2 minute read
Remembering When
the first Southwark Bridge was replaced by the current Southwark Bridge and was opened by King George V on 6th June 1921
By Ken Hayes - Honorary Membership Secretary
The first Southwark Bridge, built by John Rennie for the Southwark Bridge Company, opened in 1811. It joined the City of London to Bankside in Southwark and was of cast-iron construction and the carriage way was 42 feet wide and was a toll bridge at a time when London Bridge and Blackfriars Bridge were free of toll, so it was not a commercial success.
It was eventually taken over by the City of London Corporation’s Bridge House Estates Trust which owned and managed London Bridge and Blackfriars Bridge and Tower Bridge, which opened in 1894. Southwark Bridge became less used due to a steep approach and a high central arch, and it was decided to rebuild it with a wider carriageway. In 1913 a contract was awarded to William Arrol and Co, who had previously built both the Forth Railway Bridge and Tower Bridge and construction commenced to create five steel arches on granite piers to the design of architect, Sir Ernest George, and engineer Sir Basil Mott. This was slowed by the outbreak of WW1 in 1914. Pedestrians were allowed to use the bridge during its reconstruction. At the end of the War in 1918 construction speeded up and was completed in 1921 at a cost of £375,000 paid for by the Bridge House Estates Trust. The ceremonial opening of the new Southwark Bridge on 6th June 1921 by King George V was attended by the Lord Mayor of London the Bishop of Southwark and other dignitaries. The King was presented with a ceremonial Gold Key to open temporary barriers to the bridge and officially declared the new Southwark Bridge open. In his Speech the King said, ‘civilisation means communication’, indicating that anything which helped the free movement of trade in the city would help the whole country and the Empire. The King then drove over the bridge in a horse drawn carriage led by a single horseman. The bridge suffered bomb damage in 1941 and temporary structures were put in place to keep it open. It was not fully repaired until 1955. It was given a facelift in 2011 when the steel arches were sand blasted and repainted in Yellow and Southwark Green paint at a cost of £2.5 million. The four road bridges that join Southwark to the City of London, Tower Bridge London Bridge and Blackfriars Bridge and the Millennium Foot Bridge are owned and maintained by the Bridge House Estates Trust at no cost to the public purse. They award charitable grants to organisations in the City of London and the greater London area from their excess income. Southwark Bridge was illuminated on the weekend of the 5th 6th and 7th June this year to celebrate the Centenary of its opening.
