Richmond Bridge, London
Encyclopedia
Richmond Bridge is an 18th-century stone arch bridge
in south west London, England, which was designed by James Paine and Kenton Couse
, and which crosses the River Thames
at Richmond, connecting the two halves of the present-day London Borough of Richmond upon Thames
.
The bridge, which is a Grade I listed building, was built between 1774 and 1777, as a replacement for a ferry
crossing which connected Richmond town centre on the east bank with its neighbouring district of East Twickenham (St. Margarets) to the west. Its construction was privately funded by a tontine
scheme, for which tolls
were charged until 1859. Because the river meander
s from its general west to east direction, flowing from southeast to northwest in this part of London, what would otherwise be known as the north and south banks are often referred to as the "Middlesex" (Twickenham) and "Surrey" (Richmond) banks respectively, named after the historic counties
to which each side once belonged.
The bridge was widened and slightly flattened in 1937–40, but otherwise still conforms to its original design. The eighth Thames bridge to be built in what is now Greater London
, it is today the oldest surviving Thames bridge in London.
bank of the Thames
, 10 miles (16.1 km) west of the City of London
or 16 miles (25.7 km) by river, had been the site of a royal palace
since 1299. After it was destroyed by fire in 1497, Henry VII
built a new palace on the site, naming it Richmond Palace
after his historic title of Earl of Richmond
, and the central part of Sheen became known as Richmond.
Although a ferry
had almost certainly existed at the site of the present-day bridge since Norman
times, the earliest known crossing of the river at Richmond dates from 1439. The service was owned by the Crown, and operated by two boats, a small skiff
for the transport of passengers and a larger boat for horses and small cart
s; the Twickenham Ferry
, slightly upstream, was also in service from at least 1652. However, due to the steepness of the hill leading to the shore-line on the Surrey side neither ferry service was able to transport carriage
s or heavily laden carts, forcing them to make a very lengthy detour via Kingston Bridge
.
.jpg)
In the 18th century Richmond and neighbouring Twickenham
on the opposite bank of the Thames, both of which were distant from London but enjoyed efficient transport links to the city via the river, became extremely fashionable, and their populations began to grow rapidly. As the ferry was unable to handle large loads and was often cancelled due to weather conditions, the river crossing became a major traffic bottleneck.
Local resident William Windham had been sub-tutor to Prince William, Duke of Cumberland, and was the former husband of Mary, Lady Deloraine, mistress to George II
. As a reward for his services, George II leased Windham the right to operate the ferry until 1798. William sub-let the right to operate the ferry to local resident Henry Holland. With the ferry unable to serve the demands of the area, in 1772 Windham sought Parliamentary approval to replace the ferry with a wooden bridge, to be paid for by tolls.
and playwright and actor David Garrick
, to oversee the construction of a stone bridge on the site of the ferry. The Act stipulated that no tax of any sort could be used to finance the bridge, and fixed a scale of tolls, ranging from d
for a pedestrian to 2s 6d for a coach drawn by six horses (about 50p and £ respectively as of ). Henry Holland was granted £5,350 (about £ as of ) compensation for the loss of the ferry service. The commission appointed James Paine and Kenton Couse
to design and build the new bridge.
The Act specified that the bridge was to be built on the site of the existing ferry "or as much lower down the river as the Commission can settle". Local residents lobbied for it to be built at Water Lane, a short distance downstream from the ferry site. The approach to the river was relatively flat, avoiding the steep slope to the existing ferry pier on the Surrey bank. However, the Dowager Duchess of Newcastle
refused to allow the approach road on the Middlesex bank to pass through her land at Twickenham Park, and the commission was forced to build on the site of the ferry, despite a steep 1 in 16 (6.25%) incline.
The bridge was designed as a stone arch bridge
of 300 feet (91.4 m) in length and 24 in 9 in (7.54 m) in width, supported by five elliptical arches of varying heights. The tall 60 feet (18.3 m) wide central span was designed to allow shipping to pass, giving Richmond Bridge a distinctive humpbacked
appearance. It was built in Portland stone
, and ran between Ferry Hill (Bridge Street today) on the Surrey side and Richmond Road on the Middlesex side; sharp curves in the approach roads on the Middlesex side (still in existence today) were needed to avoid the Dowager Duchess of Newcastle's land at Twickenham Park. Palladian
toll house
s were built in alcoves at each end.
