Battersea Ferry
1766: First Battersea Bridge was erected by Earl Spencer.
1786 -
Battersea Bridge, 1786
from Picturesque View on the Thames, Samuel Ireland, 1802 -
WITHIN two miles of the capital, the
curious observer is again offended with another
tasteless object, the wooden bridge of
Battersea, where the breadth of the river,
and it's contiguity to the metropolis, certainly
demanded a more elegant structure.
THE original cost of this bridge was twelve
thousand eight hundred pounds, which sum
was raised by sixteen persons, in shares of
eight hundred pounds each. The present
heavy expence of toll, it might reasonably
have been supposed, would have defrayed
the extra charge of a bridge of stone; but,
I am informed, that heavy as that expence
may appear, it barely affords common interest to the persons concerned in the undertaking.
If the advantages arising to the subscribers from the toll of this bridge are so inconsiderable, it is much to be regretted, that
some parliamentary aid had not been solicited, to have produced a sum equal to the
expence of raising a magnificent structure.
THE contracted scale on which this undertaking
was begun, (in consequence of which the bridge was thrown across a narrow
part of the river) has been productive of
great inconvenience. It should certainly
have abutted on the Chelsea side, nearly op-
posite the church, in which direction it
would have stood in a right angle with the
current of the river : not being so placed,
it's piers are continually receiving injury from
the vessels and barges striking against them.
Battersea Bridge, 1802, Samuel Ireland
from "THE THAMES; or GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATIONS Of SEATS, VILLAS, PUBLIC BUILDINGS, AND PICTURESQUE SCENERY" by William Bernard Cooke, 1811 -
[Battersea] bridge, which stretches across the river from Chelsea to this place, and bears its name, is a wooden structure, and unworthy of its vicinity to the metropolis. It is also most injudiciously placed, as it does not stand in a right angle with the stream, so that its piers are continually receiving injury from the vessels and barges striking against them.
Battersea Bridge, 1811
1819: L Francia made a drawing of a battered hull on the riverside at Battersea.
1822: Cooke’s Views on the Thames copied L Francia’s drawing and published it –
The Little Belt Breaking up at Battersea.
Drawn by L. Francia. Feby 1, 1819.
Cooke’s Views On The Thames (1822)
So why are we supposed to know the significance of “The Little Belt”?
It is not explained because in 1822 everybody knew what it meant …
1801: The Danes built a small 460 ton corvette at Copenhagen,
and named it the “Lille Belt”.
1807: The Royal Navy, with sixty five warships and 29,000 troops,
attacked Copenhagen, and in four days the city surrendered.
The Royal Navy seized sixteen ships of the line, ten frigates,
and forty three other vessels including the Lille Belt.
With the Great British ability to takeover other people’s language
(and ships) the Lille Belt was incorporated into the Royal Navy
as “HMS Little Belt”.
1811: HMS Guerriere of the Royal Navy offended the Americans
by press ganging an American seaman. The powerful frigate
USS President was sent to oppose HMS Guerriere but, 45 miles
off Chekaspeake Bay it was HMS Little Belt that she found.
Courageously (but probably not wisely)
HMS Little Belt exchanged two broadsides with USS President.
She stood no chance at all.
Thirteen sailors were killed and nineteen wounded
and the HMS Little Belt almost totally wrecked.
The HMS Little Belt fighting the USS President, 1811
1811: The shattered HMS Little Belt was brought back to London
and sold for breaking.
She was taken to Battersea.
Lord Howard Douglass wrote of the fight of the Little Belt
in his book on Naval Gunnery -
If a vessel meet an enemy of even greatly superior force, it is due to the honour of her flag to try the effect of a few rounds; but unless in this gallant attempt she leave marks of her skill upon the larger body, while she, the smaller body, is hit at every discharge, she does but salute her enemy's triumph and discredit her own gunnery.
Which I take to mean that courage is no substitute for accurate gunfire. The courage however was beyond argument. I wonder if this is the origin of the phrase “Little Belter”?
1829: Bentley's Miscellany -
Of all the broad rivers that flow to the ocean,
There's none to compare, native Thames, unto thee ;
And gladly for ever,
Thou smooth-rolling river,
I'd dwell on thy green banks at fair Battersea.
'Twas there I was born, and 'tis there I will linger,
And there shall the place of my burial be,
If fortune, caressing,
Will grant but one blessing.
The heart of the maiden of fair Battersea.
