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Hampton Court Bridge crosses the River Thames in England approximately north–south between Hampton, London and East Molesey, Surrey. It is the upper of two road bridges on the reach above Teddington Lock and downstream of Molesey Lock. The bridge is the most upstream crossing of all of the Thames bridges of Greater London; uniquely one bank is within the county. ==Historic crossings== ;Ferry The location of the bridge had been a ferry crossing point since at least the Tudor period. ;First bridge The first bridge was built from 1752 until 1753 and opened in December that year, after a 1750 parliamentary bill agreed on the construction of a privately owned bridge by James Clarke. It had seven wooden arches and was built in the Chinoiserie design of the Willow pattern that was popular at the time, attested by two prints made in the year of its opening and the year after.〔 〕 ;Second bridge This bridge was replaced by a more sturdy eleven-arch wooden bridge in 1778.〔 By 1840 this bridge had become dilapidated and the owner appealed to the Corporation of London to support reconstruction. Among their arguments were that since the bridge was built, the City had created Molesey Lock and Weir and as a consequence navigation through the bridge was dangerous. The bridge was described at about this time as "crazy, hog-backed, inconvenient and obstructive of the navigation".〔Fred. S. Thacker ''The Thames Highway: Volume II Locks and Weirs'' 1920 – republished 1968 David & Charles〕 ;Third bridge From 1864 to 1865 construction took place of the third bridge on the site. It was built to a design by E. T. Murray and commissioned by the bridge's owner Thomas Allan. The new bridge consisted of wrought iron lattice girders resting on four cast iron columns. The road approach was between battlemented brick walls. An illustrative fragment of these approach walls remains on the south bank immediately west of the bridge. The design was heavily criticised; it was described simply in 1911 by one Historic Gazetteer, the Victoria County Histories as "inartistic".〔 A less diplomatic contemporary commentator called it "one of the ugliest bridges in England, and a flagrant eyesore and disfigurement both to the river and to Hampton Court." Despite the criticism, it proved extremely lucrative for Allen, earning him over £3,000 annually in tolls until he was bought out in 1876 for £48,048 by a joint committee of the Hampton and Molesey Local Boards and the Corporation of London.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Hampton Court Bridge」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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