The building was put out to tender, and on 16 May 1774 Thomas Kerr was awarded the contract to build the bridge for the sum of £10,900 (about £ as of ). With additional costs, such as compensating landowners and building new approach roads, total costs came to approximately £26,000 (about £ as of ).
Most of the money needed was raised from the sale of shares at £100 each (approximately £ as of ) in two tontine
schemes, the first for £20,000 and the second for £5,000. The first was appropriately called the Richmond-Bridge Tontine, but when it became clear that the initial £20,000 would not be sufficient to complete construction a second tontine was set up. Each investor was guaranteed a return of 4% per annum, so £1,000 per annum from the income raised from tolls was divided amongst the investors in the two tontines. On the death of a shareholder their share of the dividend was divided among the surviving shareholders. To avoid fraud, each investor was obliged to sign an affidavit that they were alive before receiving their dividend.The tontine shares were transferable, although the payment of the dividend relied on the survival of the original investor. Any revenue over the £1,000 per annum required to pay the investors was held in a general fund for the maintenance of the bridge.
Construction began on 23 August 1774. The Prince of Wales
was invited to lay the first stone but declined, and so the stone was laid by commission member Henry Hobart. The bridge opened to pedestrians in September 1776 and to other traffic in January 1777, at which time the ferry service was closed, although work on the bridge was not completed until December 1777. A large milestone
was placed at the Richmond end, giving the distances to other bridges and to local towns.
". James Paine proudly illustrated it among the designs in the second volume of his Plans, Elevations, and Sections of Noblemen and Gentlemen's Houses, 1783. Richmond Bridge was the subject of paintings by many leading artists, including Thomas Rowlandson
, John Constable
and local resident J. M. W. Turner
.
Severe penalties were imposed for vandalising the bridge. The Richmond Bridge Act 1772 specified that the punishment for "willful or malicious damage" to the bridge should be "transportation to one of His Majesty's Colonies in America for the space of seven years". A warning against damage can still be seen on the milestone at the Surrey end of the bridge.
Richmond Bridge was a commercial success, generating £1,300 per annum in tolls (about £ as of ) in 1810. By 1822, the company had accumulated a sufficient surplus that all vehicle tolls were reduced to one penny.
On 10 March 1859 the last subscriber to the main tontine died, having for over five years received the full £800 per annum set aside for subscribers to the first tontine, and with the death of its last member the scheme expired.The smaller second tontine continued until the death of its last shareholder in 1865, paying a total of £200 per annum; for the last six years this was paid from the accumulated toll revenues of previous years. On 25 March 1859 Richmond Bridge became toll-free. A large procession made its way to the bridge, where a team of labourers symbolically removed toll gates from their hinges. The toll houses were demolished, replaced by seating in 1868; investment income from the revenue accumulated during the 83 years the tolls had been charged was sufficient to pay for the bridge's maintenance.
In 1846 the first railway line reached Richmond. Richmond Gasworks opened in 1848, and Richmond began to develop into a significant town. The Metropolitan District Railway
(later the District line
) reached Richmond in 1877, connecting it to the London Underground
. Commuting to central London became feasible and affordable, leading to further population growth in the previously relatively isolated Richmond and Twickenham areas.
The new Twickenham Bridge
opened in 1933, but Richmond Bridge was still unable to handle the volume of traffic, so in 1933 Sir Harley Dalrymple-Hay
proposed possible methods for widening the bridge without significantly affecting its appearance. The cheapest of Dalrymple-Hay's proposals, to transfer the footpaths onto stone corbel
s projecting from the sides of the bridge thus freeing the entire width for vehicle traffic, was rejected on aesthetic grounds, and a proposal to widen the bridge on both sides was rejected as impractical. A proposal to widen the bridge on the upstream side was settled on as causing the least disruption to nearby buildings, and in 1934 it was decided to widen the bridge by 11 feet (3.4 m), at a cost of £73,000 (about £ as of ).
The Cleveland Bridge and Engineering Company of Darlington
was appointed to carry out the rebuilding. In 1937 each stone on the upstream side was removed and numbered and the bridge widened; the stone facing of the upstream side was then reassembled and the bridge reopened to traffic in 1940. Throughout the redevelopment, a single lane of traffic was kept open at all times. It was found that the 18th-century foundations, consisting of wooden platforms sunk into the river bed, had largely rotted away, and they were reinforced with steel pilings and concrete foundations. During the widening works the opportunity was also taken to lower slightly the roadbed at the centre of the bridge and raise the access ramps, reducing the humpbacked nature of the bridge's central section.