I seek not to wander by Tyber or Arno,
Or castle-crown'd rivers in far Germanie ;
To me, Oh, far dearer,
And brighter, and clearer,
The Thames as it rimples at fair Battersea.
Contentment and Hope, spreading charms all around them,
Have hallowed the spot since she smiled upon me —
O Love ! thy joys lend us,
O Fortune, befriend us,
We'll yet make an Eden of fair Battersea.
Battersea Bridge, 1835-45, Dugdale
1844: Balloon at Battersea Bridge That is a highly inflammable hydrogen Balloon just above the funnels of those three spark producing steam launches isn’t it?
Battersea Bridge 1858, watercolour, Greaves
And Walter Greaves also painted this in oils (Black & white copy) -
Old Battersea Bridge, Oils, Walter Greaves, 1846-1931
1878: Battersea Bridge, Henry Taunt -
Battersea Bridge, Henry Taunt, 1878
© Oxfordshire County Council Photographic Archive; HT2666
Old Battersea Bridge, 1859-65, Whistler
Battersea Bridge 1879, Whistler
1885: Whistler wrote in a lecture that it was only the artist who could understand
the teeming life of the Thames.
This is such poetic language that I feel I must show it as poetry -
And when the evening mist clothes the riverside with poetry, as with a veil,
and the poorer buildings lose themselves in the dim sky,
and the tall chimneys become campanili,
and the warehouses are palaces in the night,
and the whole city hangs in the heavens,
and fairy-land is before us
— then the wayfarer hastens home;
the working man and the cultured one,
the wise man and the one of pleasure,
cease to understand, as they have ceased to see,
and Nature, who for once has sung in tune,
sings her exquisite song to the artist alone,
her son and her master
— her son in that he loves her,
her master in that he knows her.
Some of the minutes of the company survive but provide very scrappy information.
Building the [Battersea] bridge cost £10,200. One of the fifteen original proprietors was
bought out by the others in October 1772 for £1,015, and the other fourteen had to put in
another £150 then, bringing the cumulative total put in by each of them to at least £700,
with another £50 paid in in May 1773. Dividends reported for the first few years, starting in
December 1773, were in the range £30-£40 per share and £35 in 1795, which indicate a fairly
low rate of return unless the £1,015 was much in excess of what each had contributed until
October 1772. Much later, from 1821 to 1842 they averaged around £100 per share.
The proprietors were compulsorily bought out in June 1873 under powers granted in the
Act authorising the construction of the Albert Bridge. They were issued with Rent Charges
totalling £3,000, and in October £8,234 worth of Consols was divided among the then remaining
thirteen full shares. Thus the proprietors ended up with a considerable income,
but this came long after construction.
1885: Dickens's Dictionary of the Thames:
Battersea Bridge, an old decrepit structure, almost as much out of date as Putney Bridge, and about to be replaced by a new and more commodious structure.
1885: First Battersea Bridge became unsafe and was demolished
1890: Current Battersea Bridge opened for the Metropolitan Board of Works
Replaced Henry Holland's wooden bridge of 1771:
670 ft. long. 55 ft. wide.
Five spans, each consisting of seven cast iron arched ribs, support the 40 ft.
wide roadway and two footpaths which are cantilevered out from the main structure.
Ornamental shields in the spandrels and Moorish style arches on the parapet
enhance the bridge's appearance.
Engineer, Joseph Bazalgette.
1897: Battersea Bridge, James Dredge -
Battersea Bridge, James Dredge, 1897
© Oxfordshire County Council Photographic Archive; D230148a
Battersea Bridge, Charles Henry Gifford, 1839-1904
Battersea Bridge © 2000 Doug Myers
2006: A 19 foot Northern Bottlenose whale was found near Battersea Bridge in 2006. Despite active rescue efforts it finally died.
