View source for Waterloo Bridge

{{short description|Bridge in London, England}}
{{other uses}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2017}}
{{Infobox bridge
|image       = River Thames and Waterloo Bridge, London-17Aug2009.jpg
|image_size  = 300px
|bridge_name = Waterloo Bridge
|caption     = [[River Thames]] and Waterloo Bridge<br>(as seen from the [[London Eye]])
|official_name =
|locale      = [[London]]
|carries     = A301 road
|crosses     = [[River Thames]]
|preceded    = [[Hungerford Bridge and Golden Jubilee Bridges]]
|followed    = [[Blackfriars Bridge]]
|maint       = [[Transport for London]]
|open        = (first bridge) {{Start date and age|18 June 1817|df=yes}}<br />(second bridge) {{Start date and age|11 March 1942|df=yes}}
|below       =
|traffic     =
|design      = [[Box girder bridge]]
|toll        = 
|mainspan    = {{convert|233|ft|m}}
|length      = {{convert|1230|ft|m}}
|width       = {{convert|80|ft|m}}
|heritage    = [[Listed building|Grade II* listed structure]]
|named_for   = [[Battle of Waterloo]]
}}

'''Waterloo Bridge''' ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|w|ɔː|t|ə|ˈ|l|uː}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/waterloo|title=Definition of 'Waterloo'|website=www.collinsdictionary.com|access-date=29 May 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/waterloo?q=Waterloo|title=Definition of Waterloo noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary|website=www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com|access-date=29 May 2020}}</ref>) is a road and foot traffic bridge crossing the [[River Thames]] in [[London]], between [[Blackfriars Bridge]] and [[Hungerford Bridge and Golden Jubilee Bridges]]. Its name commemorates the victory of the British, Dutch and Prussians at the [[Battle of Waterloo]] in 1815. Thanks to its location at a strategic bend in the river, the bridge offers good views of [[Westminster]], the [[South Bank]] and the [[London Eye]] to the west, and of the [[City of London]] and [[Canary Wharf]] to the east.

The bridge was given [[Listed building|Grade II* listed structure]] protection in 1981.<ref name="Historic England" />
[[File:Waterloo Bridge - view.jpg|alt=Waterloo bridge views on Finsbury|thumb|View towards the [[City of London]] from Waterloo Bridge]]

==History==
===First bridge{{anchor|Strand Bridge Act 1809|Strand Bridge Act 1813}}===
[[File:Strand Bridge 1809.jpg|thumb|left|Share of the Company of Proprietors of the Strand Bridge, issued 30 December 1809]]

