Old Walton Bridge is the name given to the first

Walton Bridge Walton Bridge is a road bridge across the River Thames in England, carrying the A244 between Walton-on-Thames and Shepperton, crossing the Thames on the reach between Sunbury Lock and Shepperton Lock. The bridge is the first Thames road bri ...

built across 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 ...

between

Walton-on-Thames Walton-on-Thames, known locally as Walton, is a market town on the bank (geography), south bank of the River Thames, Thames in northwest Surrey, England. It is in the Borough of Elmbridge, about southwest of central London. Walton forms part ...

and

Shepperton Shepperton is a village in the Borough of Spelthorne, Spelthorne district, in north Surrey, England, around south west of central London. The settlement is on the north bank of the River Thames, between the towns of Chertsey and Sunbury-on-Tha ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

, England (the latter then in

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

). The wooden bridge was completed in 1750, was painted by

Canaletto Giovanni Antonio Canal (18 October 1697 – 19 April 1768), commonly known as Canaletto (), was an Italian painter from the Republic of Venice, considered an important member of the 18th-century Venetian school. Painter of cityscapes or ...

and stood until 1783 when, in decay, it was dismantled to make way for a stone-clad

brickwork Brickwork is masonry produced by a bricklayer, using bricks and mortar. Typically, rows of bricks called '' courses'' are laid on top of one another to build up a structure such as a brick wall. Bricks may be differentiated from blocks by ...

replacement, later painted by

J. M. W. Turner Joseph Mallord William Turner (23 April 177519 December 1851), known in his time as William Turner, was an English Romantic painter, printmaker and watercolourist. He is known for his expressive colouring, imaginative landscapes and turbu ...

History

Construction of the

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

by a Mr White of

Weybridge Weybridge () is a town in the Borough of Elmbridge, Elmbridge district in Surrey, England, around southwest of central London. The settlement is recorded as ''Waigebrugge'' and ''Weibrugge'' in the 7th century and the name derives from a cro ...

was started in 1748 and was completed in 1750. The construction was paid for by

Samuel Dicker Samuel Dicker (died 1760), was an English politician who represented Plymouth in the British House of Commons in the eighteenth century, and was also responsible for the building of the first Walton Bridge in Surrey. Dicker owned plantations in ...

who was the MP for

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

. Dicker had obtained the ( 20 Geo. 2. c. 22) and owned property in Walton on Thames. By paying for its construction Dicker also obtained the right to collect tolls from users of the bridge under the statute. Opponents to its construction comprised

ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...

operators, who foresaw an impact their livelihoods; the

barge A barge is typically a flat-bottomed boat, flat-bottomed vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. Original use was on inland waterways, while modern use is on both inland and ocean, marine water environments. The firs ...

es who thought it would make the river unnavigable; and a minority of residents of Walton-on-Thames who were worried about an influx of undesirable elements from substantially rural and wayfaring villages of West Middlesex north of the river. Despite the late opposition following his act of Parliament, Dicker pressed on with construction, probably motivated by his own desire for easy access to London (

Hampton Court Bridge Hampton Court Bridge is a Grade II listed bridge that crosses the River Thames in England approximately north–south between Hampton, London and East Molesey, Surrey, carrying the A309. It is the upper of two road bridges on the reach ab ...

allowing the shortcut from the south bank across Hampton Court Park's major

meander A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the Channel (geography), channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erosion, erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank (cut bank, cut bank or river cl ...

was opened at the end of 1753) and for the financial benefits the tolls would bring. Mathematical-Bridge

The design of the bridge was by William Etheridge who also designed the smaller but similar

Mathematical Bridge The Mathematical Bridge is a wooden footbridge in the southwest of central Cambridge, England. It bridges the River Cam about one hundred feet northwest of Silver Street Bridge and connects two parts of Queens' College. Its official name is s ...

across the

River Cam The River Cam () is the main river flowing through Cambridge in eastern England. After leaving Cambridge, it flows north and east before joining the River Great Ouse to the south of Ely, Cambridgeshire, Ely, at Pope's Corner. The total distanc ...

Queens' College, Cambridge Queens' College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Queens' is one of the 16 "old colleges" of the university, and was founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou. Its buildings span the R ...