Northern Bottlenose Whale at Battersea Bridge in 2006
Battersea Bridge going upstream
Battersea Reach
Chelsea Wharf, left bank
Chelsea Creek, left bank
Map: Chelsea Harbour, left bank
Chelsea Harbour Pier, left bank just below Battersea Railway Bridge
Upstream to Battersea Railway Bridge
Estuary
PLA
QEII Br
Barrier
Tower Br
Custom Ho
London Br
; Frost Fairs
Cannon St Rb
The Great Stink
Southwark Br
Millenium Br
Blackfriars Rb
Blackfriars Br
Waterloo Br
Charing Cross Rb
Westminster Br
Lambeth Br
Vauxhall Br
Victoria Rb
Chelsea Br
Albert Br
Battersea Br
Battersea Rb
Wandsworth Br
Fulham Rb
Putney Br
Hammersmith Br
Barnes Rb
Chiswick Br
Kew Rb
Kew Br
RICHMOND
Twickenham Br
Richmond Rb
Richmond Br
TEDDINGTON
Kingston Rb
Kingston Br
Ditton Slip
Hampton Br
MOLESEY
SUNBURY
Walton Br
Desborough Cut
SHEPPERTON
Chertsey Br
CHERTSEY
M3 Br
Laleham Slip
PENTON HOOK
Staines Rb
Staines Br
Runnymede Br
BELL WEIR
Magna Carta Is
OLD WINDSOR
Albert Br
Datchet
Victoria Br
Black Potts Rb
ROMNEY
Eton
Windsor Br
Windsor Rb
Windsor Slip
Elizabeth Br
BOVENEY
Dorney Lake
York Cut
Summerleaze Fb
MonkeyIsland
New Thames Br
BRAY
Bray Slip
Maidenhead Rb
Maidenhead Br
Below Boulters
BOULTERS
Cliveden
Hedsor
COOKHAM
Cookham Slip
Cookham Br
BourneEnd RFb
Quarry Woods
A404 Br
MARLOW
Marlow Br
Bisham
TEMPLE
HURLEY
Medmenham
Culham Ct
Aston Slip
HAMBLEDEN
Temple Is
Fawley Ct
Remenham
Regatta
Phyllis Ct
Henley Slip
Leander
Red Lion
Henley Br
Angel on Br
Landing
Hobbs Boatyard
Hobbs Slipway
MARSH
Hennerton
Bolney
Wargrave
Shiplake Rb
R.Loddon
SHIPLAKE
Sonning Br
SONNING
Dreadnought
K&A Canal
CAVERSHAM
Reading Br
Caversham Br
Reading Slip
Purley
MAPLEDURHAM
Hardwick Ho
Whitchurch Br
WHITCHURCH
Hartswood Reach
Gatehampton Rb
Goring Gap
Goring Br
GORING
Swan
CLEEVE
Moulsford
Moulsford Rb
Papist Way Slip
Winterbrook Br
Wallingford Br
BENSON
Shillingford Br
R.Thame
DAYS
Burcot
Clifton Hampden
Clifton Church
Clifton H Br
Barley Mow
Long Wittenham
CLIFTON
Appleford Rb
Sutton Courtenay
Sutton Br
CULHAM
Culham Cut Fb
Abingdon Slip
Abingdon
Abingdon Br
ABINGDON
Nuneham Rb
Nuneham
Nuneham Park
Radley Boats
SANDFORD
Rose Island
Kennington Rb
Isis Br
Iffley Mill
IFFLEY
Oxford Rowing
Isis
Donnington Br
Riverside Slip
Boathouses
Punting
Lower Cherwell
Upper Cherwell
Islip
Head of River
Salters Steamers
Folly Br
Bacons Folly
Oxford Fb
Osney Fb
Weir stream
Osney Rb
Bullstake Stream
Osney Marina
OSNEY
Osney Br
Four Rivers
OLD RIVER
CANAL
Medley Weir Site
Medley Fb
Bossoms
Perch
Trout
GODSTOW
Godstow Nunnery
Godstow Br
Thames Br
KINGS
River Evenlode
EYNSHAM
Swinford Br
Oxford Cruisers
PINKHILL
Farmoor
Stanton Harcourt
Bablock Slip
Arks Weir Site
NORTHMOOR
Harts Fb
//Rose Revived
Newbridge
//Maybush
River Windrush
below Shifford
SHIFFORD
Shifford Fb
Tenfoot Fb
Trout Inn
Tadpole Br
RUSHEY
Old Mans Fb
RADCOT
Radcot Cradle Fb
Swan Inn
Radcot New Br
Radcot Old Br
GRAFTON
Eaton Hastings
Kelmscott
Eaton Fb
BUSCOT
Bloomers Hole Fb
Trout Inn
St Johns Br
ST JOHNS
Halfpenny Br
Marina Slip
LIMIT
Inglesham
Hannington Br
Kempsford
Castle Eaton Br
Marston Meysey
A419 Br
Cricklade
SOURCE?
THAMES HEAD
SEVEN SPRINGS