{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = Strand Bridge Act 1809
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title            = An Act for building a Bridge over the River Thames from the Precinct of the Savoy, or near thereunto, in the County of Middlesex, to the opposite Shore, and for making, convenient Roads and Avenues to communicate therewith, in the County of Surrey.
| year                  = 1809
| citation              = [[49 Geo. 3]]. c. cxci
| introduced_commons    = 
| introduced_lords      = 
| territorial_extent    = 
| royal_assent          = 20 June 1809
| commencement          = 
| expiry_date           = 
| repeal_date           = 
| amends                = 
| replaces              = 
| amendments            = Strand Bridge Act 1813
| repealing_legislation = {{ubli|[[Local Law (Greater London Council and Inner London Boroughs) Order 1965]] ([[SI 1965]]/540)}}
| related_legislation   = 
| status                = repealed
| legislation_history   = 
| theyworkforyou        = 
| millbankhansard       = 
| original_text         = https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/Geo3/49/191/pdfs/ukla_18090191_en.pdf
| revised_text          = 
| use_new_UK-LEG        = 
| UK-LEG_title          = 
| collapsed             = yes
}}
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = Strand Bridge Act 1813
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title            = An Act for altering, enlarging, and extending the Powers of an Act of His present Majesty, for building a Bridge over the River Thames, at the Precinct of the Savoy, or near thereunto; and making Roads and Avenues to communicate therewith, in the Counties of Middlesex and Surrey.
| year                  = 1813
| citation              = 53 Geo. 3. c. clxxxiv
| introduced_commons    = 
| introduced_lords      = 
| territorial_extent    = 
| royal_assent          = 2 July 1813
| commencement          = 
| expiry_date           = 
| repeal_date           = 
| amends                = Strand Bridge Act 1809
| replaces              = 
| amendments            = 
| repealing_legislation = {{ubli|[[Local Law (Greater London Council and Inner London Boroughs) Order 1965]] ([[SI 1965]]/540)}}
| related_legislation   = 
| status                = repealed
| legislation_history   = 
| theyworkforyou        = 
| millbankhansard       = 
| original_text         = https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/Geo3/53/184/pdfs/ukla_18130184_en.pdf
| revised_text          = 
| use_new_UK-LEG        = 
| UK-LEG_title          = 
| collapsed             = yes
}}
[[File:Waterloo Bridge 1817.jpg|thumb|300px|Crowds attend the opening of the first Waterloo Bridge on 18 June 1817]]
[[File:John Constable 001.jpg|thumb|300px|''[[The Opening of Waterloo Bridge]]'', [[John Constable]], {{circa|1831–32}}]]
[[File:Waterloo Bridge, about 1925 01.jpg|thumb|Waterloo Bridge, about 1925]]

The first bridge on the site was designed in 1809–10 by [[John Rennie (engineer)|John Rennie]] for the Company of Proprietors of The [[Strand, London|Strand Bridge]] (the Strand Bridge Company). The Strand Bridge Company built the bridge privately, in return for charging tolls to cross it.

Originally named 'the Strand Bridge', following the victory of the Battle of Waterloo, the bridge was renamed in 1816 (before its opening) to 'the Waterloo Bridge'. The bridge company was at the same time renamed 'The Company of Proprietors of The Waterloo Bridge'. It opened in 1817 as a [[toll bridge]].<ref name="l-museum">{{cite web |title=Waterloo Bridge |website=[[London Museum]] |url=https://www.londonmuseum.org.uk/collections/london-stories/waterloo-bridge/ |access-date=7 July 2025 }}</ref>

The [[granite]] bridge{{efn|The granite came from quarries at [[Mabe, Cornwall|Mabe]] in Cornwall<ref>{{cite book |last=Mee |first=Arthur |date=1937 |title=Cornwall |location=London |publisher=[[Hodder & Stoughton]] |page=132}}</ref>}} had nine arches, each of {{convert|120|ft|m|1}} span, separated by double Doric stone columns, and was {{convert|2456|ft|m|1}} long, including approaches–{{convert|1240|ft|m|1}} between abutments–and {{convert|42|ft|m|1}} wide between the parapets.

During the 1840s the bridge gained a reputation as a popular place for suicide attempts. In 1841, the American [[Stunt performer|daredevil]] [[Samuel Gilbert Scott]] was killed while performing an act in which he hung by a rope from a scaffold on the bridge.<ref>[[Ricky Jay|Jay, Ricky]] (1987) ''Learned Pigs and Fireproof Women: Unique, Eccentric and Amazing Entertainers: Stone Eaters, Mind Readers, Poison Resisters, Daredevils, Singing Mice, etc., etc, etc., etc.''. New York: Villard Books, p. 150. {{ISBN|0-394-53750-5}}</ref> In 1844 [[Thomas Hood]] wrote the poem "[[The Bridge of Sighs (poem)|The Bridge of Sighs]]", which concerns the suicide of a prostitute there.<ref>Brewer, Ebenezer (1970) ''[[Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable]]''. London: Cassell, p. 152.</ref>

