Two hundred years ago, in September 1824, the first bridge from the mainland to Hayling Island was opened by the Duke of Norfolk.
Before construction of the wooden Langstone toll bridge, access to Hayling Island was only possible by boat or by use of the Langstone wadeway.
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The Wadeway causeway was cut in two by the excavation of a deep channel, when the short-lived Portsmouth and Chichester Canal was built in the 1820s.
The canal company funded construction of the 960 ft long timber road bridge, built on piles of African oak and with a 40 ft long swinging bridge section in the centre to allow vessels to pass through.
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The first wooden road bridge was described in its heyday as ‘one of the finest structures of the kind in the Kingdom’.
Tolls to pay for its construction were collected at a toll house at the northern end of the bridge and tolls continued to be charged until 1960.
The timber road bridge gradually deteriorated over time. It remained in service until a replacement concrete bridge opened in 1956.
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Sir Dymoke White’s coach and four horses with Hugh Molson and his party. This was one of the first vehicles across the new Langstone bridge when it opened in 1956
Pedestrians, horses, carriages and carts were allowed over the bridge. However, when heavier lorries, buses and cars came along a bridge weight limit had to be fixed.
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After WW2 only single-decker buses were allowed across. If they were carrying too many passengers, to reduce axle weight some people had to get out and walk regardless of the weather!
In 1865, an additional route between Hayling and the mainland was created in the form of a railway bridge. Built as an essential part of the Hayling to Langstone branch line, this bridge was a 1,000 ft long triumph of Victorian engineering.
The rail bridge also opened in the centre to create a 30 ft (10 m) gap to allow for the movement of shipping between Chichester and Langstone harbours.
The remains of the timber legs of the railway bridge, later encased in concrete for reinforcement, can still be seen, serving as a reminder of the old railway.
Below is how t he Langstone bridge looks today.
Both the road bridge and the Hayling Billy railway line bridge transformed life on Hayling Island. In 1811, just 778 inhabitants were living on the island but, today, Hayling is home to more than 17,000 people.
- Read about the Langstone bridges – click here
- Wikipedia entry on Langstone Bridge – click here