List of crossings of the River Thames
This is a list of crossings of the River Thames comprising over 200 bridges, 27 tunnels, six public ferries, one cable car link, and one ford. Historic achievements, explanatory notes and proposed crossings are also included.
Until sufficient crossings were established, the river provided a formidable barrier for most of its course – in post-Roman Britain during the Dark Ages Belgic-Celtic tribal lands and Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and subdivisions were defined by which side of the river they were on. When English counties were established, it formed a boundary between the counties on either side. After rising in Gloucestershire, the river flowed between, on the north bank, the historic counties of Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Middlesex and Essex; and on the south bank, the counties of Wiltshire, Berkshire, Surrey, and Kent. However the many permanent crossings that have been built over the centuries have changed the dynamics and made cross-river development and shared responsibilities more practicable. In 1911 Caversham was transferred into Berkshire. In 1965, on creating a new county of Greater London, the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames united areas formerly in Middlesex and in Surrey and at the same time two urban districts in Middlesex (united in 1974) became part of Surrey. Further changes in 1974 moved some of the boundaries away from the river. For example, much of the north west of Berkshire including Abingdon and Wantage became part of Oxfordshire and some southern parts of Buckinghamshire became Berkshire, including Slough, Eton and Wraysbury. The number of county councils has dwindled (as well as their area) in the south-east and south-centre of England in favour of increased localisation. Despite these changes, in the sports of rowing and skiffing the banks are still referred to by their traditional county names and in sports such as football and cricket historic county areas are sometimes used.
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