Southwark Bridge

Southwark Bridge ( SUDH-ərk) is an arch bridge in London, for traffic linking the district of Southwark and the City across the River Thames. Besides when others are closed for temporary repairs, it has the least traffic of the Thames bridges in London. History In 1811 the private Southwark Bridge Company was formed, and authorised by the Southwark Bridge Act 1811 (51 Geo. 3. c. clxvi) to build a bridge across the Thames. Construction of the first Southwark Bridge, designed by John Rennie the Elder, commenced in 1814, and it opened in 1819, having cost £700,000 to build, equivalent to £53.1 million in 2025. Fifty people lost their lives during the construction. On the 1818 Cary map of London, it was labelled as Queen Street Bridge. All subsequent maps label it as Southwark Bridge. The bridge consisted of three large cast-iron spans supported by granite piers. The bridge was notable for having the longest cast iron span, 240 feet (73 m), ever made. Unsurprisingly, it became known colloquially as "The Iron Bridge" as mentioned inter alia in Charles Dickens' "Little Dorrit". The iron spans were cast in Masbrough, Rotherham. It was a commercial tolled operation which was trying to compete with the toll free Blackfriars and London bridges nearby, but the company became bankrupt. From 1864 the bridge was rented by the City of London Corporation, and made toll-free. Following the passage of the Southwark Bridge Transfer Act 1865 (28 & 29 Vict. c. cxcvi) it was purchased outright by the corporation in 1868 for £218,868, equivalent to £21.4 million in 2025, about a third of the construction cost. The Southwark Bridge Company was subsequently wound-up by the Southwark Bridge Company Act 1872 (35 & 36 Vict. c. cl). In 1912 the City of London Corporation decided a wider replacement bridge was required, to accommodate increased traffic. A new bridge on the site was designed by Ernest George and Basil Mott. A contract was awarded to Sir William Arrol & Co. in 1913 to construct the bridge for the Bridge House Estates. War delayed progress, and the bridge was eventually opened for use on 6 June 1921 by King George V. Halfway along the bridge on the Western side is a plaque which is inscribed: Re-built by the Bridge House Estates Committee of the Corporation of London 1913-1921 Opened for traffic by their Majesties King George V and Queen Mary 6th June 1921 Sir Ernest Lamb CMG, JP Chairman Basil Mott, CB Engineer Sir Ernest George RA Architect The bridge provides access to Upper Thames Street on the north bank and, due to the ring of steel, there is no further road access to the city and the north. The bridge is owned and maintained by Bridge House Estates, a charitable trust overseen by the City of London Corporation. The current bridge was given Grade II listed structure status in 1995. Nearby At the north-west side is Vintners' Court, a 1990s office block which has a classical façade of columns and pediment; this was developed on the site owned by the Worshipful Company of Vintners whose hall is behind it on Upper Thames Street. The south end is near the Tate Modern, the Clink Prison Museum, the Globe Theatre, and the WPP plc and Ofcom office buildings. Below the bridge on the south side are some old steps, which were once used by Thames watermen as a place to moor their boats and wait for customers. Below the bridge on the south side is a pedestrian tunnel, part of the Queen's Walk Embankment, containing a frieze depicting the Thames frost fairs. Cycle Superhighway 7 runs along the bridge. In popular culture Southwark Bridge appears in many films, including Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007). The cream painted houses on the south side of the bridge, Anchor Terrace, just after the FT building, were used for the exterior shots of the shared house in This Life. The 1819-1920 "Iron Bridge" is mentioned in the first sentence of "Our Mutual Friend" by Charles Dickens, and several times in his "Little Dorrit", where in Chapter 24 he identifies the toll as being one penny. In the 1964 Disney film Mary Poppins, the Banks family mistakenly think that George W. Banks has committed suicide by jumping off the bridge after he is fired from his job at the bank. DCI Luther and Alice Morgan meet at Southwark Bridge in the season 3 finale of the BBC crime drama Luther. The bridge appears in the final scene of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels with Tom leaning over the bridge with his cell phone in his mouth set to drop antique guns in the Thames River. References