Barnes Railway Bridge is a

Grade II listed 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, H ...

railway bridge in the

London Borough of Richmond upon Thames The London Borough of Richmond upon Thames () in south-west Greater London, London, England, forms part of Outer London and is the only London boroughs, London borough on both sides of the River Thames. It was created in 1965 when three smaller ...

and the

London Borough of Hounslow The London Borough of Hounslow ( ) is a London borough in west London, England, forming part of Outer London. It is governed by Hounslow London Borough Council. The borough stretches from near Central London in the east (Chiswick) to the b ...

. It crosses 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 ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in a northwest to southeast direction at Barnes. It carries the

South Western Railway South Western Railway Limited, trading as South Western Railway (SWR), is the British state-owned train operating company that took over the services of the South Western Railway (2017–2025), operator of the same name from FirstGroup and MTR ...

's Hounslow Loop Line, and lies between Barnes Bridge and

Chiswick Chiswick ( ) is a district in West London, split between the London Borough of Hounslow, London Boroughs of Hounslow and London Borough of Ealing, Ealing. It contains Hogarth's House, the former residence of the 18th-century English artist Wi ...

stations. It can also be crossed on foot, and is one of only three bridges in London to combine pedestrian and rail use; the others being

Hungerford Bridge and Golden Jubilee Bridges The Hungerford Bridge crosses the River Thames in London, and lies between Waterloo Bridge and Westminster Bridge. Owned by Network Rail Infrastructure Ltd (who use its official name of Charing Cross Bridge) it is a steel truss railway bridge ...

and Fulham Railway Bridge. The original bridge at this location was constructed during the late 1849 in accordance with a design produced by the

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing i ...

Joseph Locke Joseph Locke FRSA (9 August 1805 – 18 September 1860) was an English civil engineer of the nineteenth century, particularly associated with railway projects. Locke ranked alongside Robert Stephenson and Isambard Kingdom Brunel as one of the ...

; this structure, which consisted of two pairs of

cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content of more than 2% and silicon content around 1–3%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloying elements determine the form in which its car ...

arch spans, bore a considerable resemblance to the original Richmond Railway Bridge, which was also designed by Locke. On 22 August 1849, the Barnes Bridge was opened to rail traffic. While Locke's incarnation of Barnes Bridge provided relatively trouble-free service, it has not seen use since the 1890s. During the latter decade of the nineteenth century, there was a scare regarding the suitability of cast iron bridges following the collapse of one such structure. As such, it was decided that a successor to the original Barnes Bridge should be constructed. During the 1890s, a wider replacement bridge, which was designed by Edward Andrews, was constructed by Head Wrightson on behalf of the

London & South Western Railway The London and South Western Railway (LSWR, sometimes written L&SWR) was a railway company in England from 1838 to 1922. Originating as the London and Southampton Railway, its network extended to Dorchester, Dorset, Dorchester and Weymouth, Do ...

. This structure, which was built directly alongside its predecessor, comprises three spans of

wrought iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.05%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4.5%), or 0.25 for low carbon "mild" steel. Wrought iron is manufactured by heating and melting high carbon cast iron in an ...

bow string girders, which carries a pair of railway tracks across the river. A pedestrian walkway was also added to the bridge at this time. The original Locke span remains standing along the up-stream side of its replacement, but is not used by any traffic. During 1983, Barnes Bridge was given protection as a Grade II listed structure. In the 2010s, the Barnes Bridge has been temporarily closed to pedestrians during the annual

Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race The Boat Race is an annual set of rowing (sport), rowing races between the Cambridge University Boat Club and the Oxford University Boat Club, traditionally rowed between open-weight eight (rowing), eights on the River Thames in London, Englan ...

to avoid excessive crowding on the structure.

History

Construction

During the 1840s, the

London and Southampton Railway London is the capital and largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Western Europe, with a population of 14.9 million. London stands on the River Tha ...

Company, which was later renamed to the

London and South Western Railway The London and South Western Railway (LSWR, sometimes written L&SWR) was a railway company in England from 1838 to 1922. Originating as the London and Southampton Railway, its network extended to Dorchester and Weymouth, to Salisbury, Exete ...

Company, embarked upon the development of a new railway line, which ran between

Nine Elms Nine Elms is an area of south-west London, England, within the London Borough of Wandsworth, with some parts (including the Nine Elms tube station, tube station) extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Lambeth. It lies on the River Thame ...

and

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

. A few years later, it was decided that this line should be extended through to Windsor; the new extension included the addition of loop from the village of Barnes to

and

Hounslow Hounslow ( ) is a large suburban district of West London, England, west-southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hounslow, and is identified in the London Plan as one of the 14 metropolitan cen ...

, which necessitated the construction of what would become known as Barnes Bridge over the

. Prior to the building of this structure, Barnes, which was a small settlement at that time, had never featured a river crossing.“Barnes Rail Bridge.”
‘’engineering-timelines.com’’, Retrieved: 15 June 2018. The responsibility for designing this crossing was assigned to the noted

, who also designed several other structures along the route, including the similar Richmond Railway Bridge. In order to achieve the required statutory height of the bridge above the high water mark of the Thames, as to prevent the structure impinging upon the passage of traditional river traffic, Locke determined that it would be necessary to embank the river. Furthermore, in order to accommodate the bridge's construction along the south side of the river, several properties within The Terrace, a street of modest Georgian houses, had to be demolished to provide sufficient clearance, as the structure and connecting lines pass directly through the estate. Barnes High Street is located towards the eastern side of the bridge. As designed by Locke, Barnes Bridge consisted of two pairs of

arch spans, which had a length of 36.57 meters and a rise of 3.66 meters. Each arch was cast in four individual sections, while each span was strengthened via six cast iron arch ribs, which had a depth of 915mm. These spans were supported on

brick A brick is a type of construction material used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a unit primarily composed of clay. But is now also used informally to denote building un ...

piers, which were faced in Bramley Fall stone, and carried a deck composed of

timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...

across the river. During 1846, Fox Henderson & Co were appointed as the contractor for building the structure; work on its construction commenced shortly thereafter. The completed bridge was officially opened on 22 August 1849. However, in the present day, while elements of Locke's incarnation of Barnes Bridge remain in situ, it is no longer in use for rail traffic, having been replaced by a newer structure built alongside.

