Official Heritage Listing Information and Findings
Listed At: Grade II
Discussion:
List Entry Number: 1393007
Reasons for Designation
Lambeth Bridge is designated for the following principal reasons:
* Designed by London County Council's consultant engineer Sir George
William Humphreys (1863-1945) with Sir Reginald Blomfield (1856-1942)
and George Topham Forrest (1872-1945) as consulting architects, it
opened in 1932.
* Its urbane classical appearance is a landmark
on the Thames and the bridge has an interesting mix of stone and steel
and a graceful arched profile. * The bridge also has historic interest
as part of the continuum of river crossings at a place where Londoners
have traversed the Thames since the C13. * Of further historic note is
the symbolism of the ornamentation on the bridge celebrating the LCC and
the reign of George V. The red paint is a further point of interest, and
links the bridge to the unique ensemble of political institutions on
this stretch of the Thames, including the Houses of Parliament and the
former headquarters of the LCC at County Hall. * Lambeth Bridge has
group value with these buildings and others in close proximity: the
Grade I listed Lambeth Palace and the Palace of Westminster, the
contemporary Norwest and Thames Houses of 1928 which frame the northern
approach (both Grade II), and, further downstream, Westminster Bridge of
1862 (Grade II*).
History
Legacy Record - This information may
be included in the List Entry Details.
Details
1900/0/10197 26-NOV-08
Lambeth Bridge and attached parapets,
light standards, associated walls to approaches and obelisks
GV
II Bridge, 1929-32, by Sir George Humphreys with Sir Reginald Blomfield
and George Topham Forrest as consulting architects.
DESCRIPTION:
Lambeth Bridge is a five-span steel arch structure carried on
granite-faced reinforced concrete piers and abutments. With a total
length of 236.5m, the steel superstructure is made up of a 50.3m centre
span, two intermediate ones of 45.4m, and two shore spans each 38.1m
long. The shallow steel arches, each consisting of nine ribs, support a
reinforced concrete roadway between the balustrades, divided into a
carriageway flanked by two footways. Steel caissons were used in the
construction of the concrete piers which, like the abutments, are cased
in polished Cornish granite. The coats of arms of London County Council
are sculpted on the piers, below which two granite arms curve down to
the top of the cutwaters.
The cast-iron balustrade and lamp
stands augmented by steel latticework pylons were designed to honour the
bridge's inauguration by King George V. Double lamps carried on granite
uprights adorn each of the piers, and single lights on black lattice
supports stand at intervals along the balustrades. On the approach to
the bridge, the lamp standards are blue and supported by a LCC crest. In
recognition of its proximity to the Palace of Westminster, Lambeth
Bridge is painted predominately red, a reference to the colour of
benches in the House of Lords (Westminster Bridge (qv) is painted green
symbolising the benches of the House of Commons). Obelisks at either end
of the bridge are topped by stone pinecones, ancient symbols of
hospitality; they are also thought to resemble pineapples and are linked
to the renowned C17 botanist John Tradescant who is thought to have
introduced the fruit to this country and is buried in the former Church
of St Mary-in-Lambeth (now the Museum of Garden History) on the eastern
approach to the bridge.
HISTORY: Lambeth Bridge was begun in
1929 and opened by King George V and Queen Mary on 12 July 1932. The
bridge was fabricated and erected at an approximate cost of £80,000 by
Dorman Long & Co Ltd, one of the foremost bridge building firms of the
era who also built the Tyne Bridge (1925-28) and the Sydney Harbour
Bridge (1928-32). In 1965, Lambeth Bridge became the first of London's
crossings to be tunnelled beneath to provide pedestrian access along the
embankment.
The site of Lambeth Bridge was an ancient landing
stage from the C13 that was used to receive the monarch on state
occasions. Before a bridge was erected, a horse-ferry operated between
Lambeth and Millbank under the control of the Archbishop of Canterbury
who resided at Lambeth Palace. It is remembered in the name Horseferry
Road, the western approach to the bridge.
An Act of Parliament
authorising the construction of a bridge at Lambeth to serve the growing
population was passed in 1809 but nothing came of it. The 1820s, 30s and
40s saw further bills, acts and other attempts to resurrect the
proposal, all fruitless, and it was not until 1861 that the Lambeth
Bridge Act incorporated a company to construct a toll bridge to connect
Church Street (now Lambeth Road), Lambeth with Market Street (now
Horseferry Road), Westminster. The bridge, erected from the designs of
Peter W Barlow at a cost of £48,924, was opened in November 1862. It was
of stiffened suspension type, 252.4m long, divided into three spans,
each 81.7m wide, by piers carrying the towers which supported the
suspension cables. Tolls were abolished in 1879 but by this time the
iron structure had begun to rust severely and major repairs had to be
carried out in 1887. Despite this, the state of the bridge continued to
deteriorate and in 1910 it had to be closed to vehicular traffic.
Rebuilding was delayed owing to the 1914-18 war, but in 1924 the London
County Council obtained parliamentary powers to construct a new bridge
and to widen and raise the approaches at either end. In 1929 a temporary
footbridge was placed across the river, which was removed when the new
bridge was completed and opened in 1932.
REASONS FOR DESIGNATION
DECISION: * Lambeth Bridge's urbane classical appearance is a landmark
on the Thames and the bridge has an interesting mix of stone and steel
and a graceful arched profile. * The bridge also has special historic
interest as part of the continuum of river crossings at a place where
Londoners have traversed the Thames since the C13. * Of further historic
note is the symbolism of the ornamentation on the bridge celebrating the
LCC and the reign of George V. The red paint is a further point of note,
and links the bridge to the unique ensemble of political institutions on
this stretch of the Thames, including the Houses of Parliament and the
former headquarters of the LCC at County Hall. * Lambeth Bridge has
group value with these buildings and others in close proximity: Lambeth
Palace (Grade I); the Palace of Westminster (Grade I); the Church of St
Mary-in-Lambeth(Grade II*); the contemporary Norwest and Thames Houses
of 1928 which frame the northern approach (both Grade II); and, further
downstream, Westminster Bridge of 1862 (Grade II*).
SOURCES: G
Phillips, 'Thames Crossings' (1981), 200-2. 'Report of the Select
Committee on the Design of Lambeth Bridge' (1928). 'London County
Council, Opening of Lambeth Bridge' (commemorative brochure, 19 July
1934). 'Engineer' (June 1932), 630-2.
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