Hampton Court Bridge
First Bridge
In 1750, James Clarke obtained an Act of Parliament (23 Geo. 2. c. 37) to construct a privately owned bridge at Hampton Court. The first bridge was constructed by Samuel Stevens and Benjamin Ludgator from 1752 until 1753 and opened on 13 December that year. It had seven wooden arches and was built in the Chinoiserie design of the Willow pattern that was popular at the time, attested by two prints made in the year of its opening and the year after.
Second Bridge
This bridge was replaced by a more sturdy eleven-arch wooden bridge in 1778. By 1840 this bridge had become dilapidated and the owner appealed to the Corporation of London to support reconstruction. Among their arguments were that since the bridge was built, the City had created Molesey Lock and Weir and as a consequence navigation through the bridge was dangerous. The bridge was described at about this time as "crazy, hog-backed, inconvenient and obstructive of the navigation".
Third Bridge
1864 'THE OLD BRIDGE AT HAMPTON COURT. We have engraved a View of the old wooden toll-bridge at Hampton Court, which is now about to be removed by order of its proprietor, Mr. T. W. Allen, of Newlands Park, Buckinghamshire, who has resolved to build a new one of iron. The Act of Parliament for the construction of the first Hampton Court Bridge w as obtained in the reign of George 11., and that bridge was opened in December, 1753. It was replaced by the present bridge about thirty or forty years ago. This structure, entirely of timber, has eleven openings, varying from 25 ft. to 29 ft. span at water-line. Its width between parapets is 17 ft. ; the height in the centre is considerable ; and the gradients are steep. The total length of the bridge is 375 ft.; but the piers are so wide that they occupy ft solid of the available space. The new bridge, from designs furnished by Mr. E. F. Murray, of 27, Great George-street, Westminster, will be of wrought iron, resting on cast-iron cylinders. It will have five openings, varying from 66 ft. to 76 ft. span. The width will be 26 ft.; and, notwithstanding that the headway for navigation will be higher than that of the present bridge, the gradients will be much more favourable. The length of the new bridge will be the same as that of the present one, but the space occupied by the piers will be only 20 ft. instead of 90 ft. The works of the new were commenced last spring, and are far advanced towards completion. The cylinders have been sunk on each side of the present bridge, and the main girders are being fixed outside and clear of the present parapets, so that the public will have the uninterrupted use of the present bridge almost up to the completion of the new one. The whole expense of this new and improved communication, which will a great advantage to the neighbourhood, is defrayed by Mr. Allen, who has also just completed the rebuilding of the old bridge at Walton-on-Thames, under the direction and from the designs of the same engineer, Mr. Murray, and by the same contractors who are now erecting this work, Messrs. Hennett, Spink, and Else, of Bridgewater.'[1]
1869 'HAMPTON COURT BRIDGE. The new bridge at Hampton Court, lately completed and opened for traffic, is the property of Mr. Thomas Newland Allen, having been erected at his expense, from designs prepared by the engineer, Mr. E. F. Murray, Westminster Chambers, by the contractors, Messrs. Hennett, Spink, and Else, of Bridgewater. Its architectural style is in harmony with the Tudor portion of the neighbouring palace, and the bridge has been ornamented with mouldings similar to those on that part of the palace. There are five spans, increasing from 66 ft. at the sides to 76 ft. in the centre, the width of the roadway being 26 ft. The foundations of the bridge consist of cast-iron cylinders, sunk without atmospheric pressure about 16 ft. below the bed of the river, or 10 ft. into the solid London clay. The arches are lattice girders of wrought iron. The length of the bridge between the abutments is 370 ft., but the total length of new road and raised approaches is 547 ft. The total weight of wrought iron used was 286 tons, and there were 140 tons of cast iron, of which about ninety-two tons were in the cylinders. The total cost of the bridge was only £11,176, including the approaches, new toll-house, and toll-gates. The cost of the bridge between the abutments was £9709 — rather more than £26 per foot run, or about £1 per superficial foot.'[2]
Fourth Bridge
The bridge has three wide arches, is designed to be able to carry quite heavy motorised road traffic and is constructed of reinforced concrete, faced with red bricks and white Portland Stone (namely its pontoons, dressings, and balustrades).
The bridge was one of three authorised by Parliament in 1928 (the others being Twickenham Bridge and Chiswick Bridge). It was designed by the Surrey county engineer W. P. Robinson and the architect Sir Edwin Lutyens to reflect the style of the portions of Hampton Court Palace designed by Sir Christopher Wren. To ensure that traffic could still cross, the new bridge was built a short distance downstream from the old, which was subsequently demolished.
Construction began in September 1930. The work required the demolition of a small hotel (The Old Castle) and, to the south, diversion of the flow of the River Mole into the River Ember, formerly the secondary distributary of the Mole. The bridge was opened by the Prince of Wales (who became King Edward VIII) on 3 July 1933, on the same day as the opening of Chiswick and Twickenham bridges, which carry the A316 (and between those sections is still occasionally nicknamed the 'Richmond bypass'). The bridge was Grade II listed in 1952 for its architecture.