- Putney Bridge
Infobox Bridge
bridge_name = Putney Bridge
caption =
official_name =
locale =London ,England
carries = Motor vehicles
crosses =River Thames
maint =
open =1886
below =
traffic =
design =Arch bridge
toll =
mainspan =
length =
width =Putney Bridge is a
bridge crossing of the RiverThames in westLondon , linkingPutney on the south side withFulham to the north.History
One story runs that "in 1720 Sir Robert Walpole was returning from seeing George I at Kingston and being in a hurry to get to the House of Commons rode together with his servant to Putney to take the ferry across to Fulham. The ferry boat was on the opposite side, however and the waterman, who was drinking in the Swan, ignored the calls of Sir Robert and his servant and they were obliged to take another route. Walpole vowed that a bridge would replace the ferry."Fact|date=March 2008
The Prince of Wales apparently "was often inconvenienced by the ferry when returning from hunting in Richmond park and asked Walpole to use his influence by supporting the bridge."Fact|date=March 2008
Construction of a bridge was first sanctioned by an Act of Parliament in
1726 . Built by local mastercarpenter Thomas Phillips to a design byarchitect SirJacob Ackworth , the first bridge was opened in November1729 , to become the only bridge betweenLondon Bridge and Kingston Bridge at the time. Atoll bridge , it featured tollbooths at either end of the timber-built structure. [http://thames.me.uk/s00230.htm Where Thames Smooth Waters Glide] ]In October
1795 Mary Wollstonecraft allegedly planned to commitsuicide by jumping from the bridge because she returned from a trip toSweden to discover that her lover was involved with an actress from London.Fact|date=March 2008The bridge was badly damaged by the collision of a river barge in 1870, and although part of the bridge was subsequently replaced, soon the entire bridge would be demolished and in 1886 it was replaced by the stone bridge that stands today.
The
Metropolitan Board of Works purchased the bridge in 1879, discontinued the tolls in1880 , and set about its replacement. The current bridge was designed bycivil engineer SirJoseph Bazalgette as a five-span structure, built of stone and Cornish granite. (Joseph Bazalgette also designed London's sewerage system, and the Putney Bridge forms part of this system.) It was constructed byJohn Waddell ofEdinburgh , whose tender of £240,433 was accepted on 15 April 1882. It is some 700ft long and 43ft wide, and was opened by the Prince (later King Edward VII) and Princess of Wales on29 May 1886 .Putney Bridge is unique in that it is the only bridge in Britain to have a church at both ends: the ancient
St. Mary's Church, Putney is located inPutney on the south bank;All Saints Church, Fulham is on the north bank and featured in the film "The Omen ". Also nearby the north side of the bridge isPutney Bridge tube station .Fact|date=March 2008In
1845 , the bridge was specified as the starting point of a changed course for the annualOxford -Cambridge UniversityBoat Race . The stone marking the downstream end ofthe Championship Course still used by the Boat Race, Wingfield Sculls and several majorhead race s is now just upstream of the current bridge, but the bridge is still often incorrectly said to be the start of the Boat Race course.Fact|date=March 2008Putney Bridge is often very busy on Saturdays, when
Fulham F.C. are playing at home, as this is the main way for fans to cross the Old Father Thames.In 2007 the Grade 2 Listed Bridge suffered considerable damage by a developer when they cut several holes into the Cornish Granite of the southern approach of the bridge [ [http://www.wandsworth.gov.uk/Home/MyWandsworth/Pressreleases/newspage_detail.htm?id=5462 Injunction stops Putney Bridge drilling] ]
References
See also
*
Crossings of the River Thames External links
*
Crossings navbox
structure = Crossings
place =River Thames
upstream=Hammersmith Bridge |downstream=Fulham Railway Bridge (LU)Wandsworth Bridge (road)|bridge = Putney Bridge
Grid reference: gbm4ibx|TQ242757
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.