Battersea Bridge - Background

Background

Chelsea (Old English Cealchyð, chalk wharf), about 3 miles (4.8 km) west of Westminster on the north bank of the River Thames, has existed as a settlement since at least Anglo-Saxon times. The Thames at this point bends through a sharp angle from a south-north to an east-west flow, and the slow-moving and relatively easily fordable river here is popularly believed to be the site of Julius Caesar's crossing of the Thames during the 54 BC invasion of Britain. Chelsea enjoyed good road and river connections to the seat of government at Westminster and the commercial centre of the City of London since at least the 14th century. It was a centre of the British porcelain industry, and a major producer of baked goods – at peak periods almost 250,000 chelsea buns per day were sold. By the 18th century it had large numbers of very prosperous residents.

Battersea, listed as Patricesy (St Peter's Water) in the Domesday Book and first mentioned in records of 693 AD, on the south bank of the river opposite Chelsea, was by contrast low and marshy land, prone to flooding. Conditions were ideal for farming asparagus and lavender, and a small market town grew in the area based on the asparagus and lavender industries.

Although Chelsea and Battersea had been linked by ferry since at least 1550, the nearest fixed links between the two were Putney Bridge, 2+1⁄₂ miles (4.0 km) upstream and opened in 1729, and Westminster Bridge, 3 miles (4.8 km) downstream, opened in 1746. In 1763 John, Earl Spencer, purchased the manor of Battersea, and consequently acquired ownership of the ferry service between Chelsea and Battersea.

The ferry was old and somewhat dangerous, and in 1766 Spencer formed the Battersea Bridge Company and sought and obtained Parliamentary consent to build "a fine stone bridge" across the Thames. The bridge was to be built between Cheyne Walk and Battersea, at the point where the river's course turns sharply east towards Westminster, at a projected cost of £83,000 (about £10,609,000 as of 2012). The Earl had anticipated that many local residents would invest in the project, but soon found that there was widespread scepticism about the scheme. Only 15 investors, including the Earl himself, were willing to invest, and a total of only £17,662 (about £1,798,000 as of 2012) was raised, far less than was needed to finance the ambitious project.