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Westminster Bridge

Coordinates: 51°30′03″N 0°07′19″W / 51.50083°N 0.12194°W / 51.50083; -0.12194
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Westminster Bridge
Coordinates51°30′03″N 0°07′19″W / 51.5008°N 0.1219°W / 51.5008; -0.1219
CarriesA302 road
CrossesRiver Thames
LocaleLondon
Maintained byTransport for London
Heritage statusGrade II* listed structure
Preceded byLambeth Bridge
Followed byHungerford Bridge & Golden Jubilee Bridges
Characteristics
DesignArch bridge
Total length820 feet (250 m)
Width85 feet (26 m)
No. of spans7
History
DesignerThomas Page
Opened(first bridge) 18 November 1750
(second bridge) 24 May 1862
Location
Map
Westminster Bridge by Joseph Farrington, 1789 (the original bridge)

Westminster Bridge is a road-and-foot-traffic bridge crossing over the River Thames in London, linking Westminster on the west side and Lambeth on the east side.

The bridge is painted predominantly green, the same colour as the leather seats in the House of Commons which is on the side of the Palace of Westminster nearest to the bridge, but a natural shade similar to verdigris. This is in contrast to Lambeth Bridge, which is red, the same colour as the seats in the House of Lords and is on the opposite side of the Houses of Parliament.[1]

In 2005–2007, it underwent a complete refurbishment, including replacing the iron fascias and repainting the whole bridge. It links the Palace of Westminster on the west side of the river with County Hall and the London Eye on the east and was the finishing point during the early years of the London Marathon.

The next bridge downstream is the Hungerford Bridge & Golden Jubilee Bridges and upstream is Lambeth Bridge. Westminster Bridge was designated a Grade II* listed structure in 1981.[2]

