Hungerford Pier and Footbridge

This atmospheric and attractive London subject shows the Hungerford Suspension Bridge, designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel and opened in 1845. Less than 20 years later Brunel's footbridge was removed to make way for the present railway bridge. Brunel's footbridge was the first new bridge of the Victorian era across the tidal Thames. As a toll bridge connecting Hungerford Market on the north bank with Lambeth on the south, it saw an increasing use especially after Waterloo Station opened in 1848. The picture shows passengers disembarking from steam boats tied up in mid - stream at Hungerford Pier and ascending by stairs to footbridge level. This area is now the South Bank site of the Royal Festival Hall, so this painting is a record, not only of a short-lived and long-gone bridge, but of a view of the South Bank that has not existed for many years.