Maidenhead Bridge | |
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Coordinates | 51°31′26″N0°42′07″W / 51.5239°N 0.7019°W |
Carries | A4 road, Thames Path |
Crosses | River Thames |
Locale | Maidenhead, Berkshire |
Characteristics | |
Design | Arch |
Material | Stone |
Height | 18 ft 7 in (5.66 m) [1] |
No. of spans | 13 |
Piers in water | 5 |
History | |
Designer | Robert Taylor |
Opened | 1777 |
Statistics | |
Toll | Abolished 1903 |
Location | |
Maidenhead Bridge is a Grade I listed bridge [2] carrying the A4 road over the River Thames between Maidenhead, Berkshire and Taplow, Buckinghamshire, England. It crosses the Thames on the reach above Bray Lock, about half a mile below Boulter's Lock. The Thames Path crosses the river here.
The first bridge was built of wood in 1280 in what was then the hamlet of South Ellington. [3] The Great West Road to Reading, Gloucester and Bristol was diverted over the new bridge – previously it kept to the north bank crossed the Thames by ford at Cookham – and mediaeval Maidenhead grew up around it. [4] Within a few years a wharf was constructed next to the bridge and the South Ellington name was dropped with the area becoming known as Maidenhythe (literally meaning "new wharf"). The earliest record of this name change is in the Bray Court manorial rolls of 1296. [3]
In 1297 a grant of pontage for the charge of tolls for repairs to the bridge was awarded and a replacement bridge was constructed. The event is recorded in the Patent Rolls of Edward I as a...
"grant at the instance of Will, de Berford in aid of the bridge of Maidenhead which is almost broken down, of pontage (tolls) for three years, to be taken at the hands of two good and lawful men appointed by him."
In 1335 another three years pontage was granted to the "baliffs and good men of Maidenhythe" on wares passing under or over the bridge. [3] [5]
Only a century later the bridge had again fallen into disrepair and during the reign of Henry VI was so unsafe that most travellers preferred to cross using the ferry. [5] Since it was first built, the bridge had a hermitage and chapel attached so that travellers could pray for safe passage over the bridge or to give thanks for a safe crossing. Another chapel in the town lent its name to The Guild of St Andrew and St Mary Magdelene which was formed in 1452 to repair the bridge and to maintain the chapel after which it was named. The guild levied tolls for use of the bridge and although it was dissolved by Edward VI during the Reformation in 1547 it was reinstated in 1581 when Queen Elizabeth I granted Maidenhead a Charter of Incorporation and the guild's bridge maintenance duties were transferred to the new Corporation who employed one warden, two bridgemasters and eight burgesses dedicated to the upkeep of the bridge and the collection of tolls. [5] The corporation was specifically not permitted to rebuild the chapel but were allowed to levy toll and hold a weekly market and two annual fairs. The charter was renewed by James I who added a Whit Wednesday fair and the right to take three oaks per year from the Royal Forest of Bray. [3]
During the Civil War the bridge again fell into disrepair. Edward Montagu, 2nd Earl of Manchester, a commander of Parliamentary forces reported on 25 September 1644 that his army was "constrained to wait at Uxbridge as Maidenhead Bridge is broken". Colonel Whitcote the Parliamentary Commander at Maidenhead acquired seven oaks with which to make repairs but by 1660 it was again in a dangerous state. [3]
The bridge wardens petitioned the restored monarch – Charles II – in 1672 but had to wait until 1679 for a warrant for 20 oaks to be issued. On the accession of James II all of the benefits granted by James I were restored and the senior bridge warden was made Mayor. When William of Orange landed in 1688 the town, still loyal to James followed the order of the King and broke the bridge to prevent William crossing however their efforts were cosmetic and William's army was able to march across it a matter of days later. [3]
Although James' restoration of benefits included the annual quota of oaks, in 1714 the corporation complained to the Lord Treasurer about the poor quality of the trees. The corporation also claimed that bridge revenues were adversely affected by the opening of a toll-free bridge in Datchet but their request for compensation was refused. A further eighteen years passed before the treasury granted a warrant for 23 oaks. [3]
In 1750 the bridge was again in a state of disrepair and a contract for "great works" was awarded to Mr Stiff Leadbetter of Eaton. The estimated cost was £600 and the actual cost on the final bill was £794 9s 2d [3] – equivalent to £158,000 today [6] . This prompted the corporation to consider the large ongoing cost of maintaining the old structure and decision was made to build an entirely new bridge.
