Battersea Bridge | |
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 | |
| Coordinates | 51°28′52″N0°10′21″W / 51.48111°N 0.17250°W /51.48111; -0.17250 |
| Carries | A3220 road |
| Crosses | River Thames |
| Locale | London, England |
| Maintained by | Transport for London |
| Heritage status | Grade II listed structure |
| Preceded by | Battersea Railway Bridge |
| Followed by | Albert Bridge |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | Arch bridge |
| Material | Cast iron andgranite |
| Total length | 725 feet 6 inches (221.13 m) |
| Width | 40 feet (12 m) |
| Longest span | 163 feet (50 m) |
| No. of spans | 5 |
| Piers in water | 4 |
| Clearance below | 38 feet 9 inches (11.8 m) atlowest astronomical tide[1] |
| History | |
| Designer | Joseph Bazalgette |
| Opened | 21 July 1890; 135 years ago (1890-07-21) |
| Replaces | Old Battersea Bridge (1771–1885) a.k.a. Chelsea Bridge |
| Statistics | |
| Daily traffic | 26,041 vehicles (2004)[2] 22,537 vehicles (2010) 23,495 vehicles (2015)[3]> |
| Location | |
 Interactive map of Battersea Bridge | |
Battersea Bridge is a five-spanarch bridge withcast-irongirders andgranitepiers crossing theRiver Thames inLondon, England. It is situated on a sharp bend in the river, and linksBattersea south of the river withChelsea to the north. The bridge replaced a ferry service that had operated near the site since at least the middle of the 16th century.
The first Battersea Bridge was atoll bridge commissioned byJohn, Earl Spencer, who had recently acquired the rights to operate the ferry. Although a stone bridge was planned, difficulties in raising investment meant that a cheaper wooden bridge was built instead. Designed byHenry Holland, it was initially opened to pedestrians in November 1771, and to vehicle traffic in 1772. The bridge was inadequately designed and dangerous both to its users and to passing shipping, and boats often collided with it. To reduce the dangers to shipping, two piers were removed and the sections of the bridge above them were strengthened with iron girders.
Although dangerous and unpopular, the bridge was the last survivingwooden bridge on the Thames in London, and was the subject of paintings by many significant artists such asJ. M. W. Turner,John Sell Cotman andJames McNeill Whistler, including Whistler'sNocturne: Blue and Gold – Old Battersea Bridge, and his controversialNocturne in Black and Gold – The Falling Rocket.
In 1879 the bridge was taken into public ownership, and in 1885 demolished and replaced with the existing bridge, designed bySir Joseph Bazalgette and built byJohn Mowlem & Co. The narrowest surviving road bridge over the Thames in London, it is one of London's least busy Thames bridges. The location on a bend in the river makes the bridge a hazard to shipping, and it has been closed many times due to collisions.
