Lambeth Bridge from Millbank, facing east towards Lambeth

Lambeth Bridge is a road traffic and foot bridge crossing the River Thames in an east-west direction in central London; the river flows north at the crossing point. Downstream, the next bridge is Westminster Bridge; upstream the next is Vauxhall Bridge.

On the east side, in Lambeth are Lambeth Palace, the Albert Embankment, St Thomas's Hospital, and the International Maritime Organization. On the west side, in Westminster, are Thames House (the headquarters of MI5), behind which is Horseferry House (the National Probation Directorate headquarters), and Clelland House and Abel House (the headquarters of HM Prison Service), and the Millbank Tower and Tate Britain. The Palace of Westminster is a short walk downstream to the north through the Victoria Tower Garden.

History

The current structure, a five-span steel arch design by Geoffrey Groves and opened on 12 July 1932 by King George V, carries four lanes of road traffic from a roundabout junction close 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.

External links

• Street map of Lambeth Bridge, from Multimap.
• Aerial photo of Lambeth Bridge, from Multimap.

Lambeth Bridge seen from Albert Embankment, looking north, downstream. Thames House is on the far left.