Old Battersea Bridge
- Artist: Walter Greaves
- Date: 1874
- Medium: Oil paint on canvas
- Dimensions: support: 584 x 762 mm
- Museum: Tate Britain
- Collection record: Tate Britain website
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About this artwork
This is the “Old Battersea Bridge” by Walter Greaves, painted in 1874 with oil on canvas. The view is taken from upstream, at Lindsey Row (now Cheyne Walk). You see the bridge itself winding over the Thames, but it’s not the only thing catching your eye. In the foreground the boatyard that belonged to Greaves’ own family fills the lower right corner; you can almost feel the smell of timber and tar. On the extreme left a wall frames the garden of artist William Bell Scott – a subtle nod to his contemporaries. Far in the distance, just beyond the arches, the Crystal Palace looms, hinting at the era’s grand expositions.
Greaves chose this angle so we can see both the everyday bustle and the looming structure of the bridge. The painting captures the difficulty of steering boats through its arches – a problem he recalled vividly, saying “unless the set of the tide was known.” In 1881 the bridge would be demolished and replaced by the current span, but in this canvas it remains whole, a snapshot of a London that no longer exists.
See it in person
Old Battersea Bridge is in the collection of Tate Britain on Millbank, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
