Golden Jubilee Bridges

There has been a walkway crossing the river Thames at this point since 1845 when Isambard Kingdom Brunel opened his suspension footbridge.

Brunel's Hungerford footbridges connected the Southbank, now the Queen’s Walk, with the 180 year old Hungerford Market on the Northbank of the Thames. The market closed in 1860 to make way for the new Charing Cross Railway Station.

Golden Jubilee Bridges and Charing Cross station from the Queen's Walk.

Brunel's Footbridge

Using the original brick pile buttresses of Brunel's suspension footbridge, the South Eastern Railway Company replaced the footbridge with a wrought iron railway crossing to Charing Cross Station.

With walkways added on either side and opened in 1864 the Hungerford Railway Bridge, known today as Charing Cross Bridge, combined pedestrian and rail use.

Golden Jubilee Bridges either side of the Charing Cross Railway Bridge.

Elizebeth II Golden Jubilee

By the end of the 20th century the original narrow walkways had become so neglected and in a state of disrepair a competition was held to replace the pedestrian crossings with a more suitable structure, one which would be fit to mark Queen Elizabeth II’s Golden Jubilee Year.

Opened in 2002 the Golden Jubilee Bridges complex design, by architects Lifschutz Davidson, won the 2003 specialist category in the Royal Fine Art Commission 'Building of the Year Award'.

The 2002 cable deck-stays are anchored onto Brunel's 1845 buttresses.

New Bridges

The construction of the new footbridges, named in honour of the fiftieth anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's accession to the throne, provided many challenges including; unexploded World War II bombs, avoiding London Underground’s Tube tunnels which run just a few feet under the river bed and, a specific requirement not to disrupt the busy commuter trains running to and from Charing Cross station.

The walkways are suspended from steel deckstays and backstays.

Although not on our Queen’s Walk route, as short detour the footbridges provide some of the best views in London.

From the south bank, walk over the west footbridge to the north bank, down the steps at the end, past the shops under the railway bridge and back up onto the east footbridge. Walk back to the south bank and re-join the Queen's Walk.

Visitor Infomation

The Golden Jubilee Bridges are public highways and can be walked cross at anytime.

Further information: n/a