London Bridge, Tower Bridge, Westminster Bridge... bridges number among London's most famous structures. But not all of our city's spans cross the Thames. As we show below, London has many aerial connections that don't cross the river, and some of them are very peculiar indeed.
1. Holborn Viaduct
Let's start with the most central. Holborn Viaduct opened in 1869 to make it easier for horse-drawn traffic to cross the Fleet valley. The river had already been buried by that point, but its steep banks were — and are — very much still a landscape feature. Bonus fact: Queen Victoria opened the viaduct on the same day as Blackfriars Bridge, and both are painted in an identical shade of red.
2. The Clattern Bridge
Kingston lays claim to London's oldest surviving bridge in the quaint form of the Clattern Bridge. Parts of this span over the Hogsmill River date back to the 13th century. Despite its venerable age, the bridge is still strong enough to carry the weight of buses. Bonus fact: Its curious name is thought to derive from the noise made by horse-and-carts passing over its once cobbled surface.
3. White Horse Bridge, Wembley
One of London's more recent spans, the White Horse Bridge was built over Wembley Stadium station in 2005. Its graceful white curves complement the nearby arch of the stadium, which was completed a little later. The name comes from the 1923 "White Horse Cup Final". This was the first FA Cup final to be held at Wembley. But it was also notable for the huge crowds that swept into the stadium (estimated at 200,000+). Newsreel footage and photographs memorably featured a white police horse, which stood out from the dark clothing of the crowd. Bonus fact: The bridge was designed by Marks Barfield, who also gave us the London Eye.
4. Kew Treetop Walk
Marks Barfield clearly have a head for heights, becuase they also designed the precipitous treetop walkway for Kew Gardens in 2008. The structure is more a ring-of-bridges than a straight crossing, which allows visitors to peer into the treetops. The park also contains a sinusoidal bridge across the lake, opened in 2006. Bonus fact: You are not the first person to describe it as an Ewok village.
5. Blow-up Bridge, Regent's Canal
Macclesfield Bridge to the north of Regent's Park is rather grand and impressive for a canal bridge. Its 10 cast iron columns look like refugees from an ancient Greek temple. But its fame rests on a tragic incident that took place in 1874. A barge laden with gunpowder exploded beneath its arch, seriously damaging the bridge and killing three people. The bridge was later repaired and was, forever more, nicknamed Blow-up Bridge. Bonus fact: Look closely at the columns beside the towpath and you'll notice deep grooves cut into the iron. These were made by tow ropes in the age when barges were pulled by horses. The grooves appear on both sides of the columns, as they were rotated 180 degrees during the post-explosion rebuild.
6. The Rolling Bridge and the Fan Bridge, Paddington
Paddington Basin is home to two unusual bridges, which are as much animated works of art as pedestrian crossings. The Fan Bridge gracefully splays as it rises, while the Rolling Bridge curls itself up into a ball like a shy caterpillar. The Fan Bridge lifts on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at noon. The Rolling Bridge gets its turn on Wednesdays and Fridays at noon, and every Saturday at 2pm. Bonus fact: The Rolling Bridge was designed by Thomas Heatherwick, now better associated with the failed Garden Bridge over the Thames (as well as the more successful 2012 Olympic Cauldron and the semi-successful New Routemaster).
7. Half the rail bridges in South London
Rail bridges can be the ultimate eyesore. Happily, many of London's cohort are brightly painted and lettered. The most famous is perhaps the series of rail bridges through Camden Town, but it's South London that seems to have really gone for the look. Many of these structures also include a hand-painted sign on the brickwork by muralist Lionel Stanhope. It is a simple but powerful means to reinforce local identity, and enrich people's lives in a small, intangible way. Bonus fact: Besides his nameplate murals, Stanhope also gave us the much-Instagrammed NHS superhero artwork near Waterloo East.
8. The City Pedways
When they were rebuilding the post-war Square Mile, City planners had this grand idea of elevating pedestrians above the traffic on a network of walkways and bridges. These 'pedways' are most apparent, not to mention baffling, around the Barbican complex, but you can find other examples dotted around, such as the Wormwood Street Bridge, Fyefoot Lane which spans Thames Street, and the series of walkways that connects Pudding Lane to the riverside. The scheme never got close to forming a full network across the City, and several elements have now been lost. However, pedways had a mini-renaissance at the start of this decade, when the Corten-steel bridges between St Alphege's and Moorgate were put in place. More of these please! Bonus fact: The pedway on Wormwood Street hasn't been in use for many years, but did attract attention in 2018, when Do Ho Suh's Korean house art installation was placed on its span.
