Thames Bridges

London did not have a second bridge over the Thames unitl 1750. The site of the second bridge was Westminster. The nearest other bridge up along the Thames was at Kingston, in Surrey.

This was eventually replaced by a 'new' London Bridge, with straighter, stronger and much wider arches, improving navigation across and beneath the new bridge.

Demolishing the old bridge lowered the river level upstream by two and a half feet! Began in 1824, it was opened by King William IV and Queen Adelaide on 1st August 1831. By 1890 it is estimated that more than 20,000 vehicles, cabs, carts and wagons and 150,000 crossed the bridge every single day!

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