James Paine went on to design three other Thames bridges after Richmond, at Chertsey
(1783), Kew
(1783), and Walton
(1788). Paine and Couse renewed their working relationship on the design of Chertsey Bridge, the only one of the three still in existence. Paine became High Sheriff of Surrey
in 1783.
In 1962, Richmond Council announced the replacement of the gaslamps
on the bridge with electric lighting. The Richmond Society, a local pressure group, protested at the change to the character of the bridge, and succeeded in forcing the council to retain the Victorian gas lamp-posts, converted to electric light, which remain in place today.
In the history of Richmond Bridge there have only been two reported serious collisions between boats and the bridge. On 20 March 1964, three boats tied together at Eel Pie Island
, 1+1/2 mi upstream, broke from their moorings in a storm and were swept downstream, colliding with the bridge. Although no serious damage was caused to the bridge, the Princess Beatrice, an 1896 steamer once used by Gilbert and Sullivan
, was damaged beyond repair. On 30 January 1987, the Brave Goose, the £3,500,000 yacht
of National Car Parks
founder Sir Donald Gosling, became wedged under the central arch of the bridge, eventually being freed at low tide the next day.
The eighth Thames bridge to be built in what is now Greater London
, Richmond Bridge is currently the oldest surviving bridge over the Thames in Greater London,London Bridge
(circa 55 AD), Kingston Bridge
(date of construction unrecorded, but renovated in 1193 so dating from the mid-12th century at the latest), Putney Bridge
(1729), Westminster Bridge
(1739), Hampton Court Bridge
(1752), Kew Bridge
(1759), Blackfriars Bridge
(1769) and Battersea Bridge
(1771) predate Richmond Bridge, but have all been demolished and replaced since the construction of Richmond Bridge. and the oldest Thames bridge between the sea and Abingdon Bridge
in Oxfordshire. Richmond Bridge was Grade I listed in 1952. Its bicentenary was celebrated on 7 May 1977; the commemoration was held four months after the actual anniversary of 12 January, to avoid poor weather conditions.
Stone Arch Bridge
The Stone Arch Bridge is a former railroad bridge crossing the Mississippi River at Saint Anthony Falls in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota.Positioned between the 3rd Avenue Bridge and the I-35W Saint Anthony Falls Bridge, the Stone Arch Bridge was built in 1883 by railroad tycoon James J...
in south west London, England, which was designed by James Paine and Kenton Couse
Kenton Couse
Kenton Couse was an English architect and Secretary to the Board of Works from 1775 to 1782.He was apprenticed to Henry Flitcroft whose patronage obtained him posts in the Office of Works. His most famous work was the remodelling of 10 Downing Street in 1766–1775. He was co-designer of the...
, and which crosses the River Thames
River Thames
The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
at Richmond, connecting the two halves of the present-day London Borough of Richmond upon Thames
London Borough of Richmond upon Thames
The London Borough of Richmond upon Thames is a London borough in South West London, UK, which forms part of Outer London. It is unique because it is the only London borough situated both north and south of the River Thames.-Settlement:...
.
The bridge, which is a Grade I listed building, was built between 1774 and 1777, as a replacement for a ferry
Ferry
A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...
crossing which connected Richmond town centre on the east bank with its neighbouring district of East Twickenham (St. Margarets) to the west. Its construction was privately funded by a tontine
Tontine
A tontine is an investment scheme for raising capital, devised in the 17th century and relatively widespread in the 18th and 19th. It combines features of a group annuity and a lottery. Each subscriber pays an agreed sum into the fund, and thereafter receives an annuity. As members die, their...
scheme, for which tolls
Toll bridge
A toll bridge is a bridge over which traffic may pass upon payment of a toll, or fee.- History :The practice of collecting tolls on bridges probably harks back to the days of ferry crossings where people paid a fee to be ferried across stretches of water. As boats became impractical to carry large...
were charged until 1859. Because the river meander
Meander
A meander in general is a bend in a sinuous watercourse. A meander is formed when the moving water in a stream erodes the outer banks and widens its valley. A stream of any volume may assume a meandering course, alternately eroding sediments from the outside of a bend and depositing them on the...
s from its general west to east direction, flowing from southeast to northwest in this part of London, what would otherwise be known as the north and south banks are often referred to as the "Middlesex" (Twickenham) and "Surrey" (Richmond) banks respectively, named after the historic counties
Historic counties of England
The historic counties of England are subdivisions of England established for administration by the Normans and in most cases based on earlier Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and shires...
to which each side once belonged.
