Southwark Bridge

Southwark Bridge is an arch bridge spanning the River Thames in London, connecting the district of Southwark with the City. Known for carrying the least traffic among the Thames bridges, it sees a quiet flow of vehicles, except during temporary closures of other bridges.

The site initially hosted a bridge John Rennie the Elder designed, which opened in 1819. On Cary's 1818 map of London, it was labelled as Queen Street Bridge, but subsequent maps refer to it as Southwark Bridge. This earlier structure featured three substantial cast-iron spans supported by granite piers and was renowned for having the longest cast-iron span of its time, measuring 240 feet (73 meters). The bridge, often called "The Iron Bridge," gained literary mention in Charles Dickens' *Little Dorrit*. Despite its impressive engineering, the bridge struggled commercially as a tolled operation, unable to compete with the toll-free Blackfriars and London bridges nearby. The operating company eventually went bankrupt, and the Bridge House Estates acquired the bridge, making it toll-free in 1864.

A new bridge was designed by Ernest George and Basil Mott, constructed by Sir William Arrol & Co., and opened on June 6, 1921. Midway along the bridge, on its western side, a plaque commemorates the reopening, reading:

"Re-built by the Bridge House Estates Committee of the Corporation of London 1913-1921. Opened for traffic by their Majesties King George V and Queen Mary, 6th June 1921. Sir Ernest Lamb CMG, JP Chairman. Basil Mott, CB Engineer. Sir Ernest George RA Architect."

This newer structure provides access to Upper Thames Street on the north bank. However, due to the City's security measures, there is no further road access beyond this point. The bridge, a Grade II listed structure as of 1995, is owned and maintained by Bridge House Estates, a charitable trust overseen by the City of London Corporation.

On the northwest side of the bridge stands Vintners' Court, a 1990s office building with a classical façade of columns and pediment. This site is owned by the Worshipful Company of Vintners, whose hall is just behind it on Upper Thames Street. On the south end, the bridge is close to cultural landmarks such as the Tate Modern, the Clink Prison Museum, the Globe Theatre, and the offices of the “Financial Times” and Ofcom. Below the bridge on the south side, remnants of old steps once used by Thames watermen to moor their boats can still be seen, along with a pedestrian tunnel that is part of the Queen's Walk Embankment, featuring a frieze depicting the Thames frost fairs. Cycle Superhighway 7 also crosses the bridge.

Southwark Bridge has appeared in numerous films and television shows. It was featured in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007), and the cream-painted houses on the south side, known as Anchor Terrace, were used for exterior shots in the TV series This Life. The earlier "Iron Bridge" is mentioned in the opening sentence of Charles Dickens's Our Mutual Friend and several times in Little Dorrit, where Dickens notes the toll as one penny. In Disney’s Mary Poppins (1964), the Banks family mistakenly believes that George W. Banks has jumped off the bridge after losing his job. The bridge also serves as a meeting point for DCI Luther and Alice Morgan in the season 3 finale of the BBC crime drama Luther, and it appears in the final scene of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, with Tom poised to drop antique guns into the Thames.