Putney Bridge
Fulham/Putney, London SW6 and SW15

Putney Bridge is world-famous as the starting point of the annual Oxford and Cambridge University Boat Race.

For hundreds of years there was no bridge between London Bridge and Kingston Bridge and the only way to cross the Thames was by ferry.  Although the ferry owners and City Corporation were firmly opposed, Sir Robert Walpole and his successors successfully petitioned Parliament for a bridge, and in 1726 an Act authorised the construction of a bridge, provided the ferry owners were fully compensated. 

Work began in March 1729 and it was opened in November of the same year.  The curving timber bridge was supported by 26 arches. Toll-houses stood at either end.

The bridge was the subject of one of J W M Turner's famous riverscapes but like all timber structure the bridge needed a considerable maintenance.  When three central sections were damaged by a barge in 1870, there was an ideal opportunity to create a wider central span. 

In 1871 -2 two piers were removed and replaced by a 70 ft iron girder. Putney Bridge was purchased by the Metropolitan Board of Works (MBW) in 1879 and, within a few months, the new owners proposed to construct a new bridge. 

The new structure was built upstream on the site of the former aqueduct. Designed by Sir Joseph Bazalgette, the present bridge is 700 ft in length and 43 ft wide and constructed from concrete and granite. Work began in 1882 and the bridge was opened by the Prince and Princess of Wales in 1886.