Editing Chelsea Bridge (section)

== Background ==

[[File:Stanford 1891 Chelsea bridges.png|left|thumb|280px|alt=Map of a wide river running east and west through a city. The center is dominated by a green park, mostly south of the river. Four bridges cross the river: two at the park's boundaries, one west of the park, and the other (a railway bridge) east of the park.|Chelsea and Battersea in 1891, showing (left to right) Old Battersea Bridge, Albert Bridge, Victoria (now Chelsea) Bridge and Grosvenor Railway Bridge.]]

The Red House Inn was an isolated [[Public house#Inns|inn]] on the south bank of the [[River Thames]] in the marshlands by Battersea fields, about {{convert|1|mi|km|spell=in}} east of the developed street of the prosperous farming village of [[Battersea]].{{sfn|Cookson|2006|p=130}} Not on any major road, its isolation and lack of any police presence made it a popular destination for visitors from [[London]] and [[Westminster]] since the 16th century, who would travel to the Red House by [[wherry]], attracted by Sunday [[dog fighting]], [[bare-knuckle boxing]] bouts and illegal [[horse racing]].{{sfn|Cookson|2006|p=130}}{{sfn|Roberts|2005|p=112}} Because of its lawless nature, Battersea Fields was also a popular area for [[duel]]ling, and was the venue for the [[Wellington–Winchilsea duel|1829 duel]] between the then [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Prime Minister]] the [[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington|Duke of Wellington]] and the [[George Finch-Hatton, 10th Earl of Winchilsea|Earl of Winchilsea]].{{sfn|Cookson|2006|p=130}}

The town of [[Chelsea, London|Chelsea]], on the north bank of the Thames about {{convert|3|mi|km|spell=in}} west of Westminster, was an important industrial centre. Although by the 19th century its role as the centre of the British [[Chelsea porcelain factory|porcelain industry]] had been overtaken by the [[West Midlands (region)|West Midlands]],{{sfn|Cookson|2006|p=118}} its riverside location and good roads made it an important centre for the manufacture of goods to serve the nearby and rapidly growing London.{{sfn|Roberts|2005|p=111}}

The [[Chelsea Waterworks Company]] occupied a site on the north bank of the Thames opposite the Red House Inn. Founded in 1723, the company pumped water from the Thames to [[reservoir]]s around Westminster through a network of hollow [[elm]] trunks.{{sfn|Cookson|2006|p=131}} As London spread westwards, the former farmland to the west became increasingly populated,{{refn|group=n|Between the 1801 and 1881 censuses, the population of Battersea rose from 3,000 to 107,000.}} and the Thames became seriously polluted with [[sewage]] and animal carcasses.{{sfn|Cookson|2006|p=131}} In 1852 Parliament banned water from being taken from the Thames downstream of [[Teddington]], forcing the Chelsea Waterworks Company to move upstream to [[Seething Wells]].{{sfn|Cookson|2006|p=131}}

Since 1771, Battersea and Chelsea had been linked by the modest wooden [[Battersea Bridge]].{{sfn|Matthews|2008|p=65}} As London grew following the advent of the railways, Chelsea began to become congested, and in 1842 the [[Commissioners of Woods and Forests|Commission of Woods, Forests, and Land Revenues]] recommended the building of an [[Thames Embankment|embankment]] at Chelsea to free new land for development, and proposed the building of a new bridge downstream of Battersea Bridge and the replacement of Battersea Bridge with a more modern structure.{{sfn|Roberts|2005|p=130}}

=== Battersea Park ===

In the early 1840s [[Thomas Cubitt]] and [[James Pennethorne]] had proposed a plan to use 150,000 [[long ton|tons]] of rocks and earth from the excavation of the [[Royal Victoria Dock]] to infill the marshy Battersea Fields and create a large public park to serve the growing population of Chelsea.{{sfn|Cookson|2006|p=130}}{{sfn|Cookson|2006|p=134}}{{sfn|Roberts|2005|p=114}} In 1846 the Commissioners of Woods and Forests purchased the Red House Inn and {{convert|200|acre|km2}} of surrounding land, and work began on the development that would become [[Battersea Park]].{{sfn|Cookson|2006|p=130}} It was expected that with the opening of the park the volume of cross river traffic would increase significantly, putting further strain on the dilapidated Battersea Bridge.{{sfn|Matthews|2008|p=76}}

Consequently, the [[Battersea Bridge and Embankment, etc. Act 1846]] ([[9 & 10 Vict.]] c. 39) authorised the building of a new [[toll bridge]] on the site of an ancient [[Ford (crossing)|ford]] exactly {{convert|1|mi|km|spell=in}} downstream of Battersea Bridge.{{sfn|Matthews|2008|p=75}}{{refn|group=n|Although embankments have raised the water level and a channel in the centre of the river is now [[dredging|dredged]], the river is very shallow at this point. In 1948, after dredging had been suspended owing to the [[Second World War]], it was possible to walk across the river at low tide.}} The approach road on the southern side was to run along the side of the new park, while that on the northern side was to run from [[Sloane Square]], through the former Chelsea Waterworks site, to the new bridge.{{sfn|Cookson|2006|p=131}} Although previous toll bridges in the area had been built and operated by private companies, the new bridge was to be built and operated by the government, under the control of the [[Metropolitan Improvement Commission]], despite protests in Parliament from [[Radicals (UK)|Radicals]] objecting to the government profiting from a toll-paying bridge.{{sfn|Matthews|2008|p=75}} It was intended that the bridge would be made toll-free once the costs of building it had been recouped.{{sfn|Davenport|2006|p=69}}