1751 Sayer View of Westminster Bridge and Abbey, London, England

A hand-colored 1751 view of Westminster Bridge, Westminster Abbey, London. It was produced in the wake of the bridge's opening the previous year, which significantly alleviated traffic over existing bridges across the Thames River.

A Closer Look

Oriented towards the south, the view is dominated in its middle portion by the new bridge. In the foreground, ships of various sizes and types bustle about in the Thames. At right, the Palace of Westminster and Westminster Abbey stand out prominently, the latter's tall Western towers having also been recently completed after two centuries of planning and construction. Within the palace, St. Stephen's Chapel served as the meeting place of the House of Commons when this view was published. At left in the background is Lambeth Palace.

Westminster Bridge opened in 1750 and fulfilled a vital role supplementing London Bridge and Putney Bridge (also known as the Fulham Bridge) as the third centrally-located stone bridge across the Thames. Text below the view gives basic information on its length, width, number of piers, cost, and so on.

Publication History and Census

This view was engraved by 'Parr,' likely Richard Parr (c.1707 - 1754), also known as Remi or Remigius Parr, not to be confused with another engraver named Richard Parr active in the 19th century. Parr may also refer to Nathaniel Parr, a contemporary engraver. The view also credits Charles Paul Labelye (1705 - 1761) (here as Labelie), the Swiss-born engineer who designed the bridge. It was printed by Robert Sayer in 1751.

Several similar works were published around the time by various publishers, including Sayer, to celebrate the opening of the bridge by depicting it from different angles (and often printing both English and French text). This view should not be confused with an earlier (1746) work by the same title engraved by Thomas Jefferys for the Gentleman's Magazine. It is possible that the present work was influenced by Jefferys', but there are significant differences, most notably that Jefferys view is from the south, with Westminster Abbey at left, while the present work is oriented towards the south, with the abbey on the right. The present view is quite scarce, not appearing in the catalogs of any institution. The only other two known examples of this view employ the orientation of Jefferys with the title 'A North View of the Westminster Bridge,' making this a unique variation.