The bridge was widened and slightly flattened in 1937–40, but otherwise still conforms to its original design. The eighth Thames bridge to be built in what is now Greater London
Greater London
Greater London is the top-level administrative division of England covering London. It was created in 1965 and spans the City of London, including Middle Temple and Inner Temple, and the 32 London boroughs. This territory is coterminate with the London Government Office Region and the London...
, it is today the oldest surviving Thames bridge in London.
Background
The small town of Sheen on the SurreySurrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
bank of the Thames
River Thames
The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
, 10 miles (16.1 km) west of the City of London
City of London
The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...
or 16 miles (25.7 km) by river, had been the site of a royal palace
Palace
A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word itself is derived from the Latin name Palātium, for Palatine Hill, one of the seven hills in Rome. In many parts of Europe, the...
since 1299. After it was destroyed by fire in 1497, Henry VII
Henry VII of England
Henry VII was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizing the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death on 21 April 1509, as the first monarch of the House of Tudor....
built a new palace on the site, naming it Richmond Palace
Richmond Palace
Richmond Palace was a Thameside royal residence on the right bank of the river, upstream of the Palace of Westminster, to which it lay 9 miles SW of as the crow flies. It it was erected c. 1501 within the royal manor of Sheen, by Henry VII of England, formerly known by his title Earl of Richmond,...
after his historic title of Earl of Richmond
Earl of Richmond
The now-extinct title of Earl of Richmond was created many times in the Peerage of England. The earldom of Richmond was held by various Bretons, Normans, the royal families of Plantagenet, Capet, Savoy, Tudor and Stuart.-History:...
, and the central part of Sheen became known as Richmond.
Although a ferry
Ferry
A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...
had almost certainly existed at the site of the present-day bridge since Norman
Normans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
times, the earliest known crossing of the river at Richmond dates from 1439. The service was owned by the Crown, and operated by two boats, a small skiff
Skiff
The term skiff is used for a number of essentially unrelated styles of small boat. The word is related to ship and has a complicated etymology: "skiff" comes from the Middle English skif, which derives from the Old French esquif, which in turn derives from the Old Italian schifo, which is itself of...
for the transport of passengers and a larger boat for horses and small cart
Cart
A cart is a vehicle designed for transport, using two wheels and normally pulled by one or a pair of draught animals. A handcart is pulled or pushed by one or more people...
s; the Twickenham Ferry
Twickenham Ferry
The Twickenham Ferry, sometimes known as Dysart's Ferry, was a historic ferry crossing of the River Thames in the western suburbs of London, England. The ferry connected a location just downstream to Eel Pie Island in the town of Twickenham on the northern bank of the river with Ham House on the...
, slightly upstream, was also in service from at least 1652. However, due to the steepness of the hill leading to the shore-line on the Surrey side neither ferry service was able to transport carriage
Carriage
A carriage is a wheeled vehicle for people, usually horse-drawn; litters and sedan chairs are excluded, since they are wheelless vehicles. The carriage is especially designed for private passenger use and for comfort or elegance, though some are also used to transport goods. It may be light,...
s or heavily laden carts, forcing them to make a very lengthy detour via Kingston Bridge
Kingston Bridge, London
Kingston Bridge is a road bridge at Kingston upon Thames in London, England, carrying the A308 across the River Thames. It joins the town centre of Kingston in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, to Hampton Court Park, Bushy Park, and the village of Hampton Wick in the London Borough of...
.
Twickenham
Twickenham is a large suburban town southwest of central London. It is the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames and one of the locally important district centres identified in the London Plan...
on the opposite bank of the Thames, both of which were distant from London but enjoyed efficient transport links to the city via the river, became extremely fashionable, and their populations began to grow rapidly. As the ferry was unable to handle large loads and was often cancelled due to weather conditions, the river crossing became a major traffic bottleneck.
Local resident William Windham had been sub-tutor to Prince William, Duke of Cumberland, and was the former husband of Mary, Lady Deloraine, mistress to George II
George II of Great Britain
George II was King of Great Britain and Ireland, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Archtreasurer and Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire from 11 June 1727 until his death.George was the last British monarch born outside Great Britain. He was born and brought up in Northern Germany...
. As a reward for his services, George II leased Windham the right to operate the ferry until 1798. William sub-let the right to operate the ferry to local resident Henry Holland. With the ferry unable to serve the demands of the area, in 1772 Windham sought Parliamentary approval to replace the ferry with a wooden bridge, to be paid for by tolls.