The bridge was depicted by the French [[Impressionist]] [[Claude Monet]] in his [[Waterloo Bridge (Monet series)|series of 41 works]] from 1900 to 1904, and by the English [[Romanticism|Romantic]] [[John Constable]], whose painting depicting its opening is displayed at [[Anglesey Abbey]] in Cambridgeshire.<ref name="Sherwood">{{cite web |last1=Sherwood |first1=Harriet |title=Constable painting of Waterloo Bridge 'transformed' by conservation work |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2022/apr/29/john-constable-painting-waterloo-bridge-conservation-national-trust |website=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=29 April 2022 |language=en |date=29 April 2022}}</ref>

The bridge was nationalised in 1878 and placed under the control of the [[Metropolitan Board of Works]], which removed the toll from it.

[[Michael Faraday]] tried in 1832 to measure the [[potential difference]]<ref>{{cite web |author=David P. Stern |url=http://www.phy6.org/earthmag/NSTA1C.htm |title=Teaching about the Earth's Magnetism in Earth Sciences-Part 3 |website=Phy6.org |date=18 November 2000 |location=Baltimore Meeting of the National Science Teacher Association |access-date=15 July 2017 |archive-date=24 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181224015456/http://www.phy6.org/earthmag/NSTA1C.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> between each side of the bridge caused by the ebbing salt water flowing through the Earth's magnetic field<ref>[[Faraday, Michael]], ''Experimental Researches in Electricity'', Vol. 1, London, 1839, p. 55.</ref> using [[magnetohydrodynamics]].

Serious problems were found in Rennie's bridge [[Pier (architecture)|piers]] from 1884 onward, after [[Bridge scour|scour]] from the river flow (which had increased following the demolition of [[London Bridge|Old London Bridge]]) damaged their foundations. By the 1920s the problems had increased, and settlement at pier five necessitated the closure of the whole bridge while some heavy superstructure was removed and temporary reinforcements were put in place.<ref name=Hopkins>{{cite book |last=Hopkins |first=Henry |title=A Span of Bridges |publisher=[[David & Charles]] |location=Newton Abbot, England |year=1970 |pages=257–260}}</ref>

In 1925, a temporary steel framework was built on top of the existing bridge and then placed next to it for the use of southbound vehicles (the postcard image shows this, and the settlement especially to the left of the fifth pier).<ref name="Historic England">{{NHLE|desc=Waterloo Bridge|num=1275000|access-date=25 February 2017}}</ref>

===Second bridge===
[[File:Underside Waterloo Bridge.jpg|thumb|The design called for supporting beams only at the outside edges, to bring "light and sweetness" to the underside—[[Giles Gilbert Scott]], quoted in {{harvp|Hopkins|1970}}]]

In the 1930s, [[London County Council]] decided to demolish the bridge and replace it with a new structure designed by Sir [[Giles Gilbert Scott]]. The engineers were Ernest Buckton and John Cuerel of [[James Meadows Rendel (engineer)#London practice|Rendel Palmer & Tritton]]. The project was placed on hold due to the [[Second World War]].

Scott, by his own admission, was no engineer, and his design, with reinforced concrete beams (illustrated) under the footways, leaving the road to be supported by transverse slabs, was difficult to implement. The pairs of spans on each side of the river were supported by beams continuous over their piers, and these were [[cantilever]]ed out at their ends to support the centre span and the short approach slabs at the banks. The beams were shaped "to look as much like arches as ... beams can".<ref name=Hopkins/> They are clad in [[Portland stone]], which is cleaned by rain.<ref>{{cite book |last=Sutcliffe |first=Anthony |title=London: An Architectural History |url=https://archive.org/details/londonarchitectu0000sutc |url-access=registration |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |location=New Haven, CT |year=2006 |page=[https://archive.org/details/londonarchitectu0000sutc/page/212 212]}}</ref> To guard against the possibility of further subsidence from scour, each pier was given a number of [[Jack (device)|jacks]] that can be used to level the structure.<ref name=Hopkins/>

