Datchet Bridge
Datchet Bridge, also known as The Divided Bridge, was a road bridge which crossed the River Thames at Datchet from 1706 until it was demolished in 1848. It was situated on the reach between Old Windsor Lock and Romney Lock and linked Windsor on the Berkshire bank to Datchet on the Buckinghamshire side. The bridge replaced a ferry service which had operated at the site since at least the middle of the 13th century.
The first Datchet Bridge was a
Background
The crossing was important to the Crown as the road through Datchet and across the Thames provided a convenient short route from London to Windsor Castle and the ferry was much used by Royalty and courtiers.
"You cannot but know it is your duty, whenever any messenger or express rides on the King's Service, to give immediate passage on demand, whether by night or day. Therefore, let me have no more of these complaints, for, if I have, you must hear from me in another matter."
Rebuke of ferryman Mathew Hale by Secretary of State Henry Coventry
Despite Coventry's warning Royal dissatisfaction with the inefficient service provided by the Hale Family, who by 1706 had kept the ferry for over 150 years, continued to grow. This culminated in the decision by Queen Anne to provide a fixed bridge crossing on the site.[5]
Queen Anne's bridge
In 1706 a wooden bridge was built by order of Queen Anne to replace the ferry between Datchet, Buckinghamshire and Windsor, Berkshire.[7] It was made of oak provided by the Surveyor General of Woods South of the Trent, Edward Wilcox, who was ordered to fell "sufficient non-navy timber" from the Royal forest "for the better convenience of our passage from our Castle at Windsor".[5][8] The building work was supervised by the Surveyor General, Samuel Travers and the final cost was £1000[8] (equivalent to £178,000 today[4]) The better convenience of passage was further enhanced by Queen Anne's intimate friend Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough[9] and her husband the first Duke who then lived at Langley and who had a carriage drive built from their house, over the bridge and on to Windsor Castle.[10]
Unlike the upstream toll bridges at
The bridge was initially maintained by
The Divided Bridge
The co-operation was short-lived and arguments over maintenance started again in 1834 when the Buckinghamshire side needed repairs and Berkshire refused to contribute.[16] Lack of maintenance led to the bridge collapsing once more in 1836[7] and the counties came up with the unique solution of each building their own half. Buckinghamshire decided to rebuild with wooden railings whilst Berkshire built its half in iron suspended by chains. Kelly's Directory of 1847 noted:
"Datchet is separated from Windsor by the river Thames, over which is a very singular bridge; one half of it is kept in repair by the county of Bucks and the other half by Berks. The former has a wooden railing and the latter an iron one, suspended by chains, but neither the Bucks nor Berks sides touch each other."[17]
Even during the building the counties would not work together and had to be ordered by the Lord Chancellor to "proceed in such a manner as not to impede each other".[18] Consequently when the bridge was finished the two sides did not touch in the middle with Berkshire's final span being cantilevered out from the last Berkshire stone pier thus needing no support from the Buckinghamshire side.[15][18] The result was an unsatisfactory, ungainly structure, sarcastically noted on opening as having "scarce a bridge upon the River Thames which surpasses it".[19] The centre gap was apparent during the Divided Bridge's whole lifetime[19] and lacking structural integrity the "hideous monstrosity" quickly became unsafe:
"It was no wonder that when Wombwell took his caravans across the crazy erection, the elephant-van broke through and the beast in it nearly came to an untimely end."[20]
The dispute between the counties was resolved once and for all in 1848 when the Windsor Castle Act 1848 decreed the dismantling of the Divided Bridge and the building of two new road bridges, Victoria Bridge slightly upstream, and Albert Bridge slightly downstream. Both new bridges opened in 1851.[21] Once the Divided Bridge was demolished the old Windsor to Datchet road was rerouted over Victoria Bridge and the Berkshire side became part of the private grounds of Windsor Castle. This is the only case on the entire Thames where a main bridge crossing has completely disappeared.[22][23]
Legacy
A small plaque erected by the Datchet Parish Council in 2000 is the only reminder of the Divided Bridge. cottage now stands its place.
See also
- Crossings of the River Thames
References
- Notes
- ^ a b c Page, William (1925). A History of the County of Buckinghamshire Vol III. pp. 249–255.
- ^ Harwood 1929, p. 8
- ^ a b c Harwood 1929, p. 249
- ^ a b c d e f g h UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark, Gregory (2017). "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
- ^ a b c d e Kennish 1999, p. 44
- ISBN 978-0-7661-0058-9.
(reprint of 1715 edition)
- ^ a b c d "Windsor". Thames Pilot Project. Retrieved 1 November 2009.
- ^ a b Phillips 1981, p. 127
- ^ James, Falkner (2006). "Churchill (née Jenyns), Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough (1660–1744)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Online ed.). Retrieved 4 November 2009.
Anne was emotionally vulnerable and always depended very much upon her near circle of friends; Sarah was the closest of these.
- ^ Kennish 1999, p. 45
- ^ Thacker 1920, p. 370
- ^ a b c Phillips 1981, p. 128
- ^ a b c d Thacker 1920, p. 371
- ^ Phillips 1981, p. 112
- ^ a b "Windsor Bridges". Royal Windsor Web Site. Retrieved 1 November 2009.
- ^ a b Kennish 1999, p. 47
- ^ Kelly & Co (1847). Kelly's Post Office Directory of Berkshire.
- ^ a b Phillips 1981, p. 129
- ^ a b c Thacker 1920, p. 372
- ^ Armstrong 1887, p. 2
- ISBN 978-0-333-53810-4.
- ^ Rolt 1951, p. 30
- ^ Thacker 1920, p. 369
- Bibliography
- Armstrong, Walter (1887), The Thames from its Rise to its Nore Vol II, London: J.S. Virtue
- Harwood, T. Eustace (1929), Windsor Old and New, London: Ballantyne Press
- Kennish, Janet (1999), Datchet Past, Phillimore, ISBN 1-86077-103-3
- Phillips, Geoffrey (1981), Thames Crossings, David and Charles, ISBN 0-7153-8202-0
- Rolt, L.T.C. (1951), The Thames from Mouth to Source, London: B.T. Batsford
- Thacker, Fred S. (1920), The Thames Highway: A History of the Locks and Weirs, Kew
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