Last Tuesday, the 26th of May, was the 120th anniversary of the opening of Vauxhall Bridge. If you had attended the official ceremony in 1906, you may have received a copy of the London County Council booklet recording the event:
Inside was an overview of the Order of Proceedings, which included members of the London County Council travelling in carriages from County Hall to the new bridge:
Along with a Programme of Music, which the Battersea Borough Prize Band played from an enclosure on the eastern side of the Westminster end of the bridge:
The bridge that was being opened in 1906 was not the first Vauxhall Bridge, the original had opened in 1816 as part of an explosion of bridge building, starting with Putney Bridge in 1729 through to Tower Bridge in 1894, a period when 21 bridges were built or rebuilt to support the equally explosive increase in population, homes and industry on both sides of the river, and to provide an easy method of crossing the Thames.
On March the 6th, 1806, a petition was presented to Parliament by the parishes on the Surrey and Middlesex sides of the river, in favour of a bridge over the Thames, at or near the Vauxhall turnpike, along with the construction of new connecting roads.
The petition stated that the need for a bridge was because of the “great increase in buildings, population and commerce in the said districts, and their lack of communication with the western parts of the Metropolis, other than by the circuitous route over Westminster or Battersea Bridges; and the advantages anticipated are a great accommodation to the persons residing in the neighbourhood of the places above mentioned, likewise an additional convenience to the commercial part of the community by opening a more extensive connection with the counties of Middlesex and Surrey”.
The 1806 petition did not make any progress. A second petition was made in 1807, and on the 13th of March 1807, the House of Commons gave permission for a Bill to be brought before Parliament, however petitions against a new bridge at Vauxhall were raised by the proprietors of Battersea Bridge and the inhabitants and landed proprietors of Chelsea and Battersea.
This was in the days when many bridges were privately owned and charged a toll, which is why the owners of Battersea Bridge were objecting as another bridge could have resulted in a reduction in their income.
In 1808, the Bill for a bridge at Vauxhall passed its Second Reading, but was not returned by the House of Lords.
Finally in 1809, an Act was passed allowing for building “a bridge across the Thames from the bank or shore thereof at or near a certain place on the south side of the said river called Cumberland Gardens, neare Vauxhall Turnpike, to the opposite shore called Millbank”.
John Rennie was appointed as the engineer to the bridge, and the first stone was laid on the 9th of May 1811. The stone laying ceremony included the deposit with the foundation stone of different British coins of the year and a silver plate. Apparently these were recovered when the first bridge was demolished in 1899 and were stored with the London County Council’s records. I have had a brief search but cannot find out what happened to these objects.
After construction began, the original Rennie design was found to be too expensive to complete. He offered a second, cheaper design, but this was also viewed as too expensive, so a deign from Samuel Bentham was commissioned. On review, Bentham’s solution was considered to have design issues, so the engineer James Walker was asked to complete a fourth design, which was the design used for the first Vauxhall bridge.
The land surrounding the first Vauxhall Bridge was very different to when the second bridge was completed.
The following map from the LCC booklet shows the stretch of river and surrounding land of Vauxhall and Millbank:
On the Lambeth side of the bridge, the approach was marked by Marble Hall, the smallest of the three pleasure gardens in the immediate vicinity of the Vauxhall Turnpike (red arrow). Cumberland Gardens (green arrow) occupied a site a little to the south of the bridge, while the largest and most celebrated of the three pleasure gardens was Vauxhall Gardsens, originally called Spring Gardens (blue arrow).
The Westminster side of the river was described as “quite open and as rural as could be found anywhere”.
By the time the second bridge opened in 1906, the area was very different (the large, empty space with the word Westminster was the site of the Millbank Penitentiary):
(‘Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland“)
The intention was to name the bridge Regent’s Bridge, in honour Prince Regent, who had shown a considerable interest in the bridge, however by the time the bridge was completed, it had taken on the name Vauxhall Bridge.
The original Vauxhall Bridge was the first iron bridge to be built over the Thames. It was 809 feet long and 36 feet wide, and was formed of nine arches, each with a span of 78 feet and 6 inches. The total cost, including construction of the approach roads, compensation to land owners etc, was £296,998.
The first Vauxhall Bridge was completed at private expense for private profit, so a toll was charged for use of the bridge.
In the first full year of operation, the bridge generated £4,977 in tolls, and despite later reduction of tolls and the construction of additional bridges, by 1877, tolls generated by Vauxhall Bridge amounted to £62,392.
Tolls were a common means to finance bridge construction and maintenance, and during the time of the first Vauxhall Bridge, the only bridge above Blackfriars Bridge in what was the County of London (prior to the 1960s expansion) that did not collect tolls was Westminster Bridge.
It was the 1877 Metropolis Toll Bridges Act that provided for the Metropolitan Board of Works to purchase the interests of the private companies, and of H.M. Office of Works in the following bridges: Waterloo, Lambeth, Vauxhall, Chelsea, Albert, Battersea, Wandsworth, Putney, Hammersmith and the bridge over Deptford Creek.
