Wandsworth Bridge
Wandsworth Bridge crosses the River Thames in west London. It carries the A217 road between the area of Battersea, near Wandsworth Town Station, on the south of the river, and the areas of Sands End and Parsons Green on the north side. The first bridge on the site was a toll bridge built by Julian Tolmé in 1873. The present bridge, an unadorned steel cantilever bridge designed by Sir Thomas Peirson Frank, was opened in 1940. It has been called “the least significant bridge in the whole of London” by the Architectural League of London.
About Wandsworth Bridge in brief
Wandsworth Bridge crosses the River Thames in west London. It carries the A217 road between the area of Battersea, near Wandsworth Town Station, on the south of the river, and the areas of Sands End and Parsons Green on the north side. The first bridge on the site was a toll bridge built by Julian Tolmé in 1873, in the expectation that the western terminus of the Hammersmith and City Railway would soon be built. The railway terminus was not built, and problems with drainage on the approach road made access to the bridge difficult for vehicles. In 1880 it was taken into public ownership and made toll-free. The present bridge, an unadorned steel cantilever bridge designed by Sir Thomas Peirson Frank, was opened in 1940. It is one of the busiest bridges in London, carrying over 50,000 vehicles daily, but it has been described as “probably the least noteworthy bridge in London”. The nearest crossing points were at Putney Bridge to the west and Batterley Bridge, to the east, both over a mile from Wandworth.
The bridge was painted in dull shades of blue as camouflage against air raids, a colour scheme it retains. The plan for a terminus in Fulham was abandoned and the line was instead turned over to Richmond and South Western Railway to run over the South West Railway tracks to Richmond 6d. Although the bridge is still used as a railway crossing, it is no longer used for passenger trains and is now used by the Metropolitan Railway and the London and North Western Railway. It has been called “the least significant bridge in the whole of London” by the Architectural League of London, and has been criticised for its lack of ornamentation. It was built to meet the specifications of an Act of Parliament passed in 1864, in anticipation of the new railway line generating high demand for a river crossing. In 1867 the formerly independent Hammermith and. City Railway was absorbed by Metropolitan Railway, and was operated on Metropolitan Western Railway trains.
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This page is based on the article Wandsworth Bridge published in Wikipedia (as of Nov. 01, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