Construction of the new bridge began in 1937 and it was partially opened on Tuesday 11 March 1942 and "officially opened" in September 1942.<ref>{{cite AV media |title=Life in the War |publisher=[[BBC]]}}</ref> However, it was not fully completed until 1945.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://thames.me.uk/s00110.htm |title=Waterloo Bridge |website=Where Thames Smooth Waters Glide |first=John |last=Eade |access-date=7 April 2018 |archive-date=11 May 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080511105003/http://thames.me.uk/s00110.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> It is the only Thames bridge to have been damaged by [[Germany|German]] bombers during the Second World War.

The building contractor was [[Peter Lind & Company]]. At the outbreak of war, despite an immediate order being issued by the Ministry of Transport, that the bridge construction was of national importance, the supply of male labour to execute the heavy works became acute. From the start of the war through to the bridge completion, women became the preponderant members of the construction workforce. This resulted in the project being referred to for many years as "The Ladies' Bridge".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.peterlind.co.uk/ladies_bridge.htm |title=The Ladies Bridge |last=Staff writer |publisher=Peter Lind & Company Limited |access-date=7 May 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081121020816/http://www.peterlind.co.uk/ladies_bridge.htm |archive-date=21 November 2008 |df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.theladiesbridge.co.uk/extract.html |author=Karen Livesey |access-date=24 March 2015 |title=The Ladies Bridge |website=theladiesbridge.co.uk |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402200125/http://www.theladiesbridge.co.uk/extract.html |archive-date=2 April 2015 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> Lind used [[elm]] wood from the old bridge for the dining room floor of [[Hamstone House]], his house that he commissioned and built in 1938 at [[St George's Hill]] in Surrey.<ref name="Airs2002">{{cite book |author=Malcolm Airs |title=The Twentieth Century Great House |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f5kwAQAAIAAJ |year=2002 |publisher=Department for Continuing Education, Oxford University |isbn=978-0-903736-31-2 |page=72}}</ref>

[[Georgi Markov]], a Bulgarian [[dissident]], was assassinated on Waterloo Bridge on 7 September 1978 by agents of the Bulgarian [[secret police]], the [[Committee for State Security (Bulgaria)|Committee for State Security]], possibly assisted by the [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] security agency, the [[KGB]]. He was killed with a poisoned pellet possibly fired from an umbrella.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.murdermap.co.uk/pages/cases/case.asp?CID=490612156 |title=Cold War Assassination: The Umbrella Murder of Georgi Markov|website=www.murdermap.co.uk |access-date=7 April 2018}}</ref>

===Reuse of original parts===
Granite stones from the original bridge were subsequently "presented to various parts of the British world to further historic links in the British [[Commonwealth of Nations]]". Two of these stones are in [[Canberra]], the capital city of Australia, sited between the parallel spans of the [[Commonwealth Avenue Bridge]], one of two major crossings of [[Lake Burley Griffin]] in the heart of the city. Stones from the bridge were also used to build a monument in [[Wellington]], New Zealand, to [[Paddy the Wanderer]], a dog that roamed the wharves from 1928 to 1939 and was befriended by seamen, watersiders, [[Wellington Harbour Board|Harbour Board]] workers and taxi drivers. The monument, built in 1945, is on Queens Wharf, opposite the [[Wellington Museum]]. It includes a bronze likeness of Paddy, a drinking fountain, and drinking bowls below for dogs.<ref name=Haworth>{{cite book |last=Haworth |first=Dianne |title=Paddy the Wanderer |publisher=[[HarperCollins]] |location=Auckland, New Zealand |year=2007 |pages=158–159}}</ref><ref name=Wellingtonian>{{cite news |url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/local-papers/the-wellingtonian/2700071/Remembering-Paddy-the-Wanderer |title=Remembering Paddy the Wanderer: Tales of a Unique Dog |last=Moor |first=Christopher |date=30 July 2009 |work=[[The Wellingtonian]] |access-date=13 June 2013}}</ref> 

