Sonning Bridge

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Print of Sonning Bridge, 1799

Sonning Bridge is a bridge across the River Thames at Sonning, Berkshire. It is a beautiful historic brick arch bridge completed in 1775, to replace a wooden bridge built in 1604. It links Sonning (Berkshire) with Sonning Eye (Oxfordshire).

A stone marker at the centre of the bridge is marked "B | O" 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.

It is rumoured that Dick Turpin used the bridge as an escape route from Berkshire to Oxfordshire to evade the authorities.

The bridge is very picturesque and his been the subject of many paintings and prints by artists.

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.

A more modern 20th-century bridge provides the link over the second branch of the river, the quieter "backwater" (as it is known locally), downstream of the weir. This replaced another wooden and rather rickety structure. At the beginning of the 20th century, there were complaints about the traction engines causing structural problems with the old wooden bridge and disturbing the peace, much as there is with traffic today!

Sonning Bridge has traffic lights because it is too narrow for traffic in both directions simulateously. 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, but nothing has been done to alleviate the problem and there are no current plans in this direction.

[edit] See also

Crossings of the River Thames

[edit] External links

Next crossing upstream	River Thames	Next crossing downstream
Caversham Lock (pedestrian) Reading Bridge (vehicular)	Sonning Bridge Grid reference: SU755757	Shiplake Railway Bridge (rail) Henley Bridge (road)