Chelsea, about 3 miles (4.8 km) west ofWestminster on the north bank of theRiver Thames, has existed as a settlement since at leastAnglo-Saxon times.[4] The Thames at this point inflects through a sharp angle from a south–north to an east–west flow, and the slow-moving and relatively easilyfordable river here is popularly believed to be the site ofJulius Caesar's crossing of the Thames during the 54 BCinvasion of Britain.[5][n 1] Chelsea enjoyed good road and river connections to theseat of government atWestminster and the commercial centre of theCity of London since at least the 14th century.[4] It was a centre of the Britishporcelain industry,[6] and a major producer ofbaked goods – at peak periods almost 250,000Chelsea buns per day were sold.[7] By the 18th century it had large numbers of very prosperous residents.[4]
Battersea, listed asPatricesy (St Peter's Water) in theDomesday Book and first mentioned in records of 693 AD,[8][9] on the south bank of the river opposite Chelsea, was by contrast low and marshy land, prone to flooding. Conditions were ideal for farmingasparagus andlavender,[n 2] and a small market town grew in the area based on the asparagus and lavender industries.[6]
Although Chelsea and Battersea had been linked byferry since at least 1550,[6] the nearest fixed links between the two werePutney Bridge,2+1⁄2 miles (4.0 km) upstream and opened in 1729,[10] andWestminster Bridge, 3 miles (4.8 km) downstream, opened in 1746.[11] In 1763John, Earl Spencer, purchased themanor of Battersea,[6] and consequently acquired ownership of the ferry service between Chelsea and Battersea.[12]
The ferry was old and somewhat dangerous,[12] and Spencer formed the Battersea Bridge Company and sought and obtained parliamentary consent via theBattersea Bridge Act 1766 (6 Geo. 3. c. 66) to build "a fine stone bridge" across the Thames.[6] The bridge was to be built betweenCheyne Walk and Battersea, at the point where the river's course turns sharply east towardsWestminster,[13] at a projected cost of £83,000 (about £15,362,000 in 2023).[6][14] The earl had anticipated that many local residents would invest in the project, but soon found that there was widespread scepticism about the scheme. Only 15 investors, including the earl himself, were willing to invest,[15] and a total of only £17,662 (about £3,102,000 in 2023) was raised, far less than was needed to finance the ambitious project.[14][16]
Spencer calculated that the money raised would be sufficient to finance a modest timber bridge, and a design was commissioned from rising architectHenry Holland. The bridge was built to Holland's designs byJohn Phillips, whose uncleThomas Phillips had built the 1729 bridge at Putney.[13] The bridge was opened to pedestrians in November 1771 while still incomplete. In 1772 a chalk and gravel surface was added and the bridge was opened to vehicle traffic.[13] Tolls were charged on a sliding scale, ranging from1⁄2d for pedestrians to 1shilling for vehicles drawn by four or more horses.[12] The bridge was never formally named, and was referred to on maps of the period as both "Battersea Bridge" and "Chelsea Bridge".[n 3][17]
The bridge was not a commercial success. It was 734 feet (224 m) long and only 24 feet (7.3 m) wide, making it impractical for larger vehicles to use.[13] Holland's design consisted of nineteen separate narrow spans, the widest being only 32 feet (9.8 m) wide,[18] and boats found it difficult to navigate beneath the bridge; there were a number of accidents including serious injuries and deaths.[13] Repeatedly rammed by passing shipping, the bridge required frequent costly repairs, and dividends paid to investors were low.[13] During a particularly cold winter in 1795 the bridge was badly damaged by ice, necessitating lengthy and expensive reconstruction, and no dividends at all were paid for the next three years.[19] Concerns were expressed in Parliament about the reliability of the bridge, and the Battersea Bridge Company was obliged to provide a ferry service at the same rate as the bridge tolls, in the event of the bridge being closed for repairs.[6]
In an effort to improve the bridge's poor safety record for its customers,oil lamps were added to the deck in 1799, making Battersea Bridge the first Thames bridge to be lit.[16][17] Between 1821 and 1824 the flimsy wooden fences along the edges of the bridge, which were often breaking, were replaced by sturdy iron 4-foot (1.2 m) railings,[17] and in 1824 the oil lamps were themselves replaced bygas lighting.[16][17]In 1873, in an effort to improve navigation around the bridge and reduce accidents, two of the piers were removed, making the widest span a more easily navigated 77 feet (23 m), and the bridge deck was strengthened with iron girders to compensate for the missing piers.[18]
