Whitchurch Bridge

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 two remaining private toll bridges across the River Thames (the other being Swinford Toll Bridge), 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 7 am until 9 pm on weekdays, 8 am to 8 pm on Saturdays, and 9 am to 8 pm on Sundays. Tolls currently range from 40p for cars to £2 for vehicles of over 3.5 tonnes.

In November 2008 the bridge company announced an application to the Department for Transport to double the toll for cars to 40p which met with local opposition.^[2][3] A public inquiry was held in June 2009 and the toll increase was approved in October 2009; the new toll came into force on 26 October 2009^[4].

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. On 19 July 2010 the company announced that it has brought forward the date for commencing reconstruction of the bridge to October 2011.

See also

• Crossings of the River Thames

References

External links

• Whitchurch Bridge web page from Whitchurch-on-Thames village web site
• The Company of Proprietors of Whitchurch Bridge website
• Independent Archive of Official Whitchurch Bridge Documents and Accounts