, and had been responsible for the construction of many of the timber centres of the

Westminster Bridge Westminster Bridge is a road-and-foot-traffic bridge crossing over the River Thames in London, linking Westminster on the west side and Lambeth on the east side. The bridge is painted predominantly green, the same colour as the leather seats ...

while working as James King's foreman. First constructed between 1749 and 1750, this bridge still stands, although it has been rebuilt twice, most recently in 1905. The Old Walton Bridge was supported by four central stone piers connected by three arches built of wooden beams and joists. The span of the central arch was 130 feet (39 m), at the time the widest unsupported span in England (it was surpassed by William Edwards Bridge at

Pontypridd Pontypridd ( , ), Colloquialism, colloquially referred to as ''Ponty'', is a town and a Community (Wales), community in Rhondda Cynon Taf, South Wales, approximately 10 miles north west of Cardiff city centre. Geography Pontypridd comprises the ...

).Skempton pp.217-8 The other two main arches were each 44 feet (13 m), though Dicker later suggested that the design would have allowed for side spans of 70 ft or more. Away from the water were five further small brickwork arches on each side of the river. On the strength of their success with Walton Bridge Etheridge and Dicker put forward two proposals for a bridge at Blackfriars, one for building in stone and the other in timber. The stone-built proposal was accepted but several changes to Etheridge's design led to him leaving the project before it was completed. Although considered an impressive feat of engineering at the time of its construction, the bridge stood for only 33 years. Dicker died in London in 1760 and his estates in the area were sold. The bridge passed to his nephew, Michael Dicker Sanders, but he found it difficult to meet the costs of its upkeep. A report on the condition of the bridge in 1778 suggested that decay in the wooden frame made it unsuitable for use, and it was dismantled in 1783 to make way for a stone-clad

bridge which was completed in 1788 and eventually collapsed in 1859 (71 years).

Canaletto's paintings

spent time in England between 1746 and 1755, mostly in London, but at some time after 1750 he travelled out to Walton to produce a painting of the bridge. He had previously depicted one of Etherbridge's constructions in 1747 as the framing span o
''The City Seen Through an Arch of Westminster Bridge''
Normally the figures populating his landscapes were anonymous, but his painting of the bridge is unusual because the identities of several of the figures are known. In the centre of the painting on the near bank, two figures can be seen standing together; to the left is Thomas Hollis who commissioned the painting from Canaletto, and almost certainly requested that he be included. It is likely that Hollis selected the image from a sketch in Canaletto's portfolio, as the painting omits the stone abutments that were added in 1751. To Hollis' right is Thomas Brand, his lifelong friend and heir. Further to the right, dressed in colourful

livery A livery is an identifying design, such as a uniform, ornament, symbol, or insignia that designates ownership or affiliation, often found on an individual or vehicle. Livery often includes elements of the heraldry relating to the individual or ...

, is Hollis' servant, Francesco Giovannini, and at the feet of Hollis is his dog, Malta. Seated a little distance from the central group on the left (with a cow looking over his shoulder) is an artist thought to be Canaletto himself. In the river a ship is lowering its sail in order to pass under the bridge. With the towering storm clouds forming above the bridge, Canaletto contrasts the forces of nature with the work of engineering below; the painting is the only one of his English works in which he attempts to capture the weather. Samuel Dicker's house at Mount Felix can be seen in the rear of the picture to the left of the bridge, but Dicker — probably after seeing Hollis's painting — commissioned a different view of the bridge from Canaletto in 1755 in which his house can be seen more clearly and the full extent of the bridge works that he had funded (including the extensive stone abutments) is obvious. The painting is normally kept by the

Dulwich Picture Gallery Dulwich Picture Gallery is an art gallery in Dulwich, south London. It opened to the public in 1817 and was designed by the Regency architect Sir John Soane. His design was recognized for its innovative and influential method of illumination f ...

.''A View of Walton Bridge''
BBC – Arts – Your Paintings

courtesy of

Retrieved 2013-07-08

Notes

References

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External links

''A View of Walton Bridge''
(Canaletto, 1754) at the

''Old Walton Bridge''
(Canaletto, 1755) at the

Yale Center for British Art The Yale Center for British Art at Yale University in central New Haven, Connecticut, houses the largest and most comprehensive collection of British art outside the United Kingdom. The collection of paintings, sculpture, drawings, prints, rare ...

*
Canaletto
', exhibition catalogue from the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

, including material on Canaletto's pictures {{coord, 51.3875, -0.4312, type:landmark_region:GB-SRY, display=title Bridges across the River Thames Bridges in Surrey Bridges completed in 1750 Former toll bridges in England Truss bridges in England Demolished bridges in England Buildings and structures demolished in 1783 History of Middlesex