After the purchase of the bridges by the Metropolitan Board of Works, the tolls were removed and the bridges were free to use.
The LCC booklet includes a list of the bridges over the Thames up to 1906, including the date of opening, rebuilds, and the engineer responsible:
Image from the LCC booklet showing the Thames below Vauxhall Bridge around 1820, with the new bridge in the background:
And a print from a very rural Millbank in 1829, showing Vauxhall Bridge:
(© The Trustees of the British Museum. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence.)
A photo from the LCC booklet showing the original Vauxhall Bridge:
Changes along the river, and the design and construction of the bridge, along with increases in traffic during the 19th century, all combined to justify the build of a new bridge.
The LCC booklet explains:
“The scour of the river due to the high velocity of the current had, however, tended to expose the foundations of the bridge, and this had been met by depositing material from time to time around the foundations. The velocity of the current had probably been increased by the removal of old London Bridge in 1831, and of old Westminster bridge about thirty years later, but it was in the first place due to the obstruction caused by the numerous and thick piers of the bridge.
Besides having a dangerous effect on the safety of the bridge, the strength of the tide was a considerable impediment to traffic, which was also hindered by the narrowness of the arches. Powers were obtained to remove two of the central piers, thus converting three arches into one. The estimated cost of this was £40,9099. These powers were allowed to lapse.
In the meantime the effects caused by the scour of the river continued, and in November 1887, it was thought advisable to have the foundations of three of the central piers examined by a diver. The result of the examination showed that the bottoms of the timber cradles upon which the piers were founded were in several places 4 or 5 inches above the level of the clay bed of the river adjoining them, and in the case of the third pier from the Middlesex side of the bridge the clay was found to have been scoured away from beneath the cradle 5 or 6 inches inwards from its outer edge. This was arrested by laying bags filled with cement along the outer edges of the cradle, and by depositing 6500 tons of slag around the piers.
In 1887 it was found that these protective measures were in turn washed away.
Moreover, the small width of the bridge and the heavy gradients of its approaches combined to render the structure inadequate to cope with the growing demands of road traffic. This traffic had recently much increased, being assisted by the enlargement and alterations at Vauxhall Station, and the weak condition of Lambeth bridge. During the week ended 11th July 1891, 34,915 vehicles had crossed the bridge, as compared with 22,232 vehicles in the week ended 12th June, 1879.”
The Bridges Committee of the LCC decided that there was a strong case for a new bridge. At the same time, there was an issue with Lambeth Bridge, but the committee decided that Vauxhall should be the first bridge to be rebuilt.
The cost was estimated at £484,000, and Parliament authorised the London County Council (Vauxhall Bridge) Act of 1895.
Before demolition of the existing bridge, a temporary wooden bridge was built between the western end of the Albert Embankment and Millbank.
The first phase of work consisted of demolition of the old bridge followed by construction of the new piers. This work was completed in November 1903.
Whilst the first phase was underway, plans for the superstructure were prepared, and the work on this phase of the bridge commenced on the 1st of January 1904.
The new bridge was designed and construction supervised by Maurice Fitzmaurice, the London County Council’s chief engineer, assisted by the council’s architect, W.E. Riley.
The following photo from the booklet shows the new Vauxhall Bridge. Comparing with the above photo of the first bridge shows much larger piers and wider arches:
The reduction in the number of piers and increased distance between the piers was key for traffic on the river.
With the original bridge, the narrowness of the arches, and the eight piers reduced the space for the river to flow under the bridge and resulted in the tide running up to a velocity of 7 miles an hour, which caused problems with the handling of vessels as they passed under the bridge.
There had also been a considerable increase in the number of vessels passing under the bridge due to the increase in the number of riverside factories and workshops along the upper reaches of the river, and in 1894, an average of 391 vessels were passing under the bridge every twenty four hours.
The roadway over the new bridge was also wider, and the approach to the bridge had a smoother gradient, making it easier for traffic and pedestrians to cross the bridge.
The key features of the new Vauxhall Bridge were;
- Total length across the river between abutments is 759 feet 4 inches
- Total waterway of 699 feet 4 inches
- The central span is 149 feet 7 inches wide, with a head of 20 feet above high water
- The width of the bridge between parapets is 80 feet, divided into a carriageway 50 feet wide and two footways of 15 feet in width each
- The abutments are formed of concrete faced with granite
- The upper portion of the masonry is treated differently on the two abutments, the Westminster one having, above the roadway level, two massive blocks of granite masonry on either side, destined probably to server as the bases of lofty piers or groups of statuary. These measure 20 feet in length by 10 feet 8 inches in width
- The Lambeth abutment has similar piers, but behind the downstream one is an open balustrade and a flight of steps giving access to the foreshore.