In 1806, a scheme was proposed byRalph Dodd to open the south bank of the Thames opposite Westminster and London for development, by building a new major road fromHyde Park Corner toKennington andGreenwich, crossing the river atVauxhall, about halfway between Battersea Bridge and Westminster Bridge.[20] The Battersea Bridge Company were concerned about the potential loss of custom, and petitioned Parliament against the scheme, stating that "[Dodd] is a well known adventurer and Speculist, and the projector of numerous undertakings upon a large scale most if not all of which have failed",[n 4] and the bill was abandoned.[21] However, in 1809 a new bill was presented to Parliament for a bridge at Vauxhall, this time obliging the operators of the new bridge to compensate the Battersea Bridge Company for any losses, and the company allowed it to pass as theVauxhall Bridge Act 1809 (49 Geo. 3. c. cxlii) and accepted compensation.[21] The act obliged the Vauxhall Bridge Company to reimburse the Battersea Bridge Company for any loss in revenue caused by the new bridge.[22]
After many delays and setbacks, the new bridge at Vauxhall (initially named Regent Bridge afterGeorge, Prince Regent, but shortly afterwards renamedVauxhall Bridge) opened on 4 June 1816.[23] However, the Vauxhall Bridge Company failed to pay the agreed compensation to the Battersea Bridge Company and were taken to court. After a legal dispute lasting five years, a judgment was made in favour of the Battersea Bridge Company, with the Vauxhall Bridge Company being obliged to pay £8,234 (about £887,000 in 2023) compensation.[14][21]
Although the bridge was inconvenient for its users and flimsily constructed, as the last survivingwooden bridge on the Thames in the London area it was considered an important landmark, and many leading artists of the period were attracted to it.[n 5][12]Camille Pissarro,J. M. W. Turner,John Sell Cotman andJohn Atkinson Grimshaw produced significant paintings of the bridge.[17][24][25]Walter Greaves, whose family owned aboathouse adjacent to the bridge and whose father had been boatman to Turner, painted numerous scenes of the bridge.[26] Local resident and mentor to GreavesJames McNeill Whistler created many images of it, including the influentialHokusai-inspiredNocturne: Blue and Gold – Old Battersea Bridge (paintedc. 1872–5), in which the dimensions of the bridge are intentionally distorted andChelsea Old Church and the newly builtAlbert Bridge are visible through a stylisedLondon fog.[17]
Whistler'sNocturne series achieved notoriety in 1877, when influential criticJohn Ruskin visited an exhibition of the series at theGrosvenor Gallery. He wrote of the paintingNocturne in Black and Gold – The Falling Rocket, that Whistler was "asking two hundredguineas for flinging a pot of paint in the public's face". Whistler sued for libel, the case reaching the courts in 1878.[27] The judge in the case caused laughter in the court when, referring toNocturne: Blue and Gold – Old Battersea Bridge, he asked Whistler "Which part of the picture is the bridge?"; the case ended with Whistler awarded token damages of onefarthing.[28]
In 1905,Nocturne: Blue and Gold became the first significant acquisition by the newly formedNational Art Collections Fund, and is now inTate Britain.[29]
A more modern and convenient competing bridge opened nearby atChelsea Bridge in 1858,[30] and usage of Battersea Bridge fell sharply.[15][31] There were serious public concerns about the safety of the bridge by this time, after an 1844 incident in which a woman was murdered on the bridge in view of one of the toll collectors, who did not intervene because both parties had paid their fares.[32]
The newAlbert Bridge opened in 1873, less than 500 yards (460 m) from Battersea Bridge.[33] Mindful of the impact the new bridge would have on older bridge's financial viability, theAlbert Bridge Act 1864 (27 & 28 Vict. c. ccxxxv) authorising the Albert Bridge compelled the Albert Bridge Company to purchase Battersea Bridge at the time of the new bridge's opening and to compensate the owners of Battersea Bridge with £3,000 (about £373,000 in 2023) per annum until the new bridge opened,[16] and so Battersea Bridge was bought outright by the Albert Bridge Company in 1873.[14][34][35] By this time the bridge was in extremely poor condition, and there were many calls from local residents for it to be demolished. As an interim measure, the Albert Bridge's architectRowland Mason Ordish strengthened the foundations of the bridge with concrete while debate continued as to its future.[17]
