bridge across the Avon Gorge in Bristol in memory of the famous engineer who had recently died.

The new railway bridge, which utilised Brunel's original foundations and piers, was completed in 1864 and included two toll footpaths which the Railway Company was obliged to maintain. The tolls were abolished in 1878 and one of the footpaths was replaced by track in 1882. However, the bridge remained as the only London crossing to take both rail and pedestrian traffic.

The single footpath was replaced by two new suspension footbridges, designed by Lifshutz Davidson, and completed in 2002. They were named the Golden Jubilee Bridges, in honour of the Golden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II.

Kew Railway Bridge

This bridge was built by the London and South Western Railway Company to extend the line from South Acton Junction to Richmond.

It was designed by WR Galbraith and opened in 1869.  

London Bridge

Until 1750, when Westminster Bridge was built, this was London's only bridge across the Thames. The first bridge was built by the Romans in about AD 50 and was succeeded by a timber bridge built by the Saxons. The bridge was rebuilt in wood several times until the last timber bridge was built in 1163.

Work started on a new stone bridge in 1176 and was completed in 1209. This was the famous old London Bridge, complete with shops, a chapel and houses. By the middle of the 18th century a large number of the houses were occupied by pin and needle makers, whose pins can still be found on the foreshore.

A new stone bridge, designed by John Rennie, was opened in 1831 by King William IV and Queen Adelaide. This bridge was in use for 140 years until it became too weak to cope with modern traffic and had to be replaced. The old bridge is now sited in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, having been removed brick by brick in 1973.

The present bridge was built by Harold Knox King and was opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1973.

Putney Bridge

This bridge marks the start of the annual Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race. 

The first bridge was of timber construction and opened in 1729. Tolls were payable but initially people were reluctant to pay these - they did not pay when they went over London Bridge, why should they pay at Putney? Two toll collectors were stationed at each end of the bridge and issued with staves which were occasionally used to persuade the public to pay. In 1730, bells were hung on the tops of the toll houses so that collectors could go to the assistance of their colleagues if they were in trouble.

The present stone bridge was designed by Sir Joseph Bazalgette for the Metropolitan Board of Works and was opened by the Prince and Princess of Wales in 1886.

Queen Elizabeth II Bridge (QEII)

The Queen Elizabeth II Bridge is situated some 20 miles east of London, between Dartford in Kent and Thurrock in Essex. It carries the M25 traffic across the river from Essex to Kent.

The need for a new crossing at this point was identified in the 1980's as sections of the M25, the new orbital motorway around London, were opened. It was recognised that the existing tunnels, which now carry M25 traffic from Kent to Essex, would be seriously overloaded once the motorway was finished.

Work on the bridge started in August 1988 and it was opened by Queen Elizabeth II in October 1991. At this time it was the largest cable-supported bridge in Europe and cost £86 million to build.

Traffic volumes have grown by 75% since the bridge was opened and it is now used by approximately 50 million vehicles every year.

Richmond Lock

The Grade II* listed structure is owned and operated by the Port of London Authority.

Permission was granted in 1890 to build a half-lock and weir downstream of Richmond Bridge. This followed many years of petitioning since the old London Bridge was demolished in 1862. The effect of the removal of the palisades that protected London Bridge was to cause the tides to rise and fall more rapidly than before. This effect, combined with increased dredging activities in the lower reaches of the Thames, resulted in the river at Richmond and Twickenham becoming little more than a trickle between wide mud banks for long periods of time.

A barge lock was built on the Surrey side at Richmond and this was joined by a weir to three roller slipways for small boats on the Middlesex side. The weir was opened and closed twice a day to hold water back at low tide. A superstructure was needed to house the weir mechanisms and this was constructed to form two footbridges. These were opened by the Duke and Duchess of York in 1894.

Southwark Bridge

The first bridge on this site was designed by John Rennie and opened in 1819. It was a toll bridge and included one of the largest cast iron arches ever built. However, within 80 years or so it was clear that the bridge was too narrow to cope with an increased amount of traffic and the decision was taken to replace it.

The new bridge was completed in 1921 and was designed to ensure that the piers lined up with those of both Blackfriars and London Bridges to assist navigation. The turrets on the piers were designed by Sir Ernest George RA.

Twickenham Bridge

A modern road bridge designed by Maxwell Ayrton and one of three new bridges opened by the Prince of Wales in July 1933. 

The bridge has reinforced concrete arches with permanent hinges to allow adjustment for changes in temperature. It was the first bridge incorporating this feature to be built in Britain.

Wandsworth Bridge

A wrought iron structure designed by Julian Tolmne was built here in 1873. It was of the lattice girder type and had a wooden roadway.

After 60 years or so, this bridge proved unable to cope with increasing levels of traffic so a new bridge was commissioned in 1935. This was designed by Sir Peirson Frank and opened in 1940.

Westminster Bridge

The original bridge completed in 1750 was only the second bridge to cross the Thames in Central London. The next nearest crossing was at Putney, which opened in 1729. The new bridge met much opposition from the watermen, who made their living ferrying people across the river. The bridge featured semi-octagonal turrets at intervals to provide shelter for pedestrians, but they soon became haunts for cut-throats and prostitutes. Twelve nightwatchmen were hired to guard travellers.

The bridge became unsafe and work began in 1854 on a replacement designed by Thomas Page.

The new bridge opened in 1862 and is the oldest bridge in use in Central London.