Blackfriars Bridge - 1869 - London, UK
N 51° 30.679 W 000° 06.252
30U E 700936 N 5710664
The bridge, that spans the River Thames and has five arches, was opened in 1869 and re-opened, after widening, in 1909.
Waymark Code: WMGY7T
Location: London, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 04/23/2013
Views: 9
A plaque, at the northern end of the
bridge, tells us:
Corporation of London
Blackfriars
Bridge
standing on the site of the original bridge named after
William
Pitt the Elder in 1760. Constructed and maintained
without burden upon
public funds out of monies derived from
Bridge House Estates
Trust
First opened 6th November 1869 by
Her
Majesty Queen Victoria
widened and reopened 14th September 1909 by
The
Rt. Hon. Sir George Wyatt Truscott. Bart., Lord
Mayor
The Tour
UK website tells us:
"In 1753 it became obvious that a new bridge was
required to make a gateway to the capital. This would be the third bridge to be
built across the Thames in central London, after London Bridge and Westminster
Bridge.
A competition was held in 1759 to find the best design
and the winner, Robert Mylne, was appointed to build the bridge in 1760. The
bridge had nine elliptical arches, resting on slender, pointed cutwaters and
supported by double Ionic columns.
You can see the the designs of this bridge on the walls
of the southern pedestrian subway under Blackfriars Bridge.
Finished in Portland stone, the structure was 995 ft
long and 42 ft wide. At the laying of the foundation stone, the bridge was named
Pitt Bridge, after the Tory Prime Minister, but when the bridge was opened in
1769 Pitt was out of favour, and it was renamed Blackfriars Bridge, in honour of
the Black Friars who moved their monastery from Holborn to a site near the
northern approach road to the bridge in 1274.
Although maintained, the Portland stone was soon eroded
by the polluted saline waters of the Thames and the foundations of the bridge
became undermined. Much of this pollution was caused by the River Fleet, which
flowed into the Thames under a large archway near the western end of the bridge.
Over the years it had become an open sewer and it was also a serious health
hazard. Repairs were put in hand but in 1840 these were halted in favour of
building a new bridge as soon as possible.
Mylne's bridge was demolished in 1860 and a temporary
bridge erected in its place. The corporation originally accepted a design by
Thomas Page for a three-arch bridge, but at the same time the London Chatham
& Dover Railway wanted a railway bridge, and since the railway bridge
required five arches, the road bridge had to be amended to five. After two years
Joseph Cubbit, was appointed to design both bridges. To overcome tidal scour
Cubbit sank massive iron caissons into the river clay and half filled them with
concrete. On to these he built up his piers in granite-faced brickwork. The
spans, two each of 155 ft and 175 ft on either side of the 185 ft centre are
formed of wrought-iron ribs.
From the cutwaters columns of polished red granite were
erected to support pulpit-like bays at pavement level. These were embellished by
the sculptor J B Philip with sculpted birds and flowers in honour the original
Black Friars. On the upstream side these show plants and freshwater birds, while
on the downstream side they depict marine vegetation and seagulls. The low
cast-iron balustrade completes the 'Venetian-Gothic' effect. The bridge is 923
ft long and 70 wide."