Temple Footbridge is a pedestrian only bridge near

Hurley, Berkshire Hurley is a small village and large, rural civil parish in Berkshire, England. Its riverside is agricultural, except for Hurley Priory, as are the outskirts of the village. The adjoining inn is believed to date from 1135. Topography Hurley is a ...

across the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...

in England. It connects the

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

and

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

banks. It crosses the Thames just above

Temple Lock Temple Lock is a lock and weir situated on the Buckinghamshire bank of the River Thames near Temple Mill Island opposite Temple Meadows and not far from Hurley, Berkshire. It was first built by the Thames Navigation Commissioners in 1773. ...

. The bridge was built in 1989 specifically for walkers on the

Thames Path The Thames Path is a National Trail following the River Thames from its source near Kemble, Gloucestershire, Kemble in Gloucestershire to the Woolwich foot tunnel, south east London. It is about long. A path was first proposed in 1948 but it onl ...

. Previously walkers on the Thames Path had been required to take a detour away from the river bank along a road through

Bisham Bisham is a village and civil parish in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, England. The village is on the River Thames, around south of Marlow in the neighbouring county of Buckinghamshire, and around northwest of Maide ...

and Marlow. The bridge was opened by Lord Hesketh on 24 May 1989, following a campaign by Margaret Bowdery, a local advocate of access to open spaces and improvements to footpaths. As part of the campaign for the construction of the bridge she ran a "Golden Boot" appeal and raised over £2000 towards its construction. Formerly there was a ferry at this point which took the towpath across the river when it was used for towing barges. The ferry ceased operation in 1953. The name "Temple" comes from Temple Mill Island which was owned by the

Knights Templar , colors = White mantle with a red cross , colors_label = Attire , march = , mascot = Two knights riding a single horse , equipment ...

and the site of a mill, which was used to create copper sheets used in the construction of ships for the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

. The mill had a large

water wheel A water wheel is a machine for converting the energy of flowing or falling water into useful forms of power, often in a watermill. A water wheel consists of a wheel (usually constructed from wood or metal), with a number of blades or buckets ...

to drive the milling machinery. In May 2019 the bridge was declared unsafe and closed to pedestrians. It was repaired and reopened in June of the same year. It is a haunched girder bridge with a wooden deck. At , it is the longest hardwood bridge in Britain. The centre of the bridge gives a height of above the water allowing the passage of a range of vessels.

References

{{coord , 51.552, -0.797, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Pedestrian bridges across the River Thames Bridges completed in 1989 Bridges in Buckinghamshire Bridges in Berkshire Hurley, Berkshire

See also

References