9. Three Bridges, Southall
A road bridge, over a canal viaduct over a rail line, with a kind of mezzanine brick viaduct over the corner. Three Bridges is the handiwork of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, who slotted the rail route under the existing canal and road in 1859. Bonus fact: This was Brunel's last project, completed in the year of his death.
10. Mill Hill Viaduct
And to keep the rail theme going, we had to include one of London's viaducts. One of the most impressive is the multi-arched structure that carries the Northern line spur from Mill Hill East to Finchley Central. Bonus fact: At 18 metres, this is the highest point above ground level that London Underground reaches.
11. Chinese Bridge, Victoria Park
The structure with the longest gestation period in London's history is surely this Chinese-style bridge in Victoria Park. James Pennethorne first pencilled it into his plans for the park in 1847, as a suitably oriental approach to the pagoda he'd recently installed in the lake. Unfortunately, the money dried up and a more plain crossing was added. It wasn't until 2012 that the bridge was finally built, to Pennethorne's original design from a century and a half before. Bonus fact: The nearby pagoda is also modern. It's a near-exact replica of the Victorian structure, which burned down in the 1950s.
12. Floating Bridge, West India Quay
If you've ever visited London Museum Docklands (or, indeed Museum of London Docklands, as it was previously styled), then chances are you crossed this bridge. The span is remarkable in that it is not piled into the dock bed but floats upon those dark grey pontoons, which are filled with polystyrene. One day, half of London will be built like this to mitigate against rising sea levels. Bonus fact: The bridge can open in the middle to let craft through.
13. Brentford Bridge
London's most furtive bridge! The current Brentford Bridge, over the River Brent, was built of granite in 1824. However, it's long arch was largely hidden in 1893, when it was encased in iron to carry water pipes. Bonus fact: In a way, it's appropriate that the bridge should hide in armour. The span was one of the key locations in the Battle of Brentford in 1642, in which Royalist forces stormed across to give the Parliamentarians a bloody nose.
14. The Rainbow Bridge, Nunhead
From war to peace. This pedestrian bridge that carries Aspinall Road over the line from Nunhead to Brockley had long been known as "Scary Bridge". During the pandemic, arts organisation Artmongers decided to paint a rainbow all along once side of the bridge to cheer everybody up. Later, school children applied their own rainbows to the other side. It's now a positive landmark. Bonus fact: The newly christened Rainbow Bridge even has two crocks of gold at its ends, in the shape of small community gardens created where once could be found fly-tipped rubbish.
15. The Tide, Greenwich
More spectral bridgery in North Greenwich. "The Tide" is a curious thing, part bridge, part linear park, part arts platform. It leads from the plaza in front of the O2 out to the eastern riverside. In a getting-around sense, it's utterly superfluous, given that perfectly decent minor roads that track its route. On the other hand, it's a bit of colourful fun that kids enjoy exploring. Not sure if it counts as a bridge, but it's certainly a curiosity. Bonus fact: The Tide's appearance changes occasionally. Our image above is from 2021, but it has since been wrapped in an alternative rainbow design.
16. Surrey Street Market bridge, Croydon
"A simple hello could lead to a million things". So runs Lauren Baker's neon scrawl on the underside of Surrey Street Market's pedestrian bridge. This being Croydon, of course, half the lettering has long fizzled out, although you can appreciate what's left of it while sipping a beer out the front of Art & Craft. The bridge leads to private accommodation, but you can usually venture out into the middle and gaze down on the market's fruit, veg and plant stalls (it hasn't changed all that much since it opened in 1276) and get some good snaps, while the aroma of jerk chicken swims up towards your nostrils. Bonus fact: the bridge is here owing to the steep gradient between Surrey Street and the High Street — this is in fact the edge of the Wandle Valley.
17. Eel Pie Island Bridge, Twickenham
There is nothing remarkable in itself about the footbridge linking the London mainland at Twickenham and Eel Pie Island. Granted, it has a satisfying curvature to it, but that alone isn't enough to land it on this list. It is, however, perhaps the closest thing you'll get in London to a portal to a parallel dimension of artsiness; indeed, when the bridge was installed in 1957, there was a turnstile at one end, and the boho masses hoping to get in for gigs at the famous Eel Pie Island Hotel had to produce special passports. These days, anyone can cross the bridge onto the island, which is populated by quirky artists studios, though you can still only get inside these a handful of times a year. Bonus fact: Until the bridge was built, access to Eel Pie Island was by a chain ferry, which the late George Melly remembered you sometimes had to haul yourself across on. Bonus pedantry: for those complaining that we said we wouldn't cover bridges than span the Thames, may we counter pedant this by pointing out that strictly this bridge only partially spans the Thames. Touché.
And we'll leave it there. London, of course, contains dozens of further bridges. We'd love to hear your own favourites in the comments below.
