KINGSTON HUNDRED 



t local merchant, with seisin of the bridge, its charters, 

 and the house pertaining to it." This house was, it 

 has been suggested, on a site in the horse market, 

 where a curious crypt of shaped chalk stones was 

 recently discovered." The bridge probably under- 

 went little modification from an early period until 

 the igth century. Sketches made in about 1800 

 show a long and flimsy wooden structure consisting 

 of a narrow causeway railed on either side and rest- 

 ing on rows of piles disposed in groups of four or five 

 banded together by wooden beams. At this time the 

 ducking stool stood prominently at the east end of the 

 bridge." This lightness of build necessitated constant 

 repairs ; the bridge was in a dangerous condition in 

 1318, when pontage was granted to the bailiffs and 

 good men for six years upon all wares for sale 

 crossing and from each ship laden with wares for 

 sale exceeding the value of loos, passing beneath it." 

 The grant was renewed for five years in 1383," 

 and again in 1400 for three years, when the king' 

 esquire, William Loveney, and two others were ap- 

 pointed surveyors. 5 * A flood did much damage in 

 1435, and pontage was obtained for five years" ; this 

 developed into a regular system of toll, 58 which was 

 so burdensome that Robert Hammond settled land 

 valued at 40 for the support and redemption of 

 the bridge, the gift being commemorated by the 

 following inscription on a rail at about the middle of 

 the bridge : 



' 1565 Robert Hamon gentleman, BaylifF of Kingston 



heretofore, 

 He then made this bridge toll-free for evermore ' 



When these rails were replaced, a stone similarly 

 inscribed was set in the brickwork of the north side 

 of the western abutment.* 9 The tolls had formed a 

 considerable part of the revenue which the borough 

 administered in support of the bridge through the 

 bridge wardens, though there was also an estate 

 appropriated to the purpose, and some benefit was 

 derived from the lands of Clement Milan. 40 



In 1556 the decay of the bridge and the burdens 

 sustained about its repair were the pretexts for the 

 grant of the fair of St. Mary Magdalene's Day, and 

 also of a fish weir " The bridgewardens' accounts 

 begin at the close of the I4th century, but are not 

 detailed until 1568 ; later they were rendered annu- 

 ally to the Court of Assembly and signed by the 

 bailiffs." The wardens kept a storehouse for neces- 

 sary materials, their usual method being to buy 

 timber and make the repairs by their own workmen ; 

 so in 1572 I2</. was paid ' for making of the Plankes,' 

 5/. ' for two legges for the brydges," and 2S. for ' sloping 

 of holes ' ; gravel for the causeway was always a 

 serious item. 4 * In the same year 1 3*. was given to 

 the poor on Easter Day, and probably the 1 8</. paid 

 to the churchwardens in 1569 was also for alms. 44 

 The Court of Assembly made such by-laws as were 



KINGSTON- 

 UPON-THAMES 



needful;so in 1680 and 1685 it was 'ordered that if 

 upon any Saturday or other market or Faire day of 

 the saide Towne two carts meete upon the Great 

 Bridge of Kingston that then each carte shall forfeit 

 the sume of 6J. which said Forfeiture shalbe paid by 

 the owner of the said carte or partie driving the same 

 to Thomas Styles keeper of the said Bridge to give an 

 acct thereof to the Bayliffs and Freemen, and that 

 everie emptie carte alwaies give way to the loaded.' 4 * 

 This order points to the narrowness of the bridge, 

 which was only partly remedied when its Middlesex 

 side was considerably widened in about lygi. 46 

 In 1812 the bridge was in such a state of decay 

 as to be beyond repair, and the bridge estate was 

 wholly inadequate to meet the cost of rebuilding. 

 The corporation tried to shift the responsiblity on 

 to the counties of Middlesex and Surrey, with the 

 result that cross indictments were filed. 4 ' Judgement 

 was finally given against the borough, and money 

 was raised by the sale of lands. An Act of Par- 

 liament for rebuilding the bridge was obtained in 

 1 825," and the work was begun in that year, 

 Lord Liverpool, the High Steward, laying the first 

 stone. 49 The bridge, which rests on five arches of 

 stone, was the design of Edward Lapidge, the archi- 

 tect of the Fitzwilliam Museum at Cambridge, 

 and himself a local man. 40 It was built about 

 loo yards south of the old one and brought about a 

 considerable change in the topography of this part of 

 the town. Hitherto the way from London Street 

 had been down Wood Street into the Horse Fair and 

 then west from this down Old Bridge Street, at the 

 corner of which probably stood the Bridge House. 

 To approach the new bridge London Street was con- 

 tinued westward from the point at which Church 

 Row touches it, sweeping away the row of houses 

 abutting on the churchyard which now lay open to 

 the view. The new street was called Clarence Street 

 in honour of the Duchess of Clarence, wife of the 

 prince afterwards William IV, who opened the bridge 

 in grand procession in July 1828. The skeleton of the 

 old bridge still stood, though with several bays broken 

 to prevent its use. For some years tolls were charged 

 and were let for 2,000 a year." There was much 

 rejoicing when the toll was abolished in 1870, and 

 from this time the volume of traffic has continuously 

 increased. 



From the great bridge the way south into the 

 town lay down Thames Street. The north end of 

 this, the open Horse Fair, and the surrounding 

 ' Back Laines,' as they were called in the 1 6th 

 century," were cleared of their ancient buildings and 

 undesirable inhabitants in 1905, when the present 

 houses were built. Farther south the 1 7th and 1 8th- 

 century houses still remain : the street is divided from 

 the river by shops with gardens behind ; passages lead 

 through darkness into alleys such as Fountain Court, 

 where the houses stand round an enormous leaden 



11 Rat. Lie. Claut. (R*c. Com.), i, 558. 



** Informal!?!? kindly given by Mr. 

 Benjamin Carter. 



88 Some interesting sketches of the 

 bridge c. 1800, by Thomas Rowlandson, 

 are exhibited in the Municipal Art Gal- 

 lery and Museum. 



84 Cal. Pat. 1317-21, p. 113. 



" Ibid. 1381-5, p. 219. 



** Ibid. 1399-1401, pp. 389, 413. 



*> Ibid. 1429-36, p. 462. 



88 Manning and Bray, Surr, i, 346, 

 where the tariff ii given. 

 Ibid. 347. 



40 Doc. of Corp. Accts. of the bridge- 

 wardens, churchwarden*, &c. 



41 Roots, Ckartert, 78. 



41 Doc. of Corp Ct. of Assembly 

 Bks. passim. 



48 Doc. of Corp. Bridgewardens' Accts. 

 1572. 



"Ibid. 1569. 



489 



46 Doc. of Corp. Ct. of Assembly Bk. 

 2 Dec. 1680 : 3 Apr 1684. 



45 Manning and Bray, Sarr. i, 347. 



*' Manning and Bray, Surr. iii, App. 

 p. xxxvi. 



48 Local Act, 6 Ceo. IV, cap. 125 ; 1 1 

 Geo. IV.-i Will. IV, cap. 65. 



49 Brayley, Hitt. of Surr. iii, 48. 

 u Diet. Nat. Biog. xxxii, 141. 



11 Brayley, Hiit. of Surr. iii, 48. 

 w Roots, Charters, 105. 



62 



