Kew Railway Bridge
Strand on the Green, Kew, London W4 and Richmond

In 1864 the London & South-Western Railway Company extended their line from South Acton Junction to Richmond.  Designed by W R Galbraith, and built by Brassey & Ogilvie, the five-span iron lattice girder bridge was opened in 1869. 

Kew Railway Bridge has some unusual decorative features.  The cast-iron piers have three stages.  At river level is a cylindrical base, above this is a drum with four columns and crowning these two stages, at track level, is a tabernacle with an arched roof which carries a pair of columns framing an ornate cast-iron screen. 

When the bridge was built many thought that the great iron structure overwhelmed the charming riverside hamlet of Strand on the Green.  Today, however, the elegant lattice girder bridge is considered more attractive than modern structures.