Lambeth Bridge is a road traffic and

footbridge A footbridge (also a pedestrian bridge, pedestrian overpass, or pedestrian overcrossing) is a bridge designed solely for pedestrians.''Oxford English Dictionary'' While the primary meaning for a bridge is a structure which links "two points at a ...

crossing 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, s ...

in an east–west direction in central London. The river flows north at the crossing point. Downstream, the next bridge is

Westminster Bridge Westminster Bridge is a road-and-foot-traffic bridge crossing over the River Thames in London, linking Westminster on the west side and Lambeth on the east side. The bridge is painted predominantly green, the same colour as the leather seats ...

; upstream, the next bridge is

Vauxhall Bridge Vauxhall Bridge is a Grade II* listed steel and granite deck arch bridge in central London. It crosses the River Thames in a southeast–northwest direction between Vauxhall on the south bank and Pimlico on the north bank. Opened in 1906, it r ...

. The most conspicuous colour in the bridge's paint scheme is red, the same colour as the leather benches in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

, which is at the southern end of the

Palace of Westminster The Palace of Westminster is the meeting place of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is located in London, England. It is commonly called the Houses of Parliament after the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two legislative ch ...

nearest the bridge. This is in contrast to Westminster Bridge, which is predominantly green, the same colour as the benches in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

at the northern end of the Houses of Parliament. On the east side, in

Lambeth Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, which today also gives its name to the (much larger) London Borough of Lambeth. Lambeth itself was an ancient parish in the county of Surrey. It is situated 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Charin ...

, are

Lambeth Palace Lambeth Palace is the official London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury. It is situated in north Lambeth, London, on the south bank of the River Thames, south-east of the Palace of Westminster, which houses Parliament of the United King ...

, the

Albert Embankment Albert Embankment is part of the river bank on the south side of the River Thames in Central London. It stretches approximately one mile (1.6 km) northward from Vauxhall Bridge to Westminster Bridge, and is located in the London Borough ...

, St. Thomas' Hospital, and the

International Maritime Organization The International Maritime Organization (IMO; ; ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for regulating maritime transport. The IMO was established following agreement at a ...

. On the west side, in

Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

, are

Thames House Thames House is an office building in Millbank, London, on the north bank of the River Thames adjacent to Lambeth Bridge. Originally used as offices by Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI), it has served as the headquarters of the United Kingdom's ...

(the headquarters of

MI5 MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), officially the Security Service, is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), Gov ...

), behind which is Horseferry House (the National Probation Service headquarters), and Clelland House and Abell House (the headquarters of

HM Prison Service His Majesty's Prison Service (HMPS) is a part of HM Prison and Probation Service (formerly the National Offender Management Service), which is the part of His Majesty's Government charged with managing most of the prisons within England and ...

), and the

Millbank Tower Millbank Tower is a skyscraper in the City of Westminster at Millbank, by the River Thames in London, England. The tower was constructed in 1963, and has been home to many high-profile political organisations, including the Labour Party (UK), L ...

and

Tate Britain Tate Britain, known from 1897 to 1932 as the National Gallery of British Art and from 1932 to 2000 as the Tate Gallery, is an art museum on Millbank in the City of Westminster in London, England. It is part of the Tate network of galleries in En ...

. The

is a short walk downstream to the north through the Victoria Tower Garden.

History

Westminster Bridge and Lambeth Bridge 1897

Lambeth Bridge is on the site of a horse ferry between the

and

on the south bank. Its name lives on in

Horseferry Road Horseferry Road is a street in the City of Westminster in central London running between Millbank and Greycoat Place and designated part of the B323 road, along with Greycoat Place, Artillery Row and Buckingham Gate. Until 2011, it was the ...