Another piece of the stone is situated under the sundial in the Wellington Boat Harbour Park, next to Clyde Quay Marina, an area of historical significance in Wellington Harbour.{{citation needed|date=July 2017}} Several stone [[balusters]] from the demolished bridge were sent in the late 1930s by the author [[Dornford Yates]] to be used in his French home 'Cockade', but the [[Fall of France]] in 1940 interrupted this project. They were shipped after the war to his new house in [[Umtali]], [[Rhodesia]] (now [[Mutare]], [[Zimbabwe]]).

Recovered timbers from the bridge were used for shelves and wall panels in the library at Anglesey Abbey.<ref name="Sherwood" />

==Geography==
[[File:Waterloo Bridge by Charles Deane, 1821.JPG|thumb|''[[Waterloo Bridge and the Lambeth Waterfront from Westminster Stairs]]'' by [[Charles Deane (painter)|Charles Deane]], 1821]]
The south end of the bridge is in the area known as the [[South Bank]], which includes the [[Royal Festival Hall]], [[London Waterloo station|London Waterloo]], [[Queen Elizabeth Hall]] and the [[Royal National Theatre]], as well as the [[BFI Southbank]], which is directly beneath the bridge.

The north end of the bridge passes above the [[Victoria Embankment]] where the road joins the [[Strand, London|Strand]] and [[Aldwych]] alongside [[Somerset House]]. This end housed the southern portal of the [[Kingsway Tramway Subway]] until the late 1950s. 

The bridge also connects the [[Strand Campus]] area and the Waterloo Campus of [[King's College London]] which are located in the north and south banks of River Thames, respectively. 

The nearest [[London Underground]] station is [[Temple tube station|Temple]], the nearest [[National Rail]] station is London Waterloo.

==In popular culture==
{{refimprove section|date=April 2017}}
*[[Robert E. Sherwood]]'s play ''[[Waterloo Bridge (play)|Waterloo Bridge]]'' (1930), the story of a soldier who falls in love and marries a woman he meets on the bridge in an air raid during the First World War, was made into films released in [[Waterloo Bridge (1931 film)|1931]], [[Waterloo Bridge (1940 film)|1940]] and [[Gaby (film)|1956]]. The second of these film versions starred [[Vivien Leigh]] and [[Robert Taylor (American actor)|Robert Taylor]].
*"After the Lunch", a poem by [[Wendy Cope]] about two lovers parting on Waterloo Bridge, now forms the lyric of the song "Waterloo Bridge" by [[Jools Holland]] and Louise Marshall.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vVKDCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA98|title=A/AS Level English Literature A for AQA Student Book|first1=Russell|last1=Carey|first2=Anne|last2=Fairhall|first3=Tom|last3=Rank|date=12 November 2015|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9781107467927 |via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJ_M-ZY9cEQ | title=Waterloo Bridge | website=[[YouTube]] }}</ref>
*The bridge features in the film ''[[A Window in London]]'' (1940). The hero, played by [[Michael Redgrave]], is a crane driver who is working on the construction of the bridge. Images can be seen of the incomplete rebuilding work in progress.
*The bridge features in scenes at the beginning and end of the film ''[[Alfie (1966 film)|Alfie]]'' (1966), starring [[Michael Caine]]. In the final scene of the film the title character is seen crossing the bridge followed by a stray dog.<ref name=Locations>{{cite book |date=11 May 2012 |author=Neil Mitchell |isbn=978-1841504841 |title=World Film Locations: London |publisher=Intellect}}</ref>
*The song "[[Waterloo Sunset]]" by the British band [[The Kinks]] tells of living in London and watching life from Waterloo Bridge.
*The comedy short "[[Waterloo Bridge Handicap]]" (1978) features a fictional daily race by commuters on the Surbiton - Waterloo train to be the first to walk across to the other side of the bridge.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6t5_oHaTE78 | title=Waterloo Bridge Handicap | website=[[YouTube]] }}</ref>
*A scene in "[[The Great Game (Sherlock)|The Great Game]]", an episode of the BBC television series ''[[Sherlock (TV series)|Sherlock]]'', takes place beneath the bridge's northern side, where members of Sherlock's network of homeless informants congregate.<ref>{{cite web |title=Locations: Waterloo Bridge |url=http://www.sherlockology.com/locations/waterloo-bridge |work=Sherlockology: The Ultimate Guide for Any BBC Sherlock Fan |publisher=sherlockology.com |access-date=2 June 2012 |archive-date=15 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150215103042/http://www.sherlockology.com/locations/waterloo-bridge |url-status=dead }}</ref>
*The bridge features in the closing scene of the 1996 film ''[[Trainspotting (film)|Trainspotting]]''.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/united-kingdom/articles/trainspotting-filming-locations/ |title=Surprisingly beautiful places that appear in Trainspotting |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|location=London |date=27 January 2017 |access-date=7 April 2018}}</ref>
*The bridge, when still a toll-bridge, and its toll-keeper feature in Dickens's essay 'Down with the Tide' (1853).
*It is featured in the ''[[Mario Kart]]'' games ''[[Mario Kart Tour]]'' and ''[[Mario Kart 8|Mario Kart 8 Deluxe]]'' as part of the London Loop racecourse.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mariowiki.com/Tour_London_Loop#London_Loop_2|title=Tour London Loop - Super Mario Wiki|work=Nintendo Independent Wiki Alliance|date=6 December 2019|access-date=29 March 2023}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of crossings of the River Thames]]
* [[List of bridges in London]]

