Metropolitan Free Bridges Association

When the London Coal and Wine Duties Continuance Bill was before the House of Commons in 1868, it met strong opposition. The suggestion was made that some compensation should be given by setting free the bridges across the Thames and Lea. This suggestion was embodied in the Act of 1868 by which the duties for the year 1888-9 were to be applied in the first instance to freeing from toll the following bridges: Kew, Kingston, Hampton Court, Walton and Staines on the Thames, and then Chingford and Tottenham Mills Bridges (including Hellyer's Ferry Bridge) upon the River Lea. These objects were provided for by the Kew and other Bridges Act of 1869 and an amendment Act of 1874 by which a Joint Committee of the Corporation of London and the Metropolitan Board of Works was appointed. The Coal and Wine Duties of 1888-9 were allocated as security for raising the necessary funds. The total cost of the purchase of the bridges was £155,485.2.0.