Marlow Bridge is a road traffic and foot bridge over the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

between the town of

Marlow, Buckinghamshire Marlow ( ), historically Great Marlow or Chipping Marlow, is a town and civil parish within the Unitary Authority of Buckinghamshire, England. It is located on the River Thames, south-southwest of High Wycombe, west-northwest of Maidenhead and ...

and the village of

Bisham Bisham is a village and civil parish in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, England. The village is on the River Thames, around south of Marlow in the neighbouring county of Buckinghamshire, and around northwest of Mai ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

. It crosses the Thames just upstream of

Marlow Lock Marlow Lock is a lock (water transport), lock and weir situated on the River Thames in the town of Marlow, Buckinghamshire, England, about 300m downstream of Marlow Bridge. The first pound lock was built by the Thames Navigation Commission ...

, on the reach to

Temple Lock Temple Lock is a lock and weir situated on the Buckinghamshire bank of the River Thames near Temple Mill Island opposite Temple Meadows and not far from Hurley, Berkshire. It was first built by the Thames Navigation Commissioners in 1773. ...

. The bridge is a

Grade I listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

History

There has been a bridge on the site since the reign of

King Edward III Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring royal authority after t ...

which was stated in around 1530 to have been of timber, though an original crossing to the

Knights Templar The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, mainly known as the Knights Templar, was a Military order (religious society), military order of the Catholic Church, Catholic faith, and one of the most important military ord ...

of Bisham may date from 1309. In 1642 this bridge was partly destroyed by a Parliamentarian army. In 1789 a new timber bridge was built by public subscription with a contribution from the

Thames Navigation Commission The Thames Navigation Commission managed the River Thames in southern England from 1751 to 1866. In particular, they were responsible for installing or renovating many of the Canal lock, locks on the river in the 18th and early 19th centuries H ...

to increase the headroom underneath. The current

suspension bridge A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck (bridge), deck is hung below suspension wire rope, cables on vertical suspenders. The first modern examples of this type of bridge were built in the early 1800s. Simple suspension bridg ...

was designed by

William Tierney Clark William Tierney Clark FRS FRAS (23 August 1783 – 22 September 1852) was an English civil engineer particularly associated with the design and construction of bridges. He was among the earliest designers of suspension bridges. Born in B ...

and was built between 1829 and 1832, replacing a wooden bridge further downstream which collapsed in 1828. The

Széchenyi Chain Bridge The Széchenyi Chain Bridge ( ) is a chain bridge that spans the River Danube between Buda and Pest, the western and eastern sides of Budapest, the capital of Hungary. Designed by English engineer William Tierney Clark and built by Scottish e ...

, spanning the

River Danube The Danube ( ; see also other names) is the second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest south into the Black Sea. A large and historically important riv ...

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

, was also designed by William Tierney Clark and it is a larger scale version of Marlow bridge. Marlow Bridge plaque

In 1965, the bridge was restored. It has a 3

tonne The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1,000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton in the United States to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the s ...

weight restriction and is used only by foot and local road traffic. Other traffic is carried by the

Marlow By-pass Bridge Marlow By-pass Bridge is a road bridge across the River Thames in England. It carries the A404 road between Maidenhead, Berkshire and High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of E ...

. On 24 September 2016, a 37-tonne Lithuanian haulage lorry attempted to pass over the bridge, requiring it to be closed for two months to allow

Buckinghamshire County Council Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshire to the east, Greater London ...

to undertake a series of stress tests on the suspension bridge hangers and pins, together with ultrasound and magnetic particle tests. No significant damage to the bridge was found, and it was reopened on Friday 25 November following restoration of sections exposed for weld testing with three coats of paint, removal of scaffolding surrounding the bridge's two towers, and reinstatement of timber work removed for inspection.

References

External links

* {{River item box , River =

, upstream =

Temple Footbridge Temple Footbridge is a pedestrian only bridge near Hurley, Berkshire across the River Thames in England. It connects the Buckinghamshire and Berkshire banks. It crosses the Thames just above Temple Lock. The bridge was built in 1989 specifica ...

, upsub = (pedestrian) , downstream =

, downsub = (road) , type = bridge , location = SU851860 Bridges in Berkshire Bridges in Buckinghamshire Bridges completed in 1832 Bridges across the River Thames Grade I listed bridges Grade I listed buildings in Berkshire Road bridges in England Suspension bridges in England Grade I listed buildings in Buckinghamshire Marlow, Buckinghamshire Bisham

History

See also

References

External links