Shillingford Bridge - 1767 Bridge

1767 Bridge

In 1749 William Blackstone became Recorder of Wallingford. He was a lawyer and frequently used the ferry to travel between Wallingford and Oxford but in times of flood and strong stream he was forced to take a longer route via Wallingford Bridge. Blackstone decided that a bridge was necessary and in November 1763 under his leadership the local gentry petitioned parliament which led to an Act of Parliament in December 1763 "for repairing and widening the Road from Shillingford in the County of Oxford, through Wallingford and Pangbourne to Reading in the County of Berks and for building of a Bridge over the River Thames at or near Shillingford Ferry". The Act described the ferry as "dangerous for persons to pass in times of flood". The Shillingford to Reading Turnpike Trust was created in 1764 with powers to improve and maintain the existing road and to take responsibility for building the new bridge. Over 100 Berkshire and Oxfordshire landowners were trustees including Viscount Fane, Lord Charles Spence and the Honourable Peregrine Berie who were all named in the Act of Parliament.

Work on the bridge did not begin until 1766 when stone foundations, piers and abutments were built supporting a wooden trestle road bed. Completion of the bridge was announced in the Reading Mercury in April 1767. Jackson's Oxford Journal gives the precise opening date as 25 April 1767 and records that the bridge was "fenced with a neat Chinese Railing". The Turnpike Trust took a loan of £7,700 (equivalent to £784,030 today) which covered both the cost of purchasing the ferry rights and the construction of the bridge. As well as a toll-gate on the bridge, the Trust also collected tolls at gates situated at Winterbrook and Pangbourne Lane; however, the bridge yielded the highest income of all even though the bridge tolls were lower.