Two designs were submitted. Mr Fuller White proposed a timber structure and Robert Taylor a thirteen-arch Portland stone bridge. The corporation preferred Taylor's design but demanded that the original cost of £25,000 (equivalent to £4.14 million today [6] ) be reduced. Taylor therefore modified the design so that only the river arches were of Portland stone, the rest in brick.
Maidenhead Bridge Act 1772 | |
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Act of Parliament | |
Long title | An Act for building a Bridge over the River Thames, near the Town of Maidenhead, in the County of Berks. |
Citation | 12 Geo. 3. c. 41 |
Dates | |
Royal assent | 21 May 1772 |
The rebuilding was authorised by an act of Parliament, the Maidenhead Bridge Act 1772 (12 Geo. 3. c. 41) and Taylor's design was built by John Townsend of Oxford (builder of Swinford Bridge) at a total cost of £19,000 [3] (equivalent to £3.1 million today [6] ). Works were delayed until a temporary ferry had been constructed and the foundation stone was laid by the Mayor of Maidenhead on 19 October 1772. After delays caused by ice, frost and flooding the centre arch was completed in 1775. The new bridge was finished and finally opened for traffic in 1777. [3]
In 1966 Nikolaus Pevsner recorded it in his Buildings of Berkshire as "a beautiful piece of 1772–7.... seven main water-arches with rock rustication on the voussoirs... fine balustrade". [7]
Throughout its history the tolls on Maidenhead Bridge had been considered high and were the subject of disquiet. In 1337 the toll for a loaded barge to pass under or a loaded cart to pass over was 1 old penny (equivalent to £10 today). By the 1830s the bridge was recorded as raising £1,245 per annum in tolls [8] (equivalent to £149,000 today [6] ). It remained a toll bridge until 1903, after an Eton man named Joseph Taylor, who had already made a successful legal challenge against the tolls on Windsor Bridge petitioned the Charity Commissioners in 1902 that the toll was illegal as the funds raised had been used by the Maidenhead Corporation for purposes other than bridge maintenance – a fact freely admitted by the town clerk. The Charity Commission agreed that the toll was illegal and an act of parliament was passed in 1903 which legislated for tolls to cease after 31 October 1903. A large crowd gathered at the bridge and in the first moments of 1 November 1903 they removed the toll gates and threw them into the Thames. [9] The tolls in 1903 were 1 shilling (equivalent to £16.00 today [6] ) for a coach and horses, sixpence (equivalent to £8.00 today [6] ) for a car and 10 old pence (equivalent to £14.00 today [6] ) for twenty sheep. [9]
In 1843 the Corporation of Maidenhead as owners of the turnpike toll-bridge sued Great Western Railway for the maximum statutory compensation of £2,500 for loss of tolls in consequence of the construction of the London to Bristol main line taking traffic away from the toll bridge. The Great Western defended the claim on the dubious grounds it had built its London terminus at Paddington, not Euston as originally authorised by its act of incorporation containing the provisions for compensation but they paid in full before trial whilst avoiding the payment of interest and costs on a technicality. [10]
In 2007, the bridge was the subject of a special exhibition to mark its 230th anniversary at Maidenhead Heritage Centre. [11]
The name "London Bridge" refers to several historic crossings that have spanned the River Thames between the City of London and Southwark, in central London since Roman times. The current crossing, which opened to traffic in 1973, is a box girder bridge built from concrete and steel. It replaced a 19th-century stone-arched bridge, which in turn superseded a 600-year-old stone-built medieval structure. In addition to the roadway, for much of its history, the broad medieval bridge supported an extensive built up area of homes and businesses, part of the City's Bridge ward, and its southern end in Southwark was guarded by a large stone City gateway. The medieval bridge was preceded by a succession of timber bridges, the first of which was built by the Roman founders of London (Londinium) around AD 50.
Maidenhead is a market town in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in the county of Berkshire, England, on the southwestern bank of the River Thames. In the 2021 Census, it had an estimated population of 70,374 and forms part of the border with southern Buckinghamshire. The town is situated 27 miles (43 km) west of Charing Cross, London and 13 miles (21 km) east-northeast of the county town of Reading. The town differs from the Parliamentary constituency of Maidenhead, which includes a number of outer suburbs and villages, including villages which form part of the Borough of Wokingham such as Twyford, Charvil, Remenham, Ruscombe and Wargrave.
