Westminster Bridge

Coordinates: 51°30′03″N 0°07′19″W / 51.50083°N 0.12194°W / 51.50083; -0.12194
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Westminster Bridge
Hungerford 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

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

Westminster Bridge Act 1735
Act of Parliament
9 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Repealed byWestminster Bridge Act 1853
Status: Repealed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
10 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Repealed byWestminster Bridge Act 1853
Status: Repealed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
11 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Repealed byWestminster Bridge Act 1853
Status: Repealed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
12 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Repealed byWestminster Bridge Act 1853
Status: Repealed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
13 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Repealed byWestminster Bridge Act 1853
Status: Repealed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
14 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Repealed byWestminster Bridge Act 1853
Status: Repealed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
15 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Repealed byWestminster Bridge Act 1853
Status: Repealed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
17 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
18 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
29 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
30 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
54 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
13 & 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
16 & 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
Local Law (Greater London Council and Inner London Boroughs) Order 1965
Status: Repealed
Westminster Bridge Act 1864
Act of Parliament
27 & 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

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]

Westminster Bridge and surrounding landmarks at night
Street artists on Westminster Bridge and London Eye in the background
  • In the 1964
    22nd Century.[11]
  • In 1807 the famous poem Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802 by William Wordsworth, written while standing on Westminster Bridge, was published in the "Collection of Poems" in two volumes.
  • In the 2002 British horror film 28 Days Later, the protagonist awakes from a coma to find London deserted and walks over an eerily empty Westminster Bridge whilst looking for signs of life.
  • Westminster Bridge is the start and finish point for the Bridges Handicap Race, a traditional London running race.
  • The bridge was the site of a Pit Stop during the fourth season of the Israeli version of The Amazing Race.[12]
  • In the finale of the 24th James Bond film
    Blofeld
    's helicopter crashes into Westminster Bridge.
  • In the 2019
    Booster Course Pass DLC
    Wave 2. In all three variants of the original track in Mario Kart Tour, the race begins on the bridge, as well as in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.

See also

References

  1. ISBN 978-1-781011-03-4
    .
  2. ^ Historic England. "Westminster Bridge (1081058)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 27 November 2008.
  3. ISBN 0-7472-3493-0
    at p.45
  4. 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. 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. TheGuardian.com
    . 27 March 2017. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
  12. Channel 2
    .
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