Henley Bridge

Henley Bridge
The upstream side of the bridge at Henley-on-Thames from near the Henley Royal Regatta headquarters on the Berkshire bank
Carries	A4130 road
Crosses	River Thames
Locale	Henley-on-Thames
Heritage status	Grade I listed structure
Characteristics
Design	Arch
Material	Stone
Height	14 feet 3 inches (4.34 m)
Number of spans	5
Piers in water	4
History
Opened	1786

Henley Bridge is a road bridge built in 1786 at Henley-on-Thames over the River Thames, between Oxfordshire and Berkshire. The bridge has five elliptical stone arches, and links Hart Street in Henley with White Hill (designated the A4130) leading up a steep hill to Remenham Hill. It crosses the Thames on the reach between Hambledon Lock and Marsh Lock, carrying the Thames Path across the river. It is a Grade I listed building.

This point of the Thames has been used for crossing since ancient times. The current bridge replaced an earlier wooden structure, the foundations of which can be seen in the basement of the Henley Royal Regatta headquarters nearby on the Berkshire side. However, the remains of two stone arches on both sides of the river indicate the existence of an even more ancient stone bridge prior to the timber structure. This bridge has been identified by some authors as the bridge which the Romans crossed pursuing the Britons in 43AD, as described by Dion Cassius. This hypothesis is refuted by many other authors. The earliest recording of a bridge is in the Patent Rolls of 1232. In 1354, two granaries were leased on the bridge, which was timber on stone piers and several chapels are recorded. It was carried away in the great flood of 1774, but part of the eastern abutment is built on the intact easternmost span of the original 12th-century bridge.

It was originally designed in 1781 by William Hayward of Shrewsbury, who died in 1782 before the construction of the bridge had begun. The bridge was built by the Oxford mason John Townesend. Sculptures of Isis and Tamesis by Anne Seymour Damer are at the keystone of the central arch on each side of the bridge. Tamesis faces the north (downstream section of the bridge) and Isis the south (upstream section). The original models for these can be seen in the Henley Gallery at the nearby River and Rowing Museum.