Design
The plans for a wooden bridge proved unpopular, and in 1772 the Richmond Bridge Act was passed by Parliament, selecting 90 commissioners, including landscape architect Lancelot "Capability" Brown, historian and politician Horace WalpoleHorace Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford
Horatio Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford was an English art historian, man of letters, antiquarian and Whig politician. He is now largely remembered for Strawberry Hill, the home he built in Twickenham, south-west London where he revived the Gothic style some decades before his Victorian successors,...
and playwright and actor David Garrick
David Garrick
David Garrick was an English actor, playwright, theatre manager and producer who influenced nearly all aspects of theatrical practice throughout the 18th century and was a pupil and friend of Dr Samuel Johnson...
, to oversee the construction of a stone bridge on the site of the ferry. The Act stipulated that no tax of any sort could be used to finance the bridge, and fixed a scale of tolls, ranging from d
Penny (British pre-decimal coin)
The penny of the Kingdom of Great Britain and later of the United Kingdom, was in circulation from the early 18th century until February 1971, Decimal Day....
for a pedestrian to 2s 6d for a coach drawn by six horses (about 50p and £ respectively as of ). Henry Holland was granted £5,350 (about £ as of ) compensation for the loss of the ferry service. The commission appointed James Paine and Kenton Couse
Kenton Couse
Kenton Couse was an English architect and Secretary to the Board of Works from 1775 to 1782.He was apprenticed to Henry Flitcroft whose patronage obtained him posts in the Office of Works. His most famous work was the remodelling of 10 Downing Street in 1766–1775. He was co-designer of the...
to design and build the new bridge.
Henrietta Pelham-Holles, Duchess of Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Harriet Pelham-Holles, Duchess of Newcastle-upon-Tyne was the wife of the British statesman and Prime Minister Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. She was the granddaughter of Sir Sidney Godolphin, 1st Earl of Godolphin and the granddaughter of John Churchill, 1st Duke of...
refused to allow the approach road on the Middlesex bank to pass through her land at Twickenham Park, and the commission was forced to build on the site of the ferry, despite a steep 1 in 16 (6.25%) incline.
The bridge was designed as a stone arch bridge
Stone Arch Bridge
The Stone Arch Bridge is a former railroad bridge crossing the Mississippi River at Saint Anthony Falls in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota.Positioned between the 3rd Avenue Bridge and the I-35W Saint Anthony Falls Bridge, the Stone Arch Bridge was built in 1883 by railroad tycoon James J...
of 300 feet (91.4 m) in length and 24 in 9 in (7.54 m) in width, supported by five elliptical arches of varying heights. The tall 60 feet (18.3 m) wide central span was designed to allow shipping to pass, giving Richmond Bridge a distinctive humpbacked
Humpback bridge
A humpback bridge is a name for a type of bridge, specifically an arch bridge, where the span is higher than the ramps on either side, forming a hump-like arrangement. Examples include Chinese and Japanese moon bridges and the Humpback Covered Bridge in the United States....
appearance. It was built in Portland stone
Portland stone
Portland stone is a limestone from the Tithonian stage of the Jurassic period quarried on the Isle of Portland, Dorset. The quarries consist of beds of white-grey limestone separated by chert beds. It has been used extensively as a building stone throughout the British Isles, notably in major...
, and ran between Ferry Hill (Bridge Street today) on the Surrey side and Richmond Road on the Middlesex side; sharp curves in the approach roads on the Middlesex side (still in existence today) were needed to avoid the Dowager Duchess of Newcastle's land at Twickenham Park. Palladian
Palladian architecture
Palladian architecture is a European style of architecture derived from the designs of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio . The term "Palladian" normally refers to buildings in a style inspired by Palladio's own work; that which is recognised as Palladian architecture today is an evolution of...
toll house
Toll house
A tollhouse or toll house is a building with accommodation for a toll collector, beside a tollgate on a toll road or canal. Many tollhouses were built by turnpike trusts in England, Wales and Scotland during the 18th and early 19th centuries...
s were built in alcoves at each end.