{{Panorama|image=File:London's South Bank By Night.jpg|height=200|caption=Looking east from Waterloo Bridge at night. The [[City of London]] landmarks are north of the river; the illuminated [[Royal National Theatre|National Theatre]] is among the buildings along the [[South Bank]].}}
{{Panorama|image=File:2016-09-13_Waterloo_Bridge_view_west.jpg|height=200|caption=Looking south-west from Waterloo Bridge. The [[London Eye]] is on the [[South Bank]] while the [[Palace of Westminster]] is further up river on the opposite bank.}}
{{Panorama|image=File:Waterloo Bridge Panorama.jpg|height=200|caption=Waterloo Bridge viewed from the [[Golden Jubilee Bridge]]}}

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book | last=Whitney | first=Charles S. | year=2003 | title=Bridges of the World: Their Design and Construction 
| place=Mineola, New York | publisher=Dover Publications | isbn=978-0486429953 | edition=Reprint | url=https://archive.org/details/bridgesofworldth0000whit | access-date=12 January 2025}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
*[http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=47032 Survey of London entry]
* {{Structurae|id=20002224|title=Waterloo Bridge (1817)}}
* {{Structurae|id=20002236|title=Waterloo Bridge (1945)}}

{{ThamesCrossings|west=[[Bakerloo line]]<br>|east=[[Waterloo & City line]]}}

{{Bridges of Central London}}
{{Metropolitan Board of Works}}{{Authority control}}
{{Coord|51|30|31|N|0|07|01|W|region:GB_type:landmark|display=title}}

[[Category:Bridges across the River Thames]]
[[Category:Bridges completed in 1817]]
[[Category:Bridges completed in 1945]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in the City of Westminster]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in the London Borough of Lambeth]]
[[Category:Rebuilt buildings and structures in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Grade II* listed buildings in the City of Westminster]]
[[Category:Grade II* listed bridges in London]]
[[Category:Transport in the London Borough of Lambeth]]
[[Category:Transport in the City of Westminster]]
[[Category:Former toll bridges in England]]
[[Category:Giles Gilbert Scott buildings]]
[[Category:Bridges in London]]