Marlow Bridge
title: "Marlow Bridge" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["bridges-in-berkshire", "bridges-in-buckinghamshire", "bridges-completed-in-1832", "bridges-across-the-river-thames", "grade-i-listed-bridges-in-england", "grade-i-listed-buildings-in-berkshire", "road-bridges-in-england", "suspension-bridges-in-england", "grade-i-listed-buildings-in-buckinghamshire", "marlow,-buckinghamshire", "bisham"] topic_path: "geography/united-kingdom" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marlow_Bridge" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::data[format=table title="Infobox Bridge"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| bridge_name | Marlow Bridge |
| image | Uk-marlow-bridge.jpg |
| image_size | 280px |
| caption | Marlow Bridge, from All Saints' parish churchyard |
| crosses | River Thames |
| locale | Marlow |
| maint | Buckinghamshire County Council |
| designer | William Tierney Clark |
| design | Suspension |
| mainspan | 235 ft |
| height | 12 ft |
| open | 1832 |
| coordinates | |
| heritage | Grade I listed structure |
| :: |
|bridge_name= Marlow Bridge |image= Uk-marlow-bridge.jpg |image_size=280px |caption= Marlow Bridge, from All Saints' parish churchyard |official_name= |carries= |crosses=River Thames |locale= Marlow |maint=Buckinghamshire County Council |id= |designer= William Tierney Clark |design= Suspension |material= |spans= |pierswater= |mainspan= 235 ft |length= |width= |height= 12 ft |clearance= |below= |traffic= |open= 1832 |toll= |map_cue= |map_image= |map_text= |map_width= |coordinates= |heritage= Grade I listed structure ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/67/William_Tierney_Clark_wall_plaque.jpg" caption="Wall monument to William Tierney Clark in St Paul's Church, Hammersmith, London UK" alt="Wall monument to William Tierney Clark in St Paul's Church, Hammersmith, London UK"] ::
Marlow Bridge is a road traffic and foot bridge over the River Thames in England between the town of Marlow, Buckinghamshire and the village of Bisham in Berkshire. It crosses the Thames just upstream of Marlow Lock, on the reach to Temple Lock. The bridge is a Grade I listed building.
History
There has been a bridge on the site since the reign of King Edward III which was stated in around 1530 to have been of timber, though an original crossing to the Knights Templar of Bisham may date from 1309. In 1642 this bridge was partly destroyed by a Parliamentarian army. In 1789 a new timber bridge was built by public subscription with a contribution from the Thames Navigation Commission to increase the headroom underneath. The Széchenyi Chain Bridge, spanning the River Danube in Budapest, was also designed by William Tierney Clark and it is a larger scale version of Marlow bridge.
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/38/Marlow_Bridge_plaque.JPG" caption="Commemorative plaque on the Marlow Bridge"] ::
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a3/John_Griffith_plaque.jpg" caption="Plaque on the bridge in memory of John Griffith who campaigned to save it in the mid-twentieth century"] ::
In 1965, the bridge was restored. It has a 3 tonne weight restriction and is used only by foot and local road traffic. Other traffic is carried by the Marlow By-pass Bridge. On 24 September 2016, a 37-tonne Lithuanian haulage lorry attempted to pass over the bridge, requiring it to be closed for two months to allow Buckinghamshire County Council to undertake a series of stress tests on the suspension bridge hangers and pins, together with ultrasound and magnetic particle tests. No significant damage to the bridge was found, and it was reopened on Friday 25 November following restoration of sections exposed for weld testing with three coats of paint, removal of scaffolding surrounding the bridge's two towers, and reinstatement of timber work removed for inspection.
References
References
- "Marlow Suspension Bridge".
- River Thames Alliance. [https://web.archive.org/web/20080124114502/http://www.visitthames.co.uk/text.asp?PageId=320 Bridge heights on the River Thames.]
- Thacker, Fred S.. (1968). "The Thames Highway". [[David & Charles]].
- Cove-Smith, Chris. (July 2013). "The River Thames Book". Imray Laurie Norie and Wilson.
- {{National Heritage List for England
- (25 September 2016). "Marlow Bridge forced to close for 'foreseeable future'".
- "Marlow Bridge to reopen - Buckinghamshire County Council".
- (25 November 2016). "Marlow Bridge reopens to cars after three month closure".
- "Marlow Bridge reopens with a civic drive - Buckinghamshire County Council".
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::