Widening and reconstruction

Towards the end of the nineteenth century, several engineers and officials had come to question the viable lifespan and long term stability of cast iron structures, such as the original Barnes Bridge. These fears had been largely motivated by the collapse of a cast iron span along the

Brighton Main Line The Brighton Main Line is a railway line in southern England linking London to Brighton. It starts at two termini in the capital, and , and the branches from each meet at , from where the route continues southwards via to the coast. The line ...

during 1891. Amid these concerns, in July 1891, an Act of Parliament was approved for the replacement of Barnes Bridge by a structure principally composed of

. However, as a consequence of the company's strong desire for train services continue over the existing structure throughout the construction of its replacement, the new incarnation of Barnes Bridge was built alongside and the need for the complete dismantlement of Locke's original bridge was thereby avoided. Accordingly, following the new structure's completion, a single complete pair of spans of the original bridge remained, along with one span of the other pair directly adjacent to the first span. The new Barnes Bridge was designed by the civil engineer Edward Andrews and built by the contractor Head, Wrightson & Co. It consisted of three spans of

bow string girders, which were supported by extended piers and abutments. During 1894, work began on the extension of the existing brick abutments and piers; the new structure was completed during the following year. In conjunction with this work, a single footpath, possessing a width of 2.4 meters, was also added to the structure. Both the footpath and the second incarnation of Barnes Bridge have remained in use through to the present day. In late November and early December 2022 the bridge was closed to rail traffic for urgent repairs.

University Boat Race

Boat Race at Barnes Bridge 2003 - Oxford winners

Over time, Barnes Bridge has become a recognisable landmark on the Thames. It is commonly referenced during the annual

, where it has been suggested that whichever crew is ahead at this point will go on to win the race. During 2003, the competing crews were in almost equal position approaching the bridge, and Oxford won the race by just one foot. In recognition of its association with the boat races, the

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

on Barnes Bridge includes a light blue oar (representing

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

) and a dark blue oar (representing

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

). During the first half of the twentieth century, it became common for the railway company to sell tickets to race spectators for access to the bridge as a means of generating revenue from the provision of a unique vantage point. However, in the twentyfirst century, Barnes Bridge has been intentionally closed to pedestrian traffic during the boat race on the grounds of public safety.

Footbridges

The presence of Barnes Bridge has forced the diversion of the

Thames Path The Thames Path is a National Trail following the River Thames from one of its sources near Kemble, Gloucestershire, Kemble in Gloucestershire to the Woolwich foot tunnel, south east London. It is about long. A path was first proposed in 1948 ...

, a pedestrian walkway along the banks of the Thames, as there is limited space between the bridge and the river to the point where a traditional footpath could not be provided. During November 2017, an application for planning permission was submitted to Hounslow London Borough Council which proposed the construction of a bespoke pedestrian footbridge spanning along the bank of the Thames beneath Barnes Bridge, as a means of eliminating the need for a diversionary route in the future. Additionally, plans have been mooted for the reuse of the long out of use Locke structure, under which it is to be converted into a garden walkway; the ambition has reportedly attracted the support of national network infrastructure company

Network Rail Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and railway infrastructure manager, infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. ...

. The Dukes Meadows Footbridge, underneath the northern span of Barnes Railway Bridge, was opened in 2023 to allow the Thames Path to run beside the river at this point, rather than taking a detour of hundreds of metres to the nearest foot tunnel. The architects of that footbridge, Moxon, have also drawn up plans for a landscaped "green walkway" accessed by ramps on the disused 1849 railway bridge spans, joining up with the Thames Path. The project is supported by

, the

London Borough of Richmond The London Borough of Richmond upon Thames () in south-west Greater London, London, England, forms part of Outer London and is the only London boroughs, London borough on both sides of the River Thames. It was created in 1965 when three smaller ...

and the

Gallery

File:Barnes.gif, The first Barnes Bridge, File:BarnesRailwayBridge.jpg, The current bridge from Barnes Bridge Station File:BarnesRailwayBridge P1020679r.jpg, Barnes Railway Bridge – view under decks showing the old disused span on the left File:Dukes Meadows Footbridge main span in place from Barnes Railway Bridge.jpg, Dukes Meadows Footbridge under construction, 2022 File:Dukes Meadows Footbridge - 2023-01-21.jpg, Completed Dukes Meadows Footbridge seen below Barnes Railway Bridge

References

External links

* * {{LB Richmond 1849 establishments in England Barnes, London Bridges across the River Thames Bridges completed in 1849 Bridges completed in 1895 Bridges in London Buildings and structures in the London Borough of Hounslow Buildings and structures in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames Grade II listed bridges in London Grade II listed buildings in the London Borough of Hounslow Grade II listed buildings in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames Pedestrian bridges across the River Thames Pedestrian bridges in London Railway bridges in London Transport in the London Borough of Hounslow Transport in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames