Tower Bridge London, England, UK

Listed Building Description

Text courtesy of Historic England. © Crown Copyright, reprinted under the Open Government License.

SOUTHWARK

TQ3380 TOWER BRIDGE ROAD 636-1/2/793 Tower Bridge (that part that lies 06/12/49 within the Borough of Southwark)

I

Bridge. 1886-94. By Sir John Wolfe Barry, engineer and Sir Horace Jones, architect. For the City Corporation. Low level bascule bridge with wider side spans hung from curved lattice girders; central narrower opening section. Steel structure with twin Gothic towers rising from 21.3m (70ft) broad piers which support the bascules and house their counter balances. Towers clad in rock-faced stone with ashlar dressings; high pitched slate roofs behind stone battlemented parapet. High level footbridges between the towers, incorporating ties between the 2 suspended spans and linking whole bridge together as continuous structure. Tower of 4 stages with corner turrets surmounted by pinnacles. Some architectural detailing added after Jones's death. Above archway, elaborate Gothic-style windows on each level surmounted by dormer feature in roof; moulded string courses between floors. Lower approach tower (with twin on north side), in similar Gothic style and with a large elliptical archway spanning the road. Although the bascules were electrified in 1976, some of the hydraulic machinery by Armstrong Mitchell & Co., and the steam pumping engines, are preserved under the south approach viaduct. Built onto east side of southern approach are accumulator tower and chimney stack (qv). See also London Borough of Tower Hamlets.

Listing NGR: TQ3364580196