The London, Chatham & Dover Railway built a gorgeous bridge across the River Thames from the London borough of Southwark into the City of London in 1864. Once engineers determined that the bridge was not strong enough to carry modern railway traffic, it was removed and a new Blackfriar's Railway bridge (featuring LOTS of solar panels) was built alongside it.
Today, only the red pillars and the London, Chatham & Dover Railway Badge remain as a reminder to this once important transportation link.
From the blog of Martin Belham, some history and backstory on this abandoned and demolished bridge: (
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"The ghost of the London, Chatham and Dover Railway Bridge across the Thames
by Martin Belam, 15 December 2008
Earlier this year I was working with a client who had offices near Blackfriars Bridge, which gave me the chance to explore that bit of Central London. I'd actually passed by that way very closely when doing a ghost walk around Haunted Clerkenwell, St. Pauls and the Barbican, but during the daylight hours it was the ghost of a bridge that intrigued me.
Alongside London's Blackfriar's Bridge runs a series of supports for a bridge that looks like it was never finished, or which was partially removed. The latter was in fact the case, as the bridge used to serve the London, Chatham and Dover Railway. Their insignia is still preserved at one end of what is left of the structure
In 1862 The LC&D built one of the two stations that was to become the unified Victoria we know today. Their section houses platform's 1 to 8. Their trains had first run directly from London to Dover the year before, in order to connect with the steamship services they also owned.
They were not the only train operator plying that route - and until the end of the 19th century the London, Chatham and Dover railway competed with the South Eastern Railway Co. In 1899, faced with rising costs and falling profits, the two companies underwent a shotgun merger to form first the South Eastern & Chatham Railway, then from 1923 the Southern Railway.
The merger wasn't complete however, and for many years, although interoperable, the railways were still separate operations that could be un-merged should it be deemed prudent. And it may have just been a good tax dodge.
"After many years of the most severe competition in the annals of the British railways, the South Eastern and the London, Chatham and Dover companies decided that it would be more profitable to work in harmony. But, as the law then stood, amalgamation would have necessitated the spending of a very large sum in stamp duties. It was therefore decided in 1899 to set up a Managing Committee for the purpose of working the two systems as one. Although each retained its separate identity as a company, the receipts of the whole undertaking were pooled in an agreed proportion. The Committee continued to exist until 1923."
The London, Chatham and Dover bridge over the Thames was removed in 1980s. It was designed by Joseph Cubitt and F T Turner, and construction started on it in 1862. It was completed 2 years later, and served a station that was then called St Paul's. The line had become rarely used during the course of the 20th century, eventually becoming goods only, and it was deemed too weak to support modern rolling stock. Nigel Callaghan's site has a picture of how the underneath of the bridge used to look.
This print from the Oxfordshire County Council Photographic Archive also shows the bridge - it was made by James Dredge in 1897.
One of the best views of how the structure has been left isolated can be found using Google Maps - the shadows of the disused supports can clearly be seen reaching out across the Thames.
Take your photos while you can.
Next year major restructuring work begins at Blackfriars as part of the Thameslink 2000 programme, and the piers of the old bridge will be used to extend the station across the Thames:
The existing rail bridge will be comprehensively rebuilt to allow for the construction of longer platforms. This will include an expansion to the West utilising the foundations of one set of disused bridge pillars last used by an adjacent railway bridge demolished in 1985."
An article written by Nigel Callaghan in 2005 for the abandonedstations.org website gives a more historical perspective: (
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"Blackfriars railway bridges.
Two railway bridges crossed the River Thames side-by-side to Blackfriars Station formerly named St Paul's. The downstream (easternmost) bridge of 1886, is currently being used by Thameslink trains. The older 1864 bridge was dismantled in 1985, leaving only four sets of quadruple-clustered cylindrical piers with foliated capitals standing clear of the water on granite plinths that stand on cast iron cylinders filled with concrete. Joseph Cubitt and F T Turner designed the bridge, which was a lattice girder structure.
In 1860 the London Chatham & Dover Railway (LDCR) was allowed to build an extension from its existing station at Beckenham to Ludgate Hill in the City of London. The new railway line would cross the Thames beside Blackfriars Bridge. As Joseph Cubitt was rebuilding the road bridge, it was agreed that he should design both bridges. Work started on the railway bridge in 1862 and the bridge and the station, then called St Paul's, opened in 1864.
The wrought-iron girder railway bridge has spans supported by masonry abutments and composite piers. Since the bridge formed part of St Paul's Station it was given a great deal of cast-iron ornamentation. The supports had ornate Romanesque capitals and decorated with large, brightly coloured shields incorporating the coat of arms of the LCDR.
The Blackfriars Railway Bridge carried only four tracks and 20 years later it was decided to construct a second railway bridge beside the first. Designed by W. Mills, the new wrought-iron bridge opened in 1886. Its river spans match the old bridge, and on the downstream side the bridge is decorated with pulpit turrets, while on the upstream side there are Gothic-style cast-iron parapets. Following the re-organisation of the railways in 1923, the new Southern Railway decided to concentrate all its long-distance and Continental traffic at Waterloo and Victoria. As a result St Paul's Station lost all but its local and suburban services.
In 1937 St Paul's Station was renamed Blackfriars Station and the St Paul's Railway Bridge lost its identity to become just a widening of Blackfriars Railway Bridge. However, by the mid-20th century the old bridge was considered too weak to carry modern trains and the obsolete railway bridge was eventually dismantled in 1984 and its approach tracks removed. The land was taken up to provide offices such as the Daily Express building to the south, which is somewhat thin as a result.
Today all that is left are the ornate red columns of the original bridge. One of the cast-iron shields bearing the insignia of the LCDR can now be seen on display on the South Bank having been beautifully restored."