Waterloo Bridge and London River: Investigations and Reflections

As a subject, Waterloo Bridge fascinated writers and artists such as Dickens, Constable, Monet and Derain. This book tells the story of a bridge’s place in the city - its history in use, its inextricable connection with the great river which it crosses, and the character and activities of the two shores which it joins together. While focusing on Waterloo Bridge, the book also explores the evolution of the surrounding districts and the character of the Thames as it flows through Central London: tidal, wide, difficult to navigate and bridge, and intensely busy during its heyday. It sets Waterloo Bridge alongside the other London river bridges, revealing the complex politics and economics of bridge building.

Full of fabulous characters and stories, the book takes us from the geology and ancient history to the history of the docks and on to the great bridge built in the 18th and 19th centuries. It reveals the complex politics and economics behind these bridges, who designed them and how they were constructed. The book explores how the surrounding districts evolved, the creation of the Thames embankments, and Waterloo bridge’s notoriety as a site for suicides - a subject that fascinated Dickens, Watts and Millais. It also reveals why it became a focus for artists such as Constable, Monet and Derain. It concludes with a poetic and honest description of the contemporary city.

Andrew Saint was the General Editor of the Survey of London between 2006 and 2015, after a period as Professor of Architecture at Cambridge. His books include London 1870-1914: A City at its Zenith (Lund Humphries, 2021); Richard Norman Shaw; and Architect and Engineer.