Lambeth Bridge | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Coordinates | 51°29′40″N0°07′23″W / 51.49444°N 0.12306°W /51.49444; -0.12306 |
| Carries | Lambeth Road |
| Crosses | River Thames |
| Locale | London |
| Maintained by | Transport for London |
| Preceded by | Vauxhall Bridge |
| Followed by | Westminster Bridge |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | Arch |
| History | |
| Opened | (first bridge) 10 November 1862; 163 years ago (1862-11-10) (second bridge) 19 July 1932; 93 years ago (1932-07-19) |
| Location | |
 Interactive map of Lambeth Bridge | |
Lambeth Bridge is a road traffic andfootbridge crossing theRiver Thames in an east–west direction in central London. The river flows north at the crossing point. Downstream, the next bridge isWestminster Bridge; upstream, the next bridge isVauxhall Bridge.
The most conspicuous colour in the bridge's paint scheme is red, the same colour as the leather benches in theHouse of Lords, which is at the southern end of thePalace of Westminster nearest the bridge. This is in contrast to Westminster Bridge, which is predominantly green, the same colour as the benches in theHouse of Commons at the northern end of the Houses of Parliament.
On the east side, inLambeth, areLambeth Palace, theAlbert Embankment,St. Thomas' Hospital, and theInternational Maritime Organization. On the west side, inWestminster, areThames House (the headquarters ofMI5), behind which is Horseferry House (theNational Probation Service headquarters), and Clelland House and Abell House (the headquarters ofHM Prison Service), and theMillbank Tower andTate Britain. ThePalace of Westminster is a short walk downstream to the north through the Victoria Tower Garden.
Lambeth Bridge is on the site of a horse ferry between thePalace of Westminster andLambeth Palace on the south bank.[1] Its name lives on inHorseferry Road, which forms the approach to the bridge on the north bank.
The first modern bridge was a suspension bridge, 828 feet (252.4 m) long, designed byPeter W. Barlow. Sanctioned by theLambeth Bridge Act 1861 (24 & 25 Vict. c. cxvii), it opened as a toll bridge on 10 November 1862.[2] Doubts about its safety, coupled with its awkwardly steep approaches deterring horse-drawn traffic, meant it soon became used almost solely as a pedestrian crossing. It ceased to be a toll bridge in 1879 when theMetropolitan Board of Works assumed responsibility for its upkeep — it was by then severely corroded, and by 1910 it was closed to vehicular traffic.
TheLondon County Council prepared a masterplan for the area, including a replacement road bridge linking to a widenedHorseferry Road, which was authorised by London County Council (Lambeth Bridge) Act 1924 (14 & 15 Geo. 5. c. lxvii). Before work had started on the project, the1928 Thames flood caused extensive destruction of property in the Millbank area. Following the flood theChelsea Embankment was rebuilt and raised, resulting in some minor redesign of the approaches, and creating the open space to the north of Lambeth Bridge now known as Victoria Tower Gardens South. During the period of delay, the bridge was also redesigned to be able to cope with a higher weight of motorised traffic.
The current structure, a five-span steel arch, designed by engineer SirGeorge Humphreys and architects SirReginald Blomfield andG. Topham Forrest,[3] was built byDorman Long[4] and opened on 19 July 1932 by KingGeorge V. It formerly carried four lanes of road traffic (now reduced to three lanes, one of which is a buses-only lane flowing eastbound) from aroundabout junction by theLambeth Palace northwards to another roundabout, where theMillbank road meets Horseferry Road .
The bridge is notable at road level for the pairs ofobelisks at either end of the bridge, which are surmounted by stonepinecones.[5] However, there is a popularurban legend that they arepineapples, as a tribute[6] to Lambeth residentJohn Tradescant the younger, who is said to have grown the first pineapple in Britain.[7]
The bridge was declared aGrade II listed structure in 2008, providing protection to preserve its special character from unsympathetic development.[8] The listing designation includes the parapets, lamps, obelisks and the approach walls.
