Datchet Bridge

Datchet Bridge, also known as The Divided Bridge, was a road bridge which crossed the River Thames at Datchet from 1706 until it was demolished in 1848. It was situated on the reach between Old Windsor Lock and Romney Lock and linked Windsor on the Berkshire bank to Datchet on the Buckinghamshire side. The bridge replaced a ferry service which had operated at the site since at least the middle of the 13th century.

The first Datchet Bridge was a wooden bridge commissioned by Queen Anne as the crossing was a convenient back-way to Windsor Castle. Responsibility for the upkeep and maintenance of the crossing later passed to the counties of Berkshire and Buckinghamshire over whose boundary the bridge spanned. There followed many decades of dispute between the counties over who should pay for what. This culminated in 1836 with each county deciding to build their own half, in different materials and not touching in the middle. The resulting "crazy erection", Buckinghamshire's side in wood and Berkshire's in iron, known as The Divided Bridge, was demolished in 1848 and is the only case on the Thames where an established bridge crossing site has completely disappeared.

Datchet on the north bank of the River Thames has existed as a settlement since before 990 but the first recorded mention of a river crossing is in 1224 when Henry III gave John le Passir a "great oak" with which to make a boat for "passage of Datchet". In 1278 Edward I paid for William of Eton to a build a "great barge" for Datchet Ferry. Although the Crown had provided for the vessels, the right to operate the ferry and collect tolls sat with the Lord of the Manor of Datchet. This continued until 1680 when the then Lord of the Manor, Colonel Andrew Pitcairn Wheeler, sold the Manor of Datchet to Budd Wase but kept back the ferry rights which he subsequently mortgaged for £1000 (equivalent to £146,000 today). In 1699 Wheeler wrote to William III complaining that a wall built by the King along the Windsor bank was adversely affecting the ferry trade. To settle the complaint the Crown purchased the ferry rights from Colonel Wheeler for £7000 (equivalent to £883,000 today).

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