- The upstream side is a plain granite parapet wall, which is continued for some distance along the approach to the bridge. Construction of this abutment involved division of the two large storm relief sewers known as the Clapham and Effra sewers
As mentioned in the above list, the original intention for the large blocks of granite masonry on the abutments of the bridge was for either some pylons of statues. The following newspaper report explains why the pylons were not part of the finished bridge:
“An attempt has been made to introduce a Parisian feature in the ‘pylons’ which have never formed a part of a London bridge. These oblong pylons are carried high above the stone balustrades at the entrance of the bridge, and they are introduced not only to give dignity to the appearance, but also to lend additional strength to the structure. The design resembles in many ways the Alexander III Bridge across the Seine, where, however, the pylons are treated more ornamentally. But the bridges committee while accepting the design and being favourably impressed by the pylons have decided not to adopt them as they would entail the additional cost of £10,000, thus the design will go to the L.C.C. this week shorn of the pylons.”
So the approach to the bridge was built without any pylons or statues, and the large granite blocks on which these would have been placed can be seen to left and right of the following photo of the roadway of the new bridge when completed. They are still there today, and still without any decoration or structure on top:
This is the Alexander III Bridge across the Seine referred to in the above description. It had been built a couple of years before the new Vauxhall Bridge, so if the money had been available, Vauxhall Bridge could have had similar impressive structures towering on the abutments, above either side of the approach to the bridge:
Image source and attribution: Jebulon, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
So whilst the roadway over the bridge was devoid of any decoration, there is decoration along the outer sides of the bridge.
The London County Council’s architect, Mr. W.E. Riley advised on the decoratuion of each support by placing steel panels over the masonry, and the application of bronze figures of heroic size on both elevations.
These figures were then created by Mr. A. Drury and Mr. F.W. Pomeroy.
This is a view of the side of Vauxhall Bridge from a few years ago. Statues can be seen above each of the piers:
On the western, upstream side of the bridge are Pomeroy’s statues representing Agriculture, Architecture, Engineering and Pottery:
And on the eastern, downstream side of the bridge are Drury’s statues representing Science, Fine Arts, Local Government and Education:
As well as the statues along the side of the bridge, there was another unique feature to the new Vauxhall Bridge, as explained in the LCC booklet:
“In consequence of the narrowness of the old bridge, no line of tramway had been constructed over it, and thus a gap had been left between the lines running from Victoria down the Vauxhall Bridge Road and the tramway at Vauxhall Cross.
In view of the importance of such a line, it was decided to apply to Parliament for authority to construct it. In 1896 the London County Council (Vauxhall Bridge Tramways) Act was passed, and steps were taken to carry out the work concurrently with the formation of the carriageway of the bridge.
Vauxhall Bridge is thus the first bridge over the Thames in London to accommodate a tramway. It will be seen, on looking at the map, that with the completion of the tramway over Vauxhall Bridge, there is a tramway in a straight line from Victoria Station to Camberwell-green. The latter point is a centre where a number of tramways meet on the south side of the Thames. The new line will therefore be of great importance in connecting large areas of South London with the stations of the London and Brighton, South Eastern, and Metropolitan District Railways at Victoria and with the large omnibus traffic starting from that point.”
The last paragraphs highlights how building one bit of infrastructure can have a much wider benefit, and although the original tram network has disappeared from London’s streets, the interconnectivity of different transport methods, whether train, underground or bus, has long been key to London’s success as a city.
The story of the two Vauxhall bridges also shows that bridges, as with any infrastructure needs maintenance and eventual replacement.
To highlight the benefits of the new bridge, and how London is subject to continual change, I will end the post with the following from the Westminster Mail on the 12th of May, 1906:
“VAUXHALL BRIDGE ROAD TRAMS – Considerable interest was evinced on Wednesday evening in the experimental trips of an electric tram car over the recently completed Vauxhall Bridge-road track. The sight of a tram-car on the bridge was a decided novelty, and attracted crowds of spectators. A car usually running on the Waterloo and Clapham route was requisitioned for the purpose, and it is understood that everything worked smoothly and satisfactorily.
Residents and those having business in the neighbourhood are agreed as to the rapidity with which the work of the electrification of the track was carried out. And but for the fact that the large sewer at the junction of the road in Tachbrook-street required extensive alterations, the task would have been accomplished even more speedily.
The past 15 years have witnessed remarkable alterations in Vauxhall-bridge road. In the early nineties the tinkling bells of the old one-horse cars were a dreadful nuisance, not in the least mitigated by the fact that there were no conductors. When the LCC acquired the system they substituted the more up to date pair-horse cars, and, better still, abolished those tinkling bells.
Now we are on the eve of having electric cars, a still greater improvement. In other directions too, the thoroughfare has been improved, and several blocks of handsome flats have taken the place of small house property. Of good width, and well paved with wood, Vauxhall Bridge-road should speedily become a much more important locality than has been the case hitherto.”