Construction
Most of the money needed was raised from the sale of shares at £100 each (approximately £ as of ) in two tontine
Tontine
A tontine is an investment scheme for raising capital, devised in the 17th century and relatively widespread in the 18th and 19th. It combines features of a group annuity and a lottery. Each subscriber pays an agreed sum into the fund, and thereafter receives an annuity. As members die, their...
schemes, the first for £20,000 and the second for £5,000. The first was appropriately called the Richmond-Bridge Tontine, but when it became clear that the initial £20,000 would not be sufficient to complete construction a second tontine was set up. Each investor was guaranteed a return of 4% per annum, so £1,000 per annum from the income raised from tolls was divided amongst the investors in the two tontines. On the death of a shareholder their share of the dividend was divided among the surviving shareholders. To avoid fraud, each investor was obliged to sign an affidavit that they were alive before receiving their dividend.The tontine shares were transferable, although the payment of the dividend relied on the survival of the original investor. Any revenue over the £1,000 per annum required to pay the investors was held in a general fund for the maintenance of the bridge.
Construction began on 23 August 1774. The Prince of Wales
George IV of the United Kingdom
George IV was the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and also of Hanover from the death of his father, George III, on 29 January 1820 until his own death ten years later...
was invited to lay the first stone but declined, and so the stone was laid by commission member Henry Hobart. The bridge opened to pedestrians in September 1776 and to other traffic in January 1777, at which time the ferry service was closed, although work on the bridge was not completed until December 1777. A large milestone
Milestone
A milestone is one of a series of numbered markers placed along a road or boundary at intervals of one mile or occasionally, parts of a mile. They are typically located at the side of the road or in a median. They are alternatively known as mile markers, mileposts or mile posts...
was placed at the Richmond end, giving the distances to other bridges and to local towns.
Operation
There was no formal opening ceremony, and little initial recorded public reaction. However, the bridge soon became much admired for its design; an article in The London Magazine in 1779 said that "[the bridge] presents the spectator with one of the richest landscapes nature and art ever produced by their joint efforts, and connoisseurs in painting will instantly be reminded of some of the best performances of Claude LorraineClaude Lorrain
Claude Lorrain, , traditionally just Claude in English Claude Lorrain, , traditionally just Claude in English (also Claude Gellée, his real name, or in French Claude Gellée, , dit le Lorrain) Claude Lorrain, , traditionally just Claude in English (also Claude Gellée, his real name, or in French...
". James Paine proudly illustrated it among the designs in the second volume of his Plans, Elevations, and Sections of Noblemen and Gentlemen's Houses, 1783. Richmond Bridge was the subject of paintings by many leading artists, including Thomas Rowlandson
Thomas Rowlandson
Thomas Rowlandson was an English artist and caricaturist.- Biography :Rowlandson was born in Old Jewry, in the City of London. He was the son of a tradesman or city merchant. On leaving school he became a student at the Royal Academy...
, John Constable
John Constable
John Constable was an English Romantic painter. Born in Suffolk, he is known principally for his landscape paintings of Dedham Vale, the area surrounding his home—now known as "Constable Country"—which he invested with an intensity of affection...
and local resident J. M. W. Turner
J. M. W. Turner
Joseph Mallord William Turner RA was an English Romantic landscape painter, watercolourist and printmaker. Turner was considered a controversial figure in his day, but is now regarded as the artist who elevated landscape painting to an eminence rivalling history painting...
.
Richmond Bridge was a commercial success, generating £1,300 per annum in tolls (about £ as of ) in 1810. By 1822, the company had accumulated a sufficient surplus that all vehicle tolls were reduced to one penny.
In 1846 the first railway line reached Richmond. Richmond Gasworks opened in 1848, and Richmond began to develop into a significant town. The Metropolitan District Railway
Metropolitan District Railway
The Metropolitan District Railway was the predecessor of the District line of the London Underground. Set up on 29 July 1864, at first to complete the "Inner Circle" railway around central London, it was gradually extended into the suburbs...
(later the District line
District Line
The District line is a line of the London Underground, coloured green on the Tube map. It is a "sub-surface" line, running through the central area in shallow cut-and-cover tunnels. It is the busiest of the sub-surface lines. Out of the 60 stations served, 25 are underground...
) reached Richmond in 1877, connecting it to the London Underground
London Underground
The London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...
. Commuting to central London became feasible and affordable, leading to further population growth in the previously relatively isolated Richmond and Twickenham areas.
