Lambeth Bridge

{{Short description|Grade II listed road bridge in London, United Kingdom}}

{{Infobox Bridge |

|image = River Thames and Lambeth Bridge-7July2007.jpg

|image_size=300px

|bridge_name = Lambeth Bridge

|caption = River Thames; Lambeth Bridge with Vauxhall Bridge in the distance (as seen from London Eye)

|official_name =

|locale = London

|carries = Lambeth Road

|crosses = River Thames

|maint = Transport for London

|open = (first bridge) {{Start date and age|df=y|1862|11|10}}

(second bridge) {{Start date and age|df=y|1932|7|19}}

|below =

|traffic =

|design = Arch

|toll = |coordinates = {{coord|51|29|40|N|0|07|23|W|region:GB_type:landmark|display=inline, title}}

|mainspan =

|length =

|width =

| preceded = Vauxhall Bridge

| followed = Westminster Bridge

}}

Lambeth Bridge is a road traffic and footbridge crossing the River Thames in an east–west direction in central London. The river flows north at the crossing point. Downstream, the next bridge is Westminster Bridge; upstream, the next bridge is Vauxhall Bridge.

The most conspicuous colour in the bridge's paint scheme is red, the same colour as the leather benches in the House of Lords, which is at the southern end of the Palace of Westminster nearest the bridge. This is in contrast to Westminster Bridge, which is predominantly green, the same colour as the benches in the House of Commons at the northern end of the Houses of Parliament.

On the east side, in Lambeth, are Lambeth Palace, the Albert Embankment, St. Thomas' Hospital, and the International Maritime Organization. On the west side, in Westminster, are Thames House (the headquarters of MI5), behind which is Horseferry House (the National Probation Service headquarters), and Clelland House and Abell House (the headquarters of HM Prison Service), and the Millbank Tower and Tate Britain. The Palace of Westminster is a short walk downstream to the north through the Victoria Tower Garden.

History

File:London Duck under Lambeth Bridge.jpg, Victoria Tower in centre]]

File:Lambeth Bridge upstream side1.jpg, facing east towards Lambeth]]

File:Westminster Bridge and Lambeth Bridge 1897.jpg, Lambeth Bridge, the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Bridge ]]

File:River Thames, London-11Sept2009.jpg, the next bridge is Lambeth Bridge, and the bridge just visible in the distance is Vauxhall Bridge (as seen from the London Eye observation wheel)]]

File:Lambeth Bridge upstream side.jpg, looking north and downstream]]

Lambeth Bridge is on the site of a horse ferry between the Palace of Westminster and Lambeth Palace on the south bank.[http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=47053 Lambeth Bridge and its predecessor the Horseferry] Its name lives on in Horseferry Road, which forms the approach to the bridge on the north bank.

The first modern bridge was a suspension bridge, {{convert|828|ft|m|1}} long, designed by Peter W. Barlow. Sanctioned by the {{visible anchor|Lambeth Bridge Act 1861}} (24 & 25 Vict. c. cxvii), it opened as a toll bridge on 10 November 1862.{{cite web |url=http://find.galegroup.com/ttda/infomark.do?&source=gale&prodId=TTDA&userGroupName=kccl&tabID=T003&docPage=article&searchType=BasicSearchForm&docId=CS84712299&type=multipage&contentSet=LTO&version=1.0 |title=Lambeth Suspension Bridge |work=The Times |date=11 November 1862 |issue=24400 |page=5 |access-date=15 August 2017}} Doubts about its safety, coupled with its awkwardly steep approaches deterring horse-drawn traffic, meant it soon became used almost solely as a pedestrian crossing. It ceased to be a toll bridge in 1879 when the Metropolitan Board of Works assumed responsibility for its upkeep — it was by then severely corroded, and by 1910 it was closed to vehicular traffic.

The London County Council prepared a masterplan for the area, including a replacement road bridge linking to a widened Horseferry Road, which was authorised by {{visible anchor| London County Council (Lambeth Bridge) Act 1924}} (14 & 15 Geo. 5. c. lxvii). Before work had started on the project, the 1928 Thames flood caused extensive destruction of property in the Millbank area. Following the flood the Chelsea Embankment was rebuilt and raised, resulting in some minor redesign of the approaches, and creating the open space to the north of Lambeth Bridge now known as Victoria Tower Gardens South. During the period of delay, the bridge was also redesigned to be able to cope with a higher weight of motorised traffic.

The current structure, a five-span steel arch, designed by engineer Sir George Humphreys and architects Sir Reginald Blomfield and G. Topham Forrest,[http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-496913-lambeth-bridge-and-attached-parapets-lig Listing description on British Listed Buildings] was built by Dorman Long[http://thames.me.uk/s00140.htm Where Thames Smooth Waters Glide] and opened on 19 July 1932 by King George V. It formerly carried four lanes of road traffic (now reduced to three lanes, one of which is a buses-only lane flowing eastbound) from a roundabout junction by the Lambeth Palace northwards to another roundabout, where the Millbank road meets Horseferry Road .

The bridge is notable at road level for the pairs of obelisks at either end of the bridge, which are surmounted by stone pinecones. However, there is a popular urban legend that they are pineapples, as a tribute{{Cite web |url=http://www.vauxhallandkennington.org.uk/history.shtml |title=commemorative pineapples |access-date=16 June 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080708200002/http://www.vauxhallandkennington.org.uk/history.shtml |archive-date=8 July 2008 |url-status=dead }} to Lambeth resident John Tradescant the younger, who is said to have grown the first pineapple in Britain.[http://www.vauxhallcivicsociety.org.uk/history/tradescant-family/ Vauxhall Society:Tradescants] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407085316/http://www.vauxhallcivicsociety.org.uk/history/tradescant-family/ |date=7 April 2014 }}

The bridge was declared a Grade II listed structure in 2008, providing protection to preserve its special character from unsympathetic development.{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7750180.stm|title=London bridges get listed status|publisher=BBC News|access-date=26 November 2008|date=26 November 2008}} The listing designation includes the parapets, lamps, obelisks and the approach walls.

References

External links

[http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=47053 Survey of London entry]
{{Structurae|id=20003156|title=Lambeth Bridge (1862)}}
{{Structurae|id=20003157|title=Lambeth Bridge (1932)}}
[https://www.ltmuseum.co.uk/collections/collections-online/photographs London Transport Museum Photographic Archive]
{{LTM archive|1999-8095|Original Lambeth Bridge, looking south-east from Millbank, 1923}}
{{LTM archive|1999-20308|Southern Approach to original bridge showing its narrowness, 1923}}

File:LambethBridge.jpg, looking north, downstream. Thames House is on the far left.]]

{{ThamesCrossings | west=Vauxhall Bridge | east=Westminster Bridge }}

Category:Transport in the City of Westminster

Category:Transport in the London Borough of Lambeth

Category:Grade II listed buildings in the City of Westminster

Category:Grade II listed buildings in the London Borough of Lambeth

Category:Bridges completed in 1862

Category:History of the London Borough of Lambeth

Category:Rebuilt buildings and structures in the United Kingdom

Category:Bridges completed in 1932

Category:Bridges across the River Thames

Category:Reginald Blomfield buildings