Chelsea Bridge

Chelsea Bridge is a bridge over the River Thames in west London. It connects Chelsea on the north bank to Battersea on the south bank. The first Chelsea Bridge was built in the 1840s as part of a major development of marshlands. It was the first self-anchored suspension bridge in Britain. The old bridge was demolished during 1934–1937, and replaced by the current structure.

About Chelsea Bridge in brief

Chelsea Bridge is a bridge over the River Thames in west London. It connects Chelsea on the north bank to Battersea on the south bank. The first Chelsea Bridge was built in the 1840s as part of a major development of marshlands. It was the first self-anchored suspension bridge in Britain, and was built entirely with materials sourced from within the British Empire. The old bridge was demolished during 1934–1937, and replaced by the current structure, which opened in 1937. The bridge is floodlit from below during the hours of darkness, when the towers and cables are illuminated by 936 feet of light-emitting diodes. In 2008 it achieved Grade II listed status. It is split between the City of Westminster, the London Borough of Wandsworth and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. The current bridge was built on the site of what was an ancient ford, and opened in 1858. The town of Chelsea was an important industrial centre in the early 19th century. It became congested, and in 1842 the Commission of Woods and Forests recommended the building of a new embankment at Chelsea to free up land for development. In 1846 the Commissioners purchased the Red House Inn and 200 acres of land to create a large public park to serve the growing population of Chelsea. In the early 1840s Thomas Cubitt and James Pennethorne had proposed a plan to use 150,000 tons of rocks and earth from the Royal Victoria Dock to use for the new bridge.

The new bridge was completed in 1846 and replaced the old structure with a modern replacement of Batter Sea Bridge in 1848. It has been named Chelsea Bridge after the Royal Family’s association with a potential collapse in the event of the bridge’s collapse in 1879. In 2004 a footbridge was opened beneath the southern span, carrying the Thames Path under the bridge, and the bridge is now a popular tourist attraction. The Red House inn was an isolated inn in the marshlands by BatterSEA fields, about one mile east of the developed street of the prosperous farming village of Batteringsea. Not on any major road, its isolation and lack of any police presence made it a popular destination for visitors from London and Westminster since the 16th century, who would travel to Red House by wherry, attracted by Sunday dog fighting, bare-knuckle boxing bouts and illegal horse racing. The area was also a popular area for duelling, and it was the venue for the 1829 duel between the then Prime Minister the Duke of Wellington and the Earl of Winchilsea. Since 1771, BatterSea and Chelsea had been linked by the modest, modest, and congested Reed Woods, and Reed Forests, and Chelsea began to become congested. As London became more congested following the advent of the railways, the Commissioners recommended the creation of a bridge to connect the two areas. The original bridge was never completed and was demolished in 1934.

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