The
Museum of Richmond has an engraving by John Barnard, architect of the design for the first Kew Bridge, dedicated to
George, Prince of Wales and his mother
Augusta and dated 1759. Bernard describes it as the
Bridge over the River of Thames from Kew in the County of Surry to the opposite shore in the County of Middlesex. Kew and the area around the bridge was significant to George as his father
Frederick took a lease on Kew House, now part of the Royal Botanic Gardens from 1731 and rebuilt the house to designs by
William Kent. George's mother Augusta started the botanic gardens and created many of the garden buildings. The first bridge was built by Robert Tunstall of
Brentford who previously owned the ferry on the site. The bridge was inaugurated on 1 June 1759 by the Prince of Wales driving over it with his mother and a number of other royals, and was opened to the public three days later. Such was the excitement that over 3,000 people crossed in one day. Tolls ranged from 1
penny for each pedestrian to one
shilling and six pence for a coach and four horses (these are equivalent to p and £ in ). The first bridge was constructed with two stone arches at each end and seven timber arches in between, which proved costly to maintain and as a consequence the bridge only lasted 30 years. In 1782 Robert Tunstall, son of the builder of the first bridge, obtained consent in the '''''' (
22 Geo. 3. c. 42) to replace the bridge and work began on 4 June 1783, the anniversary date of the first bridge opening to the public. The new bridge was designed by
James Paine who had previously been responsible for
Richmond Bridge. The cost was £16,500 (equivalent to £ million in ) which was raised by means of a
tontine. The second bridge was built alongside the first, to avoid hindrance to traffic during construction work, and this time was built entirely of stone. It was again opened, on 22 September 1789, by George, who by this time had become King George III, crossing with
a great concourse of carriages. The tolls were a half penny per pedestrian and 6 pence for each horse (these are equivalent to p and £ in ). The bridge was sold by auction to a Mr Robinson for £23,000 in 1819 (equivalent to £ million in ) and again in 1873, to the
City of London Corporation and the
Metropolitan Board of Works for £57,300 (equivalent to £ million in ). The exhibition included a copy of a
J. M. W. Turner sketch of the second bridge from
Brentford Ait 1805/6 with barges on the left. The tollbooths were at the Brentford end of the bridge and were originally planned as pavilions with
Doric porticos. To save on the cost rather simpler
Italianate booths were built instead of
brick and
stucco. Under the
Kew and Other Bridges Act 1869 (
32 & 33 Vict. c. xix), tolls were abolished on 8 February 1873 and a triumphal arch was built at the Brentford entrance to the bridge. The gates were removed and paraded on a brewer's dray through Brentford and around Kew Green. is a few metres downstream of Kew Bridge By the 1890s it was clear that the second bridge could not really cope with the weight of traffic and in any case the approach was too narrow and steep on the Brentford side. The engineer Sir John Wolfe Barry was invited to assess the bridge in 1892 and recommended building a new bridge rather than modifications to the second one. The '''''' (
61 & 62 Vict. c. clv) paved the way and the third bridge was commissioned jointly by the
Middlesex and
Surrey county councils at a cost of £250,000 (equivalent to £ million in ). The engineers were Barry and Brereton and the building contractors were
Easton Gibbs and Son. The third bridge is long, and the largest of its three arches has a span of . The roadway is wide (compared to on the second bridge), and the pavements compared to . It was built of
granite from
Kemnay Quarry. A temporary wooden bridge was put in place upstream of the second bridge before demolition during October to December 1899. The third bridge was completed for an official opening on 20 May 1903 by
King Edward VII and
Queen Alexandra who processed through
Kensington,
Hammersmith,
Chiswick and
Brentford on the way to the ceremony, returning via
Mortlake and
Barnes and re-crossing the Thames at
Putney Bridge. The centre of the bridge was provided with a tented pavilion 60 yards long and spanning its whole width. A special temporary balcony, projecting from this, was installed so that the crowds on the banks and on the water could see the royal visitors. The king laid the last coping stone with a silver trowel and declared the bridge open. He and the queen were given a number of gifts including bouquets, a bound history of the bridge and various other commemorative items including a silver-mounted prehistoric flint axe found during construction work, another axe with part of its haft remaining and a fine silver spirit level made in the shape of the bridge itself. Later the Mayor of Richmond presented a chair with the ladders in its back carved in the shape of the three bridges. The inhabitants of Brentford and Chiswick presented a 1721 silver tankard. After the departure of the royals a huge party took place on the lawns at Kew Gardens and 1,000 children were entertained to tea in a marquee on Kew Green, an event hosted by Cuthbert Brereton. During the
silent era of film, a
Kew Bridge Studios operated along part of the northern approach. The site was later used by the
Q Theatre. == Kew Bridge in art ==