Westminster Bridge

Many efforts to provide communication across the Thames at Westminster were made in the past, but until 1736, the sanction of Parliament could not be obtained.

A bridge was opened in 1750; it was built of stone, of which substance it is stated that twice as much was used as in the erection of St. Paul's Cathedral.

In fact, it was overloaded with weight, and when old London Bridge was finally removed, the increased volume of tideway caused several of the piers to give way; so to remedy this, the bridge was lightened to the extent of 30,000 tons of material; but even this did not ensure its permanent safety, and it was decided to rebuild it somewhat lower down the river.

On May 24, 1863, at 3.45 p.m.- the exact time of the Queen Victoria's birth - Westminster, one of the most magnificent bridges in the world, was opened.

In 1900, it was the widest in Europe - 85 feet - twice the width of some others (Southwark, for instance), and the footways are each 14 feet wide; its length is only 990 feet, as the river contracts at this point, but the effect, as, backed by the Houses of Parliament, it is approached from the Surrey side, is most impressive.

There are seven arches from 90 to 120 feet in span, and the gradient is 12 feet less than in the old bridge.

For its size, it was a cheap bridge, having cost per superficial foot, £4, as against £11, 6s. 0d. per foot for London Bridge.

The view from it is very fine; to the west the Houses of Parliament facing St. Thomas's Hospital, with Lambeth Palace beyond, make one feel that one is standing in the Legislative centre of the British Empire; and, turning eastward to gaze at the splendid panorama, one recalls (should it happen to be a clear summer dawn) Wordsworth's well-known lines

"Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie
Open into the fields and to the sky,
All bright and glittering in the smokeless air."

Next: Lambeth Bridge