, which forms the approach to the bridge on the north bank. The first modern bridge was a suspension bridge, long, designed by Peter W. Barlow. Sanctioned by the ( 24 & 25 Vict. c. cxvii), it opened as a toll bridge on 10 November 1862. Doubts about its safety, coupled with its awkwardly steep approaches deterring horse-drawn traffic, meant it soon became used almost solely as a pedestrian crossing. It ceased to be a toll bridge in 1879 when the

Metropolitan Board of Works The Metropolitan Board of Works (MBW) was the upper tier of local government for London between 1856 and 1889, primarily responsible for upgrading infrastructure. It also had a parks and open spaces committee which set aside and opened up severa ...

assumed responsibility for its upkeep — it was by then severely corroded, and by 1910 it was closed to vehicular traffic. The

London County Council The London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today ...

prepared a masterplan for the area, including a replacement road bridge linking to a widened

, which was authorised by ( 14 & 15 Geo. 5. c. lxvii). Before work had started on the project, the 1928 Thames flood caused extensive destruction of property in the Millbank area. Following the flood the

Chelsea Embankment Chelsea Embankment is part of the Thames Embankment, a road and walkway along the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. The western end of Chelsea Embankment, including a stretch of Cheyne Walk, is in the Royal Borough of ...

was rebuilt and raised, resulting in some minor redesign of the approaches, and creating the open space to the north of Lambeth Bridge now known as Victoria Tower Gardens South. During the period of delay, the bridge was also redesigned to be able to cope with a higher weight of motorised traffic. The current structure, a five-span steel arch, designed by engineer Sir George Humphreys and architects Sir Reginald Blomfield and G. Topham Forrest, was built by Dorman Long and opened on 19 July 1932 by King

George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936. George w ...

. It formerly carried four lanes of road traffic (now reduced to three lanes, one of which is a buses-only lane flowing eastbound) from a

roundabout A roundabout, a rotary and a traffic circle are types of circular intersection or junction in which road traffic is permitted to flow in one direction around a central island, and priority is typically given to traffic already in the junct ...

junction by the

northwards to another roundabout, where the

Millbank Millbank is an area of central London in the City of Westminster. Millbank is located by the River Thames, east of Pimlico and south of Westminster. Millbank is known as the location of major government offices, Burberry headquarters, the Mill ...

road meets Horseferry Road . The bridge is notable at road level for the pairs of

obelisk An obelisk (; , diminutive of (') ' spit, nail, pointed pillar') is a tall, slender, tapered monument with four sides and a pyramidal or pyramidion top. Originally constructed by Ancient Egyptians and called ''tekhenu'', the Greeks used th ...

s at either end of the bridge, which are surmounted by stone

pinecone A conifer cone, or in formal botany, botanical usage a strobilus, : strobili, is a seed-bearing organ on gymnosperm plants, especially in conifers and cycads. They are usually woody and variously conic, cylindrical, ovoid, to globular, and hav ...

s. However, there is a popular

urban legend Urban legend (sometimes modern legend, urban myth, or simply legend) is a genre of folklore concerning stories about an unusual (usually scary) or humorous event that many people believe to be true but largely are not. These legends can be e ...

that they are

pineapple The pineapple (''Ananas comosus'') is a Tropical vegetation, tropical plant with an edible fruit; it is the most economically significant plant in the family Bromeliaceae. The pineapple is indigenous to South America, where it has been culti ...

s, as a tribute to Lambeth resident

John Tradescant the younger John Tradescant the Younger (; 4 August 1608 – 22 April 1662), son of John Tradescant the Elder, was a botanist and gardener. The standard List of botanists by author abbreviation, author abbreviation Trad. is applied to species he describe ...

, who is said to have grown the first pineapple in Britain. The bridge was declared a Grade II listed structure in 2008, providing protection to preserve its special character from unsympathetic development. The listing designation includes the parapets, lamps, obelisks and the approach walls.

References

External links

Survey of London entry
* *
London Transport Museum Photographic Archive
** ** LambethBridge

{{Bridges of Central London Transport in the City of Westminster Transport in the London Borough of Lambeth Grade II listed buildings in the City of Westminster Grade II listed buildings in the London Borough of Lambeth Bridges completed in 1862 History of the London Borough of Lambeth Rebuilt buildings and structures in the United Kingdom Bridges completed in 1932 Bridges across the River Thames Reginald Blomfield buildings Former toll bridges in England 1862 establishments in England Bridges in London Grade II listed bridges in London

History

See also

References

External links