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Commentary by H. B. Wheatley from Reliques of Old London

AS the streets of London progressed towards the west on both sides of the river,the want of more bridge accommodation became eviudent and at the beginning of the present century a new iron bridge was constructed in spite of the opposition of the City. The original proposer was Ralph Dodd, the projector of tunnels. The work or construction was carried out by a body of shareholders who employed Sir Samuel Bentham and John Rennie besides Dodd, but in spite of the employment of these distinguished men the design of the bridge really belongs to James Walker.

The work was commenced on May 9th, 1811, the first stone being laid by Lord Dundas, acting as proxy for the Prince Regent. There seems to have been some delay in the proceedings, for more than two years elapsed (September, 1813) before the first stone of the abutments on the Surrey side was laid by Prince Charles, eldest son of the Duke of Brunswick, who was killed at the battle of Waterloo. The entire work was finished in 1816, at an expense of about £300,000, and was opened on June 4th.

The cast-iron superstructure wiih its nine arches was supported on rusticated stone piers. The arches were each 78 feet in span. The roadway measured 36 feet across, and the entire length of the bridge was 809 feet. When the bridge was finished, it was said to be the lightest structure of the kind in Europe.

It was first called Regent's Bridge, but the name was afterwards changed to Vauxhall Bridge on account of its nearness to Vauxhall Gardens. The bridge had been in an unsatisfactory condition for some time, and it was cleared away in 1899 and the new bridge commenced.

The designer of the new bridge is Sir A. Binnie, engineer to the London County Council, and its cost is estimated at £390,000. Now that Millbank has been rebuilt and a branch of the National Gallery has been opened there (the Tate Gallery), the want of a good bridge at this point is evident to all. [49-50]

Bibliography

Way, T. R., and H. B. Wheatley. Reliques of Old London upon the Banks of the Thames and in the Subburbs South of the River. London: George Bell and Sons, 1909. [title page] Internet Archive version of a copy in the Boston Public Library. Web. 22 April 2012..

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Last modified 22 April 2012