History

[edit]
Westminster Bridge Act 1735
Act of Parliament
Parliament of Great Britain
Long titleAn Act for building a Bridge cross the River Thames, from The New Palace Yard, in the City of Westminster, to the opposite Shore in the County of Surrey.
Citation9 Geo. 2. c. 29
Dates
Royal assent20 May 1736
Other legislation
Repealed byWestminster Bridge Act 1853
Status: Repealed
Westminster Bridge Act 1736
Act of Parliament
Parliament of Great Britain
Long titleAn Act for explaining and amending an Act passed in the Ninth Year of the Reign of His present Majesty, intituled, "An Act for building a Bridge cross the River Thames, from The New Palace Yard, in the City of Westminster, to the opposite Shore, in the County of Surrey."
Citation10 Geo. 2. c. 16
Dates
Royal assent21 June 1737
Other legislation
Repealed byWestminster Bridge Act 1853
Status: Repealed
Westminster Bridge Act 1737
Act of Parliament
Parliament of Great Britain
Long titleAn Act for building a Bridge cross the River Thames, from the Woolstaple, or thereabouts, in the Parish of Saint Margaret, in the City of Westminster, to the opposite Shore, in the County of Surrey.
Citation11 Geo. 2. c. 25
Dates
Royal assent20 May 1738
Other legislation
Repealed byWestminster Bridge Act 1853
Status: Repealed
Westminster Bridge Act 1738
Act of Parliament
Parliament of Great Britain
Long titleAn Act to enlarge the Powers of the Commissioners for building a Bridge cross the River Thames, from The Woolstaple, or thereabouts, in the Parish of Saint Margaret, in the City of Westminster, to the opposite Shore, in the County of Surrey; and to enable them, by a Lottery, to raise Money, for the several Purposes therein mentioned; and to enlarge the Time for exchanging Tickets unclaimed in the last Lottery for the said Bridge; and to make Provision for Tickets in the said Lottery, lost, burnt, or otherwise destroyed.
Citation12 Geo. 2. c. 33
Dates
Royal assent13 June 1739
Other legislation
Repealed byWestminster Bridge Act 1853
Status: Repealed
Westminster Bridge Act 1739
Act of Parliament
Parliament of Great Britain
Long titleAn Act to give further Powers to the Commissioners for building a Bridge cross the River Thames, from the City of Westminster to the opposite Shore in the County of Surrey; and to enable them to raise a further Sum of Money, towards finishing the said Bridge, and to perform the other Trusts reposed in them.
Citation13 Geo. 2. c. 16
Dates
Royal assent29 April 1740
Other legislation
Repealed byWestminster Bridge Act 1853
Status: Repealed
Westminster Bridge Act 1740
Act of Parliament
Parliament of Great Britain
Long titleAn Act to enable the Commissioners for building a Bridge cross the River Thames, from the City of Westminster, to the opposite Shore in the County of Surrey, to raise a further Sum of Money, towards finishing the said Bridge, and to perform the other Trusts reposed in them; and for exchanging of Tickets unclaimed in the Westminster Bridge Lottery of the Twelfth Year of His present Majesty's Reign; and for making Provision for Tickets in the said Lottery, lost, burnt, or otherwise destroyed.
Citation14 Geo. 2. c. 40
Dates
Royal assent25 April 1741
Other legislation
Repealed byWestminster Bridge Act 1853
Status: Repealed
Westminster Bridge Act 1741
Act of Parliament
Parliament of Great Britain
Long titleAn Act for the better enabling the Commissioners for building a Bridge cross the River Thames, from the City of Westminster to the opposite Shore in the County of Surrey, to finish the said Bridge, and to perform the other Trusts reposed in them; and for enlarging the Time for exchanging of Tickets unclaimed in the last Lottery for the said Bridge, and to make Provision for Tickets in the said Lottery, lost, burnt, or otherwise destroyed.
Citation15 Geo. 2. c. 26
Dates
Royal assent15 July 1742
Other legislation
Repealed byWestminster Bridge Act 1853
Status: Repealed
Westminster Bridge Act 1743
Act of Parliament
Parliament of Great Britain
Long titleAn Act to explain and make more effectual several Acts of Parliament, passed in the Reign of His present Majesty, for building a Bridge cross the River Thames, from the City of Westminster, to the opposite Shore in the County of Surrey; and for the better enabling the Commissioners for building the said Bridge to finish the same, and to perform the other Trusts reposed in them; as also for granting further Time for exchanging the Tickets unclaimed in the last Lottery for the said Bridge, and to make Provision for Tickets in the said Lottery, lost, burnt, or otherwise destroyed.
Citation17 Geo. 2. c. 32
Dates
Royal assent12 May 1744
Other legislation
Repealed byWestminster Bridge Act 1853
Status: Repealed
Westminster Bridge Act 1744
Act of Parliament
Parliament of Great Britain
Long titleAn Act for granting further Powers to the Commissioners for building a Bridge cross the River Thames, from the City of Westminster, to the opposite Shore in the County of Surrey; and for the better enabling them to finish the said Bridge, and to perform the other Trusts reposed in them.
Citation18 Geo. 2. c. 29
Dates
Royal assent2 May 1745
Other legislation
Repealed byWestminster Bridge Act 1853
Status: Repealed
Westminster Bridge Act 1756
Act of Parliament
Parliament of Great Britain
Long titleAn Act to enable the Commissioners for building a Bridge cross the River Thames, from the City of Westminster, to the opposite Shore in the County of Surry, to purchase Houses and Grounds, and to widen the Ways, and make more safe and commodious the Streets, Avenues, and Passages, leading from Charing Cross to the Two Houses of Parliament, Westminster Hall, and the Courts of Justice there, and Westminster Bridge; and to enable a less Number of Commissioners to execute the several Acts relating to the said Bridge than at present are required by Law; and for Relief of George and James King, with regard to a Lease taken by their late Father from the said Commissioners.
Citation29 Geo. 2. c. 38
Dates
Royal assent27 May 1756
Other legislation
Repealed byWestminster Bridge Act 1853
Status: Repealed
Westminster Bridge Act 1757
Act of Parliament
Parliament of Great Britain
Long titleAn Act to enable the Commissioners for building Westminster Bridge to widen the Street, or Avenue, leading from Cockspur Street to the Passage in Spring Garden, near Saint James's Park.
Citation30 Geo. 2. c. 34
Dates
Royal assent28 June 1757
Other legislation
Repealed byWestminster Bridge Act 1853
Status: Repealed
Prickard's Estate and Westminster Bridge Commissioners Act 1814
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long titleAn Act for vesting in the Commissioners of Westminster Bridge the legal Estate in Fee Simple of certain Estates vested in Thomas Prickard, an Infant Trustee, and others; and for confirming a Sale made by the said Commissioners, and for making them a Corporation, and giving them further Powers of selling and leasing.
Citation54 Geo. 3. c. cxxxii
Dates
Royal assent17 June 1814
Other legislation
Repealed byWestminster Bridge Act 1853
Status: Repealed
Text of statute as originally enacted
Westminster Bridge Act 1850
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long titleAn Act to enable the Commissioners of Westminster Bridge to build a temporary Bridge across the River Thames from Bridge Street in the City of Westminster to the opposite Shore in the County of Surrey.
Citation13 & 14 Vict. c. cxii
Dates
Royal assent14 August 1850
Other legislation
Repealed byWestminster Bridge Act 1853
Status: Repealed
Text of statute as originally enacted
Westminster Bridge Act 1853
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long titleAn Act to transfer Westminster Bridge and the estates of the Commissioners of Westminster Bridge to the Commissioners of Her Majesty's Works and Public Buildings, and to enable such last-mentioned Commissioners to remove the present bridge and to build a new bridge on or near the site thereof.
Citation16 & 17 Vict. c. 46
Dates
Royal assent4 August 1853
Other legislation
Repeals/revokes
  • Westminster Bridge Act 1735
  • Westminster Bridge Act 1736
  • Westminster Bridge Act 1737
  • Westminster Bridge Act 1738
  • Westminster Bridge Act 1739
  • Westminster Bridge Act 1740
  • Westminster Bridge Act 1741
  • Westminster Bridge Act 1743
  • Westminster Bridge Act 1744
  • Westminster Bridge Act 1757
  • Westminster Bridge Act 1756
  • Prickard's Estate and Westminster Bridge Commissioners Act 1814
  • Westminster Bridge Act 1850
Text of statute as originally enacted
Westminster Bridge Act 1859
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long titleAn Act to empower the Commissioners of Her Majesty's Works and Public Buildings to acquire additional Space for the Western Approach to Westminster New Bridge.
Citation22 & 23 Vict. c. 58
Dates
Royal assent13 August 1859
Other legislation
Repealed byLocal Law (Greater London Council and Inner London Boroughs) Order 1965
Status: Repealed
Westminster Bridge Act 1864
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long titleAn Act for the better regulation of the traffic on Westminster Bridge and for the prevention of obstructions thereon.
Citation27 & 28 Vict. c. 88
Dates
Royal assent29 July 1864
Other legislation
Repealed byStatute Law (Repeals) Act 1973
Status: Repealed