20th-century remodelling
By the early 20th century the bridge was proving inadequate for the increasing traffic, particularly with the introduction of motorised transport, and a 10 miles per hour (4.5 m/s) speed limit was enforced. With the remaining investment income from tolls insufficient to pay for major reconstruction, on 31 March 1931 the bridge was taken into the joint public ownership of Surrey and Middlesex councils, and proposals were made to widen it. The plans were strongly opposed on aesthetic grounds, and the decision was taken to build instead a new bridge a short distance downstream to relieve traffic pressure.Twickenham Bridge
Twickenham Bridge crosses the River Thames in southwest London, England. Built in 1933 as part of the newly constructed "Chertsey Arterial Road", the bridge connects the Old Deer Park district of Richmond on the south bank of the river to St. Margarets on the north bank, both within the London...
opened in 1933, but Richmond Bridge was still unable to handle the volume of traffic, so in 1933 Sir Harley Dalrymple-Hay
Harley Dalrymple-Hay
Sir Harley Hugh Dalrymple-Hay was a notable engineer working on underground railways in and around London, England. He was awarded the Telford Medal by the Institution of Civil Engineers for his paper on the Waterloo and City Railway.-Life and career:...
proposed possible methods for widening the bridge without significantly affecting its appearance. The cheapest of Dalrymple-Hay's proposals, to transfer the footpaths onto stone corbel
Corbel
In architecture a corbel is a piece of stone jutting out of a wall to carry any superincumbent weight. A piece of timber projecting in the same way was called a "tassel" or a "bragger". The technique of corbelling, where rows of corbels deeply keyed inside a wall support a projecting wall or...
s projecting from the sides of the bridge thus freeing the entire width for vehicle traffic, was rejected on aesthetic grounds, and a proposal to widen the bridge on both sides was rejected as impractical. A proposal to widen the bridge on the upstream side was settled on as causing the least disruption to nearby buildings, and in 1934 it was decided to widen the bridge by 11 feet (3.4 m), at a cost of £73,000 (about £ as of ).
The Cleveland Bridge and Engineering Company of Darlington
Darlington
Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, part of the ceremonial county of County Durham, England. It lies on the small River Skerne, a tributary of the River Tees, not far from the main river. It is the main population centre in the borough, with a population of 97,838 as of 2001...
was appointed to carry out the rebuilding. In 1937 each stone on the upstream side was removed and numbered and the bridge widened; the stone facing of the upstream side was then reassembled and the bridge reopened to traffic in 1940. Throughout the redevelopment, a single lane of traffic was kept open at all times. It was found that the 18th-century foundations, consisting of wooden platforms sunk into the river bed, had largely rotted away, and they were reinforced with steel pilings and concrete foundations. During the widening works the opportunity was also taken to lower slightly the roadbed at the centre of the bridge and raise the access ramps, reducing the humpbacked nature of the bridge's central section.
Legacy
Chertsey Bridge
Chertsey Bridge is a road bridge across the River Thames in England, connecting Chertsey to low-lying riverside meadows in Laleham, Surrey. It is situated 550 yards downstream from the M3 motorway bridge over the Thames and is close to Chertsey Lock on the reach above Shepperton Lock.The bridge is...
(1783), Kew
Kew Bridge
Kew Bridge is a bridge in London over the River Thames. The present bridge was designed by John Wolfe-Barry and opened in 1903 by King Edward VII. The bridge was givenGrade II listed structure protection in 1983.- Location :...
(1783), and Walton
Walton Bridge
Walton Bridge is a road bridge across the River Thames in England, carrying the A244 road between Walton-on-Thames and Shepperton. It crosses the Thames on the reach between Sunbury Lock and Shepperton Lock. The architecture of the present bridge could at best be described as visually unappealing...
(1788). Paine and Couse renewed their working relationship on the design of Chertsey Bridge, the only one of the three still in existence. Paine became High Sheriff of Surrey
High Sheriff of Surrey
-List of High Sheriffs of Surrey:The list of known High Sheriffs of Surrey extends back to 1066 At various times the High Sheriff of Surrey was also High Sheriff of Sussex -1066-1228:...
in 1783.
In 1962, Richmond Council announced the replacement of the gaslamps
Gas lighting
Gas lighting is production of artificial light from combustion of a gaseous fuel, including hydrogen, methane, carbon monoxide, propane, butane, acetylene, ethylene, or natural gas. Before electricity became sufficiently widespread and economical to allow for general public use, gas was the most...
on the bridge with electric lighting. The Richmond Society, a local pressure group, protested at the change to the character of the bridge, and succeeded in forcing the council to retain the Victorian gas lamp-posts, converted to electric light, which remain in place today.