TheMetropolis Toll Bridges Act 1877 (40 & 41 Vict. c. xcix) was passed, which allowed theMetropolitan Board of Works to buy all London bridges betweenHammersmith andWaterloo Bridges and free them from tolls,[36] and in 1879 the Board of Works bought Albert and Battersea bridges for a combined cost of £170,000 (about £21,833,000 in 2023) and the tolls were removed from both bridges.[14][37]
Inspections by the Chief Engineer of the Metropolitan Board of Works,Sir Joseph Bazalgette, following the purchase found that Battersea Bridge was in such poor condition that it was unable to be repaired safely.[9] In 1883 it was restricted to pedestrian traffic only, and in 1885 it was demolished to make way for a new bridge designed by Bazalgette.[12]
The contract to build the new bridge was awarded toJohn Mowlem & Co,[12] and in June 1887 theDuke of Clarence laid a ceremonial foundation stone in the southernabutment and construction work began.[17] Bazalgette's design incorporated five arches with cast iron griders, ongranite piers which in turn rest on concrete foundations. The roadway itself is 24 feet (7.3 m) wide, and 8-foot (2.4 m) wide footpaths arecantilevered on either side of the bridge,[n 6] giving the bridge a total width of 40 feet (12 m).[12] Thebalustrade is a distinctiveMoorish-style lattice.[38] Construction work was overseen by Bazalgette's son Edward, and cost a total of £143,000 (about £19,879,000 in 2023).[14][18]
On 21 July 1890, the bridge was officially opened by future Prime MinisterLord Rosebery, then chairman of the newly formedLondon County Council. Unlike its predecessor, the new bridge was officially named Battersea Bridge.[12] Although the road was narrow,trams operated on it from the outset. Initially these were horse-drawn, but from 22 June 1911 the electric trams ofLondon County Council Tramways were introduced.[18]
Although the five spans of the current bridge are far wider than the nineteen spans of the original bridge, Battersea Bridge's location on a sharp bend in the river still presents a hazard to navigation. In 1948, theMV Delta jammed under the bridge, and its master Hendrikus Oostring suffered broken arms and needed to be rescued from the smashedwheelhouse.[39] On 23 March 1950, thecollierJohn Hopkinson collided with the central pier, causing serious structural damage, leaving the tram tracks as the only element holding the bridge together.[18] The London County Council was concerned that the entire structure would collapse and closed the bridge until January 1951.[40] Tram services in the area were withdrawn on 30 September 1950, so when the bridge was reopened the tram tracks were lifted.[18][41] Another serious incident took place on 21 September 2005, when theJames Prior, a 200-ton barge, collided with the bridge, causing serious structural damage costing over £500,000 to repair.[42][43] The bridge was closed to all motor vehicles other than buses while repairs were carried out, causing severe traffic congestion; it eventually reopened on 16 January 2006.[44] Brian King, the master of theJames Prior, was formally cleared of navigating without due care and attention in 2008, when the judge in the case injured his back and was unable to proceed, and prosecutors decided not to re-present the case.[43]
At only 40 feet (12 m) wide, Bazalgette's bridge is now London's narrowest surviving road bridge over the Thames,[12] and in 2004 was the fifth least-used Thames bridge in London.[2] In 1983 the bridge was designated aGrade II listed structure, protecting its character from further alterations,[45] and in 1992English Heritage oversaw a project to renovate the bridge, which for some years had been painted blue and red.
Paint samples were analysed and photographs from the time of opening consulted, and the bridge was restored to its original appearance. The main body of the bridge was painted in dark green, with thespandrels decorated ingilding. Thelamp standards, which had been removed during theSecond World War, were replaced with replicas copied from the surviving posts at the ends of the bridge.[17] A statue of James McNeill Whistler byNicholas Dimbleby was erected at the north end of the bridge in 2005.[28]
Shortly after its reopening following the collision with theJames Prior, the bridge briefly attained national prominence on 20 January 2006 when a 19-foot (5.8 m) long femalebottlenose whale became stranded at Battersea Bridge. Arescue operation was mounted, and large crowds flocked to the bridge. The whale was successfully transferred to a barge, but died while being transported back to the sea to be released.[46] A year after the whale's death, its skeleton was put on public display in the offices ofThe Guardian newspaper.[47] Today it resides at theNatural History Museum.[48]
Notes
References
Bibliography
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