Bridges No.33 - Kingston Bridge

It is hard to imagine in 2006 that for hundreds of years the only way of crossing the Thames was by boat. Kingston Bridge was the only bridge crossing of the Thames upstream of London Bridge. This status ended in 1729 with a wooden bridge at Putney, but bridges at Kingston (mainly wooden) had been in existence since the 13th century and assisted in the growth of Kingston as a settlement.

Little seems to be known about the early wooden bridges, but there are known to have been at least three. The last timber bridge was in a poor state of repair when it finally was replace and at only 12 feet wide was increasingly incapable of handling traffic volumes. The first masonry bridge was completed in 1828. This bridge had five arches built from Portland stone to a design of a Edward Lapidge. The first stone was laid by the Robert Jenkinson, the 2nd Earl of Liverpool in November 1825. In 1870 the bridge became toll-free, the first time this situation had prevailed for over 650 years. It was a cause of local celebration with a firework display and the toll gates were ceremoniously burnt in on Hampton Green.

Tram lines were added in 1907, but the narrow width of the bridge was once again creating difficulties. Tragically a young cyclist was killed on the bridge in 1911 and led to the widening of the bridge. It was extended by 55 feet on the downstread side by Mott & Hay and reopened in 1914 with a new facing of Portland stone that was designed to replicate the original 1828 facade. More recently the bridge was widened for a second time in 2000, this time on the upstream side, allowing for bicycle lanes, winder footpaths and a bus lane to be included. It reopened a year later.