Victoria Bridge is a road bridge running north–south between
Datchet
Datchet is a village and civil parish in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, England, on the north bank of the River Thames. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Buckinghamshire, and the Stoke Hundred, the vi ...
and
Windsor, Berkshire
Windsor is a historic town in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, England. It is the site of Windsor Castle, one of the official residences of the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, British monarch. The town is situated we ...
, England. It crosses 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 ...
on the reach between
Old Windsor Lock and
Romney Lock. It was rebuilt in 1967 to replace a damaged bridge.
The Victoria and
Albert Bridges in Datchet were built to replace the old
Datchet Bridge as part of the re-routing of the Datchet to Windsor roads following the expansion of the grounds of
Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle is a List of British royal residences, royal residence at Windsor, Berkshire, Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, about west of central London. It is strongly associated with the Kingdom of England, English and succee ...
. Prince Albert is said to have had a part in the design Victoria Bridge was built in 1851, paid for partly by the Windsor, Staines and Richmond Railway Company who were keen to have access to Windsor across part of the castle property. The original bridge was built of cast iron with stone abutments. The bridge was severely damaged by a group of tanks crossing it during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
but was not closed until 1963, operating with weight restrictions. There was a temporary
Bailey bridge
A Bailey bridge is a type of portable, Prefabrication, pre-fabricated, Truss Bridge, truss bridge. It was developed in 1940–1941 by the British Empire in World War II, British for military use during the World War II, Second World War and saw ...
until 1966, then the central crossing was replaced by a concrete structure and reopened in 1967. Under the terms of the original contract,
British Rail
British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Comm ...
were required to contribute to the cost.
Thames web on the Windsor bridges
/ref>
The Thames Path
The Thames Path is a National Trail following the River Thames from one of its sources 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 ...
crosses the bridge rejoining the original towpath on the Windsor side for the northern part of Home Park, the towpath access in Home Park, Windsor
The Home Park, previously known as the Little Park (and originally Lydecroft Park), is a 2.65 km2 royal park near Windsor, Berkshire, administered by the Crown Estate of the United Kingdom. It is the private grounds of Windsor Castle. It lies m ...
having been lost due to the Windsor Castle Act 1848.
See also
*Crossings of the River Thames
The River Thames is the second-longest river in the United Kingdom, passes through the capital city, and has many crossings.
Counting every channel – such as by its islands linked to only one bank – it is crossed by over 300 brid ...
References
Bridges across the River Thames
Bridges in Berkshire
Bridges completed in 1967
Datchet
Road bridges in England
Windsor, Berkshire
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