The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and
Instruction, by Various

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Title: The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction
Volume 19. Issue 548 - 26 May 1832

Author: Various

Release Date: March 28, 2004 [EBook #11743]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION.

Vol. 19, No. 548.] SATURDAY, MAY 26, 1832. [PRICE 2d.

* * * * *

[Illustration: STAINES NEW BRIDGE.]

This handsome structure has lately been completed, and was opened on
Easter Monday last, April 24, by their Majesties and the Court passing
over with suitable ceremony. This was a gala day for Staines and its
vicinity; for, independently of the enthusiasm awakened by the visit
of the popular Sovereign, the completion of so useful and ornamental
a fabric must have been an occasion of no ordinary interest to every
inhabitant of the district.

The _programme_, as the French would say, of the day's _fete_ has been
so recently given in the "chronicles of the times," that we need not
repeat it. A few descriptive particulars of the Bridge, from _The
Times_ Journal, may be found to possess a more permanent value:--

"It consists of three very flat segmental arches of granite. The
middle arch of 74 feet span, and the two side arches of 66 feet
each; besides two side arches of 10 feet each for the
towing-paths, and six brick arches of 20 feet span each, two on
the Surrey side, and four on the Middlesex side, to allow the
floods to pass off. The whole is surmounted by a plain, bold
cornice, and block parapet of granite, with pedestal for the
lamps, and a neat toll-house. The approaches to the Bridge on
either side form gentle curves of easy ascent. The cost of the
Bridge and approaches has been about 41,000l. The appearance of
the whole is very light and elegant. This is owing chiefly to
the slight dimensions of the piers, which are smaller in
proportion to the