London’s 35 bridges

Some of London’s 35 bridges are pedestrian-only and some are for trains, but the vast majority date from the 1800s.  The iconic Tower Bridge (1894) is one of the newer constructions and the only one which is capable of opening up for tall ships via its bascule mechanism, of which it is now the oldest existing example.

The oldest surviving London bridge is the stone-arched Richmond Bridge (1777), which replaced a ferry service. Like Tower Bridge it is Grade I Listed. Although it was carefully widened and repaired in 1940, it was not completely rebuilt in the 1800s like many others have been.

However, the very first recorded bridge was, naturally, London Bridge, rebuilt three times with the current version dating from 1973. The Romans built the original around 50AD. It is the bridge with the most eventful history and the extraordinary distinction of having had houses and shops actually erected on the bridge itself. They were eventually removed for fire hazard reasons after 550 years in 1761.

The newest London bridge is the Millennium Bridge (2000) for pedestrians, which had to be closed for two years only a week after opening, for repairs to cure a noticeable swaying. For this it gained the nickname ‘the Wibbly-Wobbly Bridge’!

(Top images: Tower Bridge – Stephen Craven, Richmond Bridge – Christopher Hall, Millennium Bridge – Peter Trimming, London Bridge – Philip Halling, all at geograph.org.uk / CC BY-SA 2.0)