Cookham Bridge - Background

Background

Cookham, on the south bank of the River Thames has existed as a settlement for many thousands of years but the first recorded river crossing there was the Camlet Way, a Roman road. Camlet Way crossed the Thames at Hedsor Wharf and the remains of a Roman bridge were discovered there in the 19th century. The bridge fell in to disrepair after the departure of the Romans in the early 5th century. Several ferry sites were established and even formed part of the Great West Road until the construction of Maidenhead Bridge in 1280, but it was another 1,400 years before a bridged crossing at Cookham was seriously in prospect again.

In 1836 the newly formed Cookham Bridge Company (CBC) invited proposals for a fixed crossing at Cookham. Isambard Kingdom Brunel, who was engaged in the building of the Great Western Railway nearby, submitted designs for a cast iron suspension bridge with an estimated cost of £20,000 (equivalent to £1,562,000 today). The CBC balked at the price tag and Brunel subsequently redesigned the scheme but only to that "which I should not be ashamed to build" with a revised cost of £10,000 (£781,000). This was still too expensive for the CBC and they decided not to proceed with Brunel.

In 1837 the Cookham Bridge Company issued a prospectus expounding the "great inconvenience and risk" of the ferry crossings and promoting the advantages of a quick and safe route over the Thames to access the Great Western Railway which was shortly to come to Maidenhead. The CBC decided to proceed with a design from George Treacher for a wooden bridge 290 ft (88 m) long and 16 ft (4.9 m) wide at an estimated cost of £2000 (£145,000). Adding a further £3000 (£217,000) for contingency the CBC received approval from Parliament to charge tolls on the new bridge and to raise £5000 (£362,000) in £25 (£2,000) shares.

The owner of the ferry rights on the site of the new bridge, a Mr Poulton, was bought out by the CBC for £2,275 (£165,000) to include "one barge with chains and rollers for the carriage of cattle and one punt with poles for the conveyance of passengers". The ferry was then rented to John Beasley from 17 January 1839 for £2 4s 3d (£156) per month in order to provide a service whilst the new bridge was constructed.