The Windsor Castle Act 1848 was a

Private Act of Parliament Proposed bills are often categorized into public bills and private bills. A public bill is a proposed law which would apply to everyone within its jurisdiction. This is unlike a private bill which is a proposal for a law affecting only a single p ...

enacted for the British royal family that reformed land use and rights around

Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is a royal residence at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. It is strongly associated with the English and succeeding British royal family, and embodies almost a millennium of architectural history. The original cast ...

, in

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 ...

. The Act's main purpose was to create

Home Park Home Park is a football stadium in Plymouth, England. The ground has been the home of Football League One club Plymouth Argyle since 1901.

. All new roads and bridges were built by 1850. The result turned the former royal estate, which was known as Little Park, into the royal private estate of Home Park.

Construction and completion

Datchet Bridge Ordnance Survey 1822 (Nancy)

The act enacted various changes around Windsor in the light of the changing nature of Windsor Castle, the desire of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

for greater privacy and the new railways being built in

at the time. Several new roads were built in the area and historic highways closed. Two new

cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impuriti ...

bridges were built over 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 ...

to accommodate the changes. Among the most notable changes was the demolition of

Datchet Bridge Datchet Bridge, also known as The Divided Bridge, was a road bridge which crossed the River Thames at Datchet from 1706 until it was demolished in 1848. It was situated on the reach between Old Windsor Lock and Romney Lock and linked Windsor on ...

over the

. The crossing linked Windsor in

Datchet Datchet is a village and civil parish in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, England, located on the north bank of the River Thames. Historically part of Buckinghamshire, and the Stoke Hundred, the village was eventually tr ...

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 ...

. Originally a ferry crossing, Queen Anne had a wooden bridge constructed in 1706. However, the crossing would later become a cause of financial contention between the counties of Berkshire and Buckinghamshire over its maintenance costs. Resulting in its nickname, "The Divided Bridge". Under the Windsor Castle Act 1848, the bridge was demolished and the original Windsor Road between Datchet's High Street and Park Street, Windsor was closed.

Victoria Bridge Victoria Bridge may be a reference to: Bridges ;Australia * Victoria Bridge, Brisbane, a road bridge across the Brisbane River in Brisbane * Victoria Bridge, Devonport a road ridge across the Mersey River in Devonport, Tasmania * Victoria Bridge, M ...

slightly upstream, and Albert Bridge slightly downstream were built to replace Datchet. Both new bridges opened in 1851. Old Windsor Road was replaced with a highway, to the south, which crossed the newly constructed Albert Bridge near

Old Windsor Old Windsor is a large village and civil parish, in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, in Berkshire, England. It is bounded by the River Thames to the east and the Windsor Great Park to the west. Etymology The name originates from old ...

. A new road around Windsor Castle to the north - which would later become known as the Edward VII Avenue - was built to connect the town to Victoria Bridge. The entire Berkshire side of the Thames (including the

towpath A towpath is a road or trail on the bank of a river, canal, or other inland waterway. The purpose of a towpath is to allow a land vehicle, beasts of burden, or a team of human pullers to tow a boat, often a barge. This mode of transport ...

) became part of the private grounds of

Windsor Great Park Windsor Great Park is a Royal Park of , including a deer park, to the south of the town of Windsor on the border of Berkshire and Surrey in England. It is adjacent to the private Home Park, which is nearer the castle. The park was, for many ...

. The demolition of Datchet Bridge remains the only case on the entire Thames where a main crossing has been completely removed and not replaced.

Bibliography

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References

United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1848 Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom concerning England Windsor Castle 19th century in Berkshire {{law-enforcement-stub