Chiswick Bridge

Chiswick Bridge is a reinforced concrete deck arch bridge. Opened in 1933, it was one of three bridges built as part of a grand plan to ease traffic congestion west of London.

The bridge stands on an old ferry crossing site that has been in use since at least the 17th century. Chiswick and Mortlake were small, sparsely populated villages back then, so there wasn’t much demand for a fixed crossing. However, with the arrival of railways and the London Underground in the 19th century, the populations of these areas grew rapidly, and the need for better transportation became clear.

In 1909, the Great Chertsey Road scheme was proposed to build a major new road from Hammersmith to Chertsey, bypassing Kingston and Richmond. However, disagreements over the route and high costs led to the plan being shelved. After World War I, as the population of west London continued to grow and more people owned cars, traffic congestion worsened. In 1925, the Ministry of Transport convened a meeting between Surrey and Middlesex county councils to find a solution, and the Great Chertsey Road scheme was revived. By 1927, the plan was approved to help relieve the chronic traffic congestion on the area's narrow streets and bridges. The Ministry of Transport agreed to subsidize the cost heavily.

Construction of the new arterial road, now known as the A316, began in 1930 after receiving Royal Assent in 1928. The project required the construction of two new bridges, one at Twickenham and the other at Chiswick. Chiswick Bridge, along with Twickenham Bridge and the rebuilt Hampton Court Bridge, was officially opened by Edward, Prince of Wales, on July 3, 1933. With the bridge’s opening, the old ferry service was permanently discontinued.

The bridge was designed in reinforced concrete by architect Sir Herbert Baker and engineer Alfred Dryland, with additional input from Considère Constructions, Britain’s leading specialist in reinforced concrete at the time. The structure is faced with Portland stone, except beneath the arches. When it was built, the 150-foot (46-meter) central span was the longest concrete span over the Thames.

The Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Company built the bridge at a cost of £208,284 (equivalent to about £18.7 million in 2024).

The bridge was generally well received, with Country Life magazine praising its design for reflecting the 18th-century Palladian tradition of Lord Burlington’s famous villa at Chiswick. However, it is perhaps best known for its proximity to the finishing line of the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race, Championship Course, the stretch of the Thames used for the Boat Race and other rowing events.

A University Boat Race Stone on the south shore, facing a brightly painted Cambridge and Oxford blues wooden obelisk, marks the end of the 4-mile 374-yard course from Putney Bridge. It is just 370 feet (110 meters) east of the bridge.