Bridges No.21 - Putney Bridge

Putney Bridge is in a great setting with the towers of two churches at opposite ends, and the riverside pubs of the Putney side. Putney was one of the early sites of a new bridge to fill the centuries old gap of bridge crossing between London Bridge and Kingston Bridge. Work began on a bridge here in March 1729 and was ready for opening by November that same year. It was built by a local carpenter Thomas Phillips following a design by Sir Jospeh Ackworth. This first bridge was made totally of timber and was subject to tolls. Being of wooden construction there were lots of individual spans (26 in all). It also required lots of maintenance work and after it was struck by a barge in 1870 there was a need to make some adjustments.

The initial aim was to create a wider single central span. In 1871 and 1872 two central piers were removed and replaced with an iron girder structure. Only a few years later the bridge was purchased by the Metropolitan Board of Works who immediately proposed a new bridge.

Joseph Bazelgette was comissioned to design to new bridge, just upstread of the wooden bridge on the site of a former aqueduct. The new bridge is constructed from concrete and granite and was opened in 1886. Since 1884 the bridge (both old and new) has marked to starting point of the Oxford-Cambridge University Boat Race.