Whitchurch Bridge

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Whitchurch Bridge
Whitchurch Bridge as seen from Pangbourne Meadow
Carries	B471 road
Crosses	River Thames
Locale	Pangbourne
Opening date	1902
Toll	20p for cars £2 for vehicles of over 3.5 tonnes

Whitchurch Bridge is a toll road bridge over the River Thames in England. It carries the road between the villages of Pangbourne, Berkshire, and Whitchurch-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, and crosses the river on the reach above Mapledurham Lock, just before Whitchurch Lock. The bridge has a weight limit of 7.5 tonnes.

Whitchurch Bridge is one of the few remaining private toll bridges across the River Thames, being owned and maintained by The Company of Proprietors of Whitchurch Bridge entirely from toll receipts. The Company is empowered to collect tolls at any time of the day or night to finance its operations. However, tolls are normally collected only from 7am until 9pm on weekdays, 8am to 8pm on Saturdays, and 9am to 8pm on Sundays. At the time of writing (January 2006) tolls range from 20p for cars to £2 for vehicles of over 3.5 tonnes. The Thames Path crosses the river on this bridge, but there is no charge for pedestrians.

There has been a bridge on the site since 1792, but the current bridge is the third on the site and dates from 1902. When it was opened, the charges were a halfpenny each for pedestrians, sheep, boars and pigs, and two pence for each and every wheel of a carriage.

The company states that it plans to rebuild the bridge in 2013.

[edit] See also

Crossings of the River Thames

[edit] External links

Next crossing upstream	River Thames	Next crossing downstream
Gatehampton Railway Bridge (railway)	Whitchurch Bridge Grid reference: SU636768	Caversham Bridge (road)
Next crossing upstream	Thames Path	Next crossing downstream
northern bank Goring and Streatley Bridge	Whitchurch Bridge	southern bank Sonning Bridge