Vauxhall Bridge is a Grade II* listed steel and granite deck arch bridge in central London. It crosses the River Thames in a southeast–northwest direction between Vauxhall on the south bank and Pimlico on the north bank. Opened in 1906, it replaced an earlier bridge, originally known as Regent Bridge but later renamed Vauxhall Bridge, built between 1809 and 1816 as part of a scheme for redeveloping the south bank of the Thames. The bridge was built at a location in the river previously served by a ferry.
Kew Bridge is a wide-span bridge over the Tideway linking the London Boroughs of Richmond upon Thames and Hounslow. The present bridge, which was opened in 1903 as King Edward VII Bridge by King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra, was designed by John Wolfe-Barry and Cuthbert A Brereton. Historic England listed it at Grade II in 1983.
SouthwarkBridge is an arch bridge in London, for traffic linking the district of Southwark and the City across the River Thames. Besides when others are closed for temporary repairs, it has the least traffic of the Thames bridges in London.
Sir Robert Taylor (1714–1788) was an English architect and sculptor who worked in London and the south of England.
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The Windsor Bridge or Windsor Town Bridge, an iron and granite arch bridge over the River Thames, connects the towns of Windsor and Eton in the English county of Berkshire. The Thames Path crosses the river here. The bridge carries pedestrian and cycle traffic, and crosses the Thames just above Romney Lock. It is a Grade II listed structure.
Bray Lock is a lock and weir on the River Thames in England near Bray and Dorney Reach, and is just above the M4 Bridge across the Thames. The lock is on the Buckinghamshire side of the river on the opposite bank from Bray itself and Maidenhead which are in Berkshire. Here, the county line stands roughly halfway between the lock and the opposite bank, following the course of the Thames itself. The pound lock was built by the Thames Navigation Commission relatively late, in 1845. The lock keeper's cottage is on an island between the lock and the weir.
Kingston Bridge is a road bridge at Kingston upon Thames in south west 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 Richmond upon Thames. In 2005 it was carrying approximately 50,000 vehicles per day with up to 2,000 vehicles per hour in each direction during peak times.
The A308 is a road in England in two parts. The first part runs from Central London to Putney Bridge. The second part runs from just beyond Putney Heath to Bisham, Berkshire. It traces four, roughly straight lines, to stay no more than 3 miles (4.8 km) from the Thames. It is a dual carriageway where it is furthest from that river, in Spelthorne, Surrey and forms one of the motorway spurs to the large town of Maidenhead. Other key settlements served are Fulham, Kingston (London), Staines upon Thames, Windsor and a minor approach to Marlow
Boulter's Lock is a lock and weir on the River Thames in England north-east of Maidenhead town centre, Berkshire. The present 1912-built lock replaces those at this point of the river to the immediate east dating from the late 16th century and that of 1772 built by the Thames Navigation Commission. The lock is on the western side of the north–south flowing reach between the A4094 Maidenhead to Cookham road and Ray Mill Island. The name is variably used for the immediate surrounding area.
Clifton Hampden Bridge is a road bridge crossing the River Thames in Clifton Hampden, Oxfordshire, England, situated on the reach below Clifton Lock. Originally it joined Oxfordshire on the north bank with Berkshire on the south but in 1974 the area on the south bank was transferred from Berkshire to Oxfordshire. It is a Grade II* listed building.
Cookham Bridge is a road bridge in Cookham, Berkshire, carrying the A4094 road across the River Thames in England. It is on the reach above Cookham Lock and links Cookham on the Berkshire bank with Bourne End in Buckinghamshire.
Staines Bridge is a road bridge running in a south-west to north-east direction across the River Thames in Surrey. It is on the modern A308 road and links the boroughs of Spelthorne and Runnymede at Staines-upon-Thames and Egham Hythe. The bridge is Grade II listed.
The M4 Thames Bridge Maidenhead is a motorway bridge between Dorney Reach, Buckinghamshire and Bray near Maidenhead, Berkshire in England built in the 1960s.
The Maidenhead Waterways are a system of canals in Maidenhead, England. Formerly disused, plans to restore and upgrade them were announced in 2011. The works would initially make the waterways navigable by small craft, and over time by larger craft, as limitations to navigation are gradually removed.
Pontage was a toll levied for the building or repair of bridges dating to the medieval era in England, Wales and Ireland.
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.
Maidenhead Half Marathon is an annual running race held in Maidenhead, Berkshire, England. The inaugural race took place on Sunday 4 September 2011, starting at 9.30am, and attracted over 2,000 entrants. It was organised by local company Purple Patch Running.
maidenhead bridge -railway.