In the history of Richmond Bridge there have only been two reported serious collisions between boats and the bridge. On 20 March 1964, three boats tied together at Eel Pie Island
Eel Pie Island
Eel Pie Island is an island in the River Thames in England at Twickenham, in the Borough of Richmond upon Thames, London. It is situated on the Tideway and can be reached only by footbridge or boat...
, 1+1/2 mi upstream, broke from their moorings in a storm and were swept downstream, colliding with the bridge. Although no serious damage was caused to the bridge, the Princess Beatrice, an 1896 steamer once used by Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the librettist W. S. Gilbert and the composer Arthur Sullivan . The two men collaborated on fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which H.M.S...
, was damaged beyond repair. On 30 January 1987, the Brave Goose, the £3,500,000 yacht
Yacht
A yacht is a recreational boat or ship. The term originated from the Dutch Jacht meaning "hunt". It was originally defined as a light fast sailing vessel used by the Dutch navy to pursue pirates and other transgressors around and into the shallow waters of the Low Countries...
of National Car Parks
National Car Parks
National Car Parks is the United Kingdom’s largest private car park operator, with over 200,000 spaces across more than 700 locations in towns and cities, railway stations and at airports....
founder Sir Donald Gosling, became wedged under the central arch of the bridge, eventually being freed at low tide the next day.
The eighth Thames bridge to be built in what is now Greater London
Greater London
Greater London is the top-level administrative division of England covering London. It was created in 1965 and spans the City of London, including Middle Temple and Inner Temple, and the 32 London boroughs. This territory is coterminate with the London Government Office Region and the London...
, Richmond Bridge is currently the oldest surviving bridge over the Thames in Greater London,London Bridge
London Bridge
London Bridge is a bridge over the River Thames, connecting the City of London and Southwark, in central London. Situated between Cannon Street Railway Bridge and Tower Bridge, it forms the western end of the Pool of London...
(circa 55 AD), Kingston Bridge
Kingston Bridge, London
Kingston Bridge is a road bridge at Kingston upon Thames in London, England, carrying the A308 across the River Thames. It joins the town centre of Kingston in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, to Hampton Court Park, Bushy Park, and the village of Hampton Wick in the London Borough of...
(date of construction unrecorded, but renovated in 1193 so dating from the mid-12th century at the latest), Putney Bridge
Putney Bridge
Putney Bridge is a bridge crossing of the River Thames in west London, linking Putney on the south side with Fulham to the north. Putney Bridge tube station is located near the north side of the bridge.-History:...
(1729), Westminster Bridge
Westminster Bridge
Westminster Bridge is a road and foot traffic bridge over the River Thames between Westminster on the north side and Lambeth on the south side, in London, England....
(1739), Hampton Court Bridge
Hampton Court Bridge
Hampton Court Bridge crosses the River Thames in England in a north to south direction between Hampton, Greater London and East Molesey, Surrey. It is on the reach above Teddington Lock and about hundred yards upstream of the bridge is Molesey Lock....
(1752), Kew Bridge
Kew Bridge
Kew Bridge is a bridge in London over the River Thames. The present bridge was designed by John Wolfe-Barry and opened in 1903 by King Edward VII. The bridge was givenGrade II listed structure protection in 1983.- Location :...
(1759), Blackfriars Bridge
Blackfriars Bridge
Blackfriars Bridge is a road and foot traffic bridge over the River Thames in London, between Waterloo Bridge and Blackfriars Railway Bridge, carrying the A201 road. The north end is near the Inns of Court and Temple Church, along with Blackfriars station...
(1769) and Battersea Bridge
Battersea Bridge
Battersea Bridge is a cast-iron and granite five-span cantilever bridge crossing the River Thames in London, England. It is situated on a sharp bend in the river, and links Battersea south of the river with Chelsea to the north...
(1771) predate Richmond Bridge, but have all been demolished and replaced since the construction of Richmond Bridge. and the oldest Thames bridge between the sea and Abingdon Bridge
Abingdon Bridge
Abingdon Bridge consists of a pair of bridges across the River Thames at the town of Abingdon, Oxfordshire, England. It carries the A415 road from Abingdon to Dorchester, Oxfordshire – and crosses the Thames on the reach above Culham Lock, just below Abingdon Lock.The bridge is actually two...
in Oxfordshire. Richmond Bridge was Grade I listed in 1952. Its bicentenary was celebrated on 7 May 1977; the commemoration was held four months after the actual anniversary of 12 January, to avoid poor weather conditions.