On this date in 1937
Chelsea Bridge opened in London. Here are some facts about this Thames crossing.
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| Photo: Tony Hisgett |
- Chelsea Bridge is 698 feet (213 m) long, 64 feet (20 m) wide and 69 feet 2 inches (21.08 m) high. It links Chelsea on the north bank of the Thames with Battersea on the south.
- It was built on the site of an ancient ford, and the sheer amount of Roman and Celtic artifacts uncovered during the excavations led historians to believe this may have been the site of Julius Caesar's crossing of the Thames during the 54 BC invasion of Britain. One of these items was a Celtic shield in bronze, one of the most significant finds of Celtic military equipment in the whole of Britain.
- There have been two bridges on the site. The first one was opened in 1858 by Queen Victoria and was known as Victoria Bridge. It was a suspension bridge built by Thomas Page. It took seven years to build and cost £90,000 (about £8.17 million in today's money). It was originally a toll bridge in order to recoup the costs of building it. That wasn't a popular decision. Before the bridge even opened people were demonstrating against the tolls, making the point that poor people in Cheslea wouldn't be able to afford to go to Battersea Park. To answer this objection, the bridge was made toll free on Sundays and public holidays. Even so it was never a commercial success. People would use other nearby bridges instead, and rarely used it at night because it was only lit at night when Queen Victoria was in town. The toll was abolished completely in 1879.
- Suspension bridges were relatively new technology back then, and there were concerns about the safety of the bridge. The authorities were afraid it might collapse, and that is how it came to be known as Chelsea Bridge - they didn't want Queen Victoria's name to be associated with a dodgy bridge.
- Today's Chelsea Bridge was designed by LCC architects G. Topham Forrest and E. P. Wheeler and built by Holloway Brothers (London). Unlike other bridges across the Thames this one is self-anchored, which means there is no “abutment” support at either end of the bridge. It opened in 1937. The LCC had wanted to replace it since 1926 when they proposed a six lane bridge on the site, but couldn't raise enough money. The Ministry of Transport eventually stepped in with a compromise - they'd underwrite 60% of the cost of a cheaper, four lane bridge. This one cost £365,000 to build (about £22.4 million in today's money).
- The bridge was built from materials entirely sourced from within the British Empire. Those materials included Douglas Fir from British Colombia in Canada, hence W.L Mackenzie King, then Prime Minister of Canada opened the bridge while he was in town for the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth.
- The new bridge wasn't as ornate as the previous one. It was thought the new Battersea Power Station dominated the skyline so it didn't really matter what the bridge looked like. It does, however, have ornamental posts at either end with a gilded galleon on top of a coat of arms. What's on the coat of arms depends on where you're standing. If you're looking at it from outside the bridge you'll see the LCC coat of arms, the Lion of England, St George's Cross and wavy lines representing the Thames. If you're on the bridge looking south you'll see the dove, a symbol of Battersea, and if you're looking north, you'll see Chelsea's symbols - a winged bull, lion, boars' heads and a stag.
- During the Second World War, it was expected the bridge would be a target for enemy bombers because of the nearby Chelsea Barracks; so a temporary bridge was built nearby from wood and steel which tanks and military vehicles could use. Chelsea Bridge was never attacked, however. The temporary bridge was dismantled in 1945.
- Chelsea bridge is a popular hang out for motorcyclists. In the 1950s they used to race across it. On one occasion in 1970 the race turned into a full scale riot as fighting broke out between the Essex and Chelsea chapters of the Hell's Angels, and rival motorcycle gangs the Road Rats, Nightingales, Windsor Angels and Jokers. One of the Jokers was shot with a sawn off shotgun and killed. There's no racing these days, since local residents complained about the noise.
- In the 1970s, Chelsea Bridge was painted Red and White. Whoever decided on this colour scheme hadn't thought things through. Fans of the Chelsea football team weren't happy that Chelsea Bridge was sporting the colours of rival club Arsenal. They had to put up with it until 2007 when the colour scheme changed to red, white and Blue.
Related Posts: Bridges over the Thames
Battersea Bridge
Blackfriars Bridge
London Bridge
Southwark Bridge
Waterloo Bridge
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