Sonning Bridge
Sonning Bridge on the downstream side, from the Thames Path footbridge
Coordinates51°28′33″N 0°54′50″W / 51.475728°N 0.913944°W / 51.475728; -0.913944
CarriesThames Path, Minor road
CrossesRiver Thames
LocaleSonning
Heritage statusGrade II listed
Characteristics
DesignArch
MaterialBrick
Height14 feet 2 inches (4.32 m)[1]
History
Opened1775
Location
Print of Sonning Bridge, 1799

Sonning Bridge is a road bridge across the River Thames at Sonning, Berkshire. It links Sonning with Sonning Eye (Oxfordshire) and crosses the Thames on the reach above Shiplake Lock, just short of Sonning Lock. It is a brick arch bridge completed in 1775, to replace an earlier wooden bridge. The bridge has been the subject of many paintings and prints by artists and is a Grade II listed building.

The road extends to the two Sonning Backwater Bridges. One is over the backwater downstream of the weir and the other is over the millrace which is between the two main branches.

The Thames Path crosses the river at this point.

History

The earliest definite reference to a "timber" bridge is around 1530, although there are claims that there was a wooden old Saxon bridge here before 1125. It was spoken of as being rebuilt in 1604, although throughout the 17th century there are reports of decay and the need for repair.[2]

A stone marker at the centre of the bridge is marked "B | O'" (for the counties of Berkshire and Oxfordshire on each side of the river) with the vertical line indicating the exact boundary down the middle of the river. This is an ancient border which used to be between Wessex and Mercia.

In the 18th century, the bridge presumably gave Dick Turpin a convenient escape route from Berkshire to Oxfordshire when he was staying at his aunt's inn in Sonning.[3]

At the beginning of the 20th century, there were complaints about traction engines causing structural problems with the old wooden backwater bridges at Sonning and disturbing the peace.[4] The wooden backwater bridges were not replaced until the 20th century.

The bridge became a Grade II listed building on 1 August 1952.[5]

Traffic

Sonning Bridge has traffic lights because it is too narrow for traffic in both directions simultaneously. It is the only road bridge across the Thames between Henley-on-Thames and Reading. Thus there are large queues during the morning and evening rush hours. An additional bridge to relieve the traffic problems has been a subject of debate for many years. In 2019, Transport for South East proposed a bridge at Playhatch, but while supported by local councils in Berkshire, the bid for funds from the Department for Transport was opposed by Oxfordshire.[6][7]

Art installations

Beginning in the second decade of the 21st century, the anonymous artist Impro has affixed a series of objects to a supporting buttress of the bridge: the frontage of a letterbox (2013),[8][9] a front door with floating doormat (2016),[10] a telephone labelled "Emergency Flood Line" (2021), another postbox (2022)[11] and a urinal (2023).[12]

Adjacent buildings

Close to the bridge are the Great House, a hotel on the southern bank, the Mill at Sonning, now a theatre, on an island between two branches of the river, and the French Horn, another hotel on the northern bank.

See also

References

  1. ↑ River Thames Alliance. Bridge heights on the River Thames. Archived 24 January 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ↑ Fred. S. Thacker The Thames Highway: Volume II Locks and Weirs 1920 - republished 1968 David & Charles
  3. ↑ David England and Tina Bilbe, Berkshire Folk Tales, Stroud: The History Press, 2013, ISBN 9780752492889.
  4. ↑ The Beautiful Sonning Bridges, The Sphere, page 275, 13 September 1902.
  5. ↑ Historic England. "Sonning Bridge (The Part Within Wokingham District, Berkshire) (1117436)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
  6. ↑ Tevye Markson (30 October 2019) [29 October 2019]. "Huge new £800k bid has been made for third Thames bridge to connect Reading and Oxfordshire". BerkshireLive. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
  7. ↑ "Third bridge plan doomed". Henley Standard. 8 July 2021. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
  8. ↑ Dave Gilyeat (26 July 2014). "Sonning Bridge postbox artist 'Impro' on his 'japes'". BBC News. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
  9. ↑ "Uri Geller mystified by letterbox on Thames Sonning Bridge". BBC News. 8 September 2013. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
  10. ↑ "Mystery of false door on bridge". Henley Standard. 30 August 2016. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
  11. ↑ "Prankster strikes again on bridge". Henley Standard. 25 April 2022. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
  12. ↑ "Urinal appears on the side of Sonning bridge over River Thames". BBC News. 5 August 2023. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
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51°28′32.5″N 0°54′50″W / 51.475694°N 0.91389°W / 51.475694; -0.91389

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