For over 600 years (at least 1129–1729), the nearest Thames bridge to London Bridge was at Kingston. From late Tudor times congestion in trading hours at London Bridge (for road goods and carriages from Kent, Essex, much of Surrey, Middlesex and beyond) often amounted to more than an hour.[3] A bridge at Westminster was proposed in 1664, but opposed by the Corporation of London and the watermen. Further opposition held sway in 1722. However an intervening bridge (albeit in timber) was built at Putney in 1729 and the scheme received parliamentary approval in 1736. Financed by private capital, lotteries and grants, Westminster Bridge was built between 1739–1750, under the supervision of the Swiss engineer Charles Labelye.[4] The bridge opened on 18 November 1750.[5]

The City of London responded to Westminster Bridge and the population growth by removing the buildings on London Bridge and widening it in 1760–63. With Putney Bridge, the bridge paved the way for four others within three decades: Blackfriars Bridge (1769, built by the City), Kew Bridge (1759), Battersea Bridge (1773), and Richmond Bridge (1777) by which date roads and vehicles were improved and fewer regular goods transported by water.

The bridge assisted the expanding West End to the developing South London as well as goods and carriages from the more estuarine counties and the East Sussex and Kentish ports. Without the bridge, traffic to and from the greater West End would have to negotiate streets often as congested as London Bridge, principally the Strand/Fleet Street and New Oxford Street/Holborn. Roads on both sides of the river were also built and improved, including Charing Cross Road and around the Elephant & Castle in Southwark.

By the mid-19th century the bridge was subsiding badly and expensive to maintain. The current bridge was designed by Thomas Page and opened on 24 May 1862.[6] With a length of 820 feet (250 m) and a width of 85 feet (26 m),[7] it is a seven-arch, cast-iron[8] bridge with Gothic detailing by Charles Barry (the architect of the Palace of Westminster). The bridge carried a tram line for much of the first half of the twentieth century, from 1906 until 1952. On 5 July that year the last tram made a ceremonial journey across the bridge.[9] Since the removal of Rennie's New London Bridge in 1967 it is the oldest road structure which crosses the Thames in central London.

On 22 March 2017, a terrorist attack started on the bridge and continued into Bridge Street and Old Palace Yard. Five people – three pedestrians, one police officer, and the attacker – died as a result of the incident. A colleague of the officer (who was stationed nearby) was armed and shot the attacker. More than 50 people were injured. An investigation into the attack was conducted by the Metropolitan Police.[10]

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Westminster Bridge and surrounding landmarks at night
Street artists on Westminster Bridge and London Eye in the background

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Becky Jones，Clare Lewis (2012). The Bumper Book of London: Everything You Need to Know About London and More... Frances Lincoln. p. 127. ISBN 978-1-781011-03-4.
  2. ^ Historic England. "Westminster Bridge (1081058)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 27 November 2008.
  3. ^ Pierce, Patricia, Old London Bridge – The Story of the Longest Inhabited Bridge in Europe, Headline Books, 2001, ISBN 0-7472-3493-0 at p.45
  4. ^ Walker, R. J. B. (1979). Old Westminster Bridge: The Bridge of Fools. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN 978-0715378373.
  5. ^ Cookson, Brian (October 2010). "Westminster Bridge" (PDF). London Historians. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
  6. ^ John Eade. "Where Thames Smooth Waters Glide". Thames.me.uk. Retrieved 28 November 2011.
  7. ^ Thames Tideway Tunnel (September 2013). "Tunnel and Bridge Assessments: Central Zone: Westminster Bridge" (PDF). Thames Water Utilities. p. 4. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
  8. ^ Roberts, Howard; Godfrey, Walter H., eds. (1951). "Westminster Bridge". Survey of London. Vol. 23, Lambeth: South Bank and Vauxhall. London: London County Council. pp. 66–68. Retrieved 1 April 2017 – via British History Online.
  9. ^ Marshall, Prince (1972) (2 February 1972). Wheels of London. The Sunday Times Magazine. p. 95. ISBN 0-7230-0068-9.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  10. ^ "London attack: What we know so far". BBC News. BBC. 27 March 2017. Retrieved 27 March 2017.
  11. ^ "The Dalek Invasion of Earth: Doctor Who classic episode #2". TheGuardian.com. 27 March 2017. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
  12. ^ "The Race Halts!". HaMerotz LaMillion. Season 4. Episode 20. 28 January 2015. Channel 2.
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