Lambeth Bridge

Lambeth Bridge is a bridge crossing of the River Thames in central London. It lies just downstream of Vauxhall Bridge; its neighbour to the east is Westminster Bridge.

The current structure, a five-span steel arch design by Geoffrey Groves and opened on 12 July 1932 by King George V of the United Kingdom, carries four lanes of road traffic from a roundabout junction close to Lambeth Palace northwards to another roundabout on the Embankment by its junction with Horseferry Road (the road name gives a clue to a previous crossing: a ferry operated on the site for some years). Obelisks at either end are surmounted by stone pineapples!

The previous structure was a suspension bridge, 828ft long, designed by Peter W. Barlow. Sanctioned by an Act of Parliament in 1860, it opened as a toll bridge in 1862 but doubts about its safety, coupled with its awkwardly steep approaches deterring horse-drawn traffic, meant it soon became used almost solely as a pedestrian crossing. It ceased to be a toll bridge in 1879 when the Metropolitan Board of Works assumed responsibility for its upkeep - it was by then severely corroded.