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100-636: Tower Bridge is a Grade I listed combined bascule , suspension , and, until 1960, cantilever bridge in London , built between 1886 and 1894, designed by Horace Jones and engineered by John Wolfe Barry with the help of Henry Marc Brunel . It crosses the River Thames close to the Tower of London and is one of five London bridges owned and maintained by the City Bridge Foundation ,

200-646: A heritage asset legally protected) is called 'designation'. Several different terms are used because the processes use separate legislation: buildings are 'listed'; ancient monuments are 'scheduled', wrecks are 'protected', and battlefields, gardens and parks are 'registered'. A heritage asset is a part of the historic environment that is valued because of its historic, archaeological, architectural or artistic interest. Only some of these are judged to be important enough to have extra legal protection through designation. Buildings that are not formally listed but still judged as being of heritage interest can still be regarded as

300-905: A listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England , Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland , Cadw in Wales , and the Historic Environment Division of the Department for Communities in Northern Ireland . The classification schemes differ between England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland (see sections below). The term has also been used in

400-436: A material consideration in the planning process. As a very rough guide, listed buildings are structures considered of special architectural and historical importance. Ancient monuments are of 'national importance' containing evidential values, and can on many occasions also relate to below ground or unoccupied sites and buildings. Almost anything can be listed. Buildings and structures of special historic interest come in

500-661: A building. Listed building consent must be obtained from local authorities before any alteration to a listed structure. There are about 8,500 listed buildings in Northern Ireland, divided into four grades, defined as follows: In Scotland, listing was begun by a provision in the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1947, and the current legislative basis for listing is the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 . As with other matters regarding planning, conservation

600-513: A charitable trust founded in 1282. The bridge was constructed to connect the 39 per cent of London's population that lived east of London Bridge, equivalent to the populations of "Manchester on the one side, and Liverpool on the other", while allowing shipping to access the Pool of London between the Tower of London and London Bridge . The bridge was opened by Edward, Prince of Wales , and Alexandra, Princess of Wales , on 30 June 1894. The bridge

700-463: A commitment to sharing the understanding of the historic environment and more openness in the process of designation. In 2008, a draft Heritage Protection Bill was subject to pre-legislative scrutiny before its passage through UK Parliament. The legislation was abandoned despite strong cross-party support, to make room in the parliamentary legislative programme for measures to deal with the credit crunch, though it may be revived in future. The proposal

800-518: A dock is an enclosed area of water used for loading, unloading, building or repairing ships . Such a dock may be created by building enclosing harbour walls into an existing natural water space, or by excavation within what would otherwise be dry land. There are specific types of dock structures where the water level is controlled: Where the water level is not controlled berths may be: A dockyard (or shipyard) consists of one or more docks, usually with other structures. In American English , dock

900-572: A dockyard (also known as a shipyard ) where the loading, unloading, building, or repairing of ships occurs. The earliest known docks were those discovered in Wadi al-Jarf , an ancient Egyptian harbor , of Pharaoh Khufu , dating from c.2500 BC located on the Red Sea coast. Archaeologists also discovered anchors and storage jars near the site. A dock from Lothal in India dates from 2400 BC and

1000-404: A group that is—for example, all the buildings in a square. This is called 'group value'. Sometimes large areas comprising many buildings may not justify listing but receive the looser protection of designation as a conservation area . The specific criteria include: The state of repair of a building is not generally deemed to be a relevant consideration for listing. Additionally: Although

1100-451: A list of locally listed buildings as separate to the statutory list (and in addition to it). There is no statutory protection of a building or object on the local list but many receive a degree of protection from loss through being in a Conservation Area or through planning policy. Councils hope that owners will recognise the merits of their properties and keep them unaltered if at all possible. Listing began later in Northern Ireland than in

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1200-403: A listed building is a criminal offence and owners can be prosecuted. A planning authority can also insist that all work undertaken without consent be reversed at the owner's expense. See also Category:Grade II* listed buildings for examples of such buildings across England and Wales. See also Category:Grade II listed buildings for examples of such buildings across England and Wales. It

1300-558: A listed building which involves any element of demolition. Exemption from secular listed building control is provided for some buildings in current use for worship, but only in cases where the relevant religious organisation operates its own equivalent permissions procedure. Owners of listed buildings are, in some circumstances, compelled to repair and maintain them and can face criminal prosecution if they fail to do so or if they perform unauthorised alterations. When alterations are permitted, or when listed buildings are repaired or maintained,

1400-687: A listed structure. Applications for consent are made on a form obtained from Historic Environment Scotland. After consulting the local planning authority, the owner, where possible, and an independent third party, Historic Environment Scotland makes a recommendation on behalf of the Scottish Ministers. The scheme for classifying buildings is: There are about 47,400 listed buildings in Scotland. Of these, around 8 percent (some 3,800) are Category A, 50 percent are Category B, and 42 percent are listed at Category C. Although

1500-471: A more abiding and historic interest" than the opening of Tower Bridge in the history of the City of London, and it was a "semi-State" occasion. In addition to the official opening, the City of London Corporation gave an "entertainment", at a cost of £300, to 1,200 workmen and their wives. Edward Cruttwell, who had been in charge of the building of the bridge from the beginning, presided. After dinner, each workman

1600-558: A non-statutory basis. Although a limited number of 'ancient monuments' were given protection under the Ancient Monuments Protection Act 1882 , there was reluctance to restrict the owners of occupied buildings in their actions related to their property. The extensive damage to buildings caused by German bombing during World War II prompted efforts to list and protect buildings that were deemed to be of particular architectural merit. Three hundred members of

1700-458: A persistent urban legend about an American purchasing the wrong bridge . By the late 19th century, the population and commercial development in the East End of London was increasing, leading to demand for a new river crossing downstream of London Bridge . A traditional fixed bridge at street level could not be built because it would cut off access by sailing ships to the port facilities in

1800-532: A process of reform, including a review of the criteria used for listing buildings. A Review of Heritage Policy in 2006 was criticised, and the Government began a process of consultation on changes to Planning Policy Guidance 15 , relating to the principles of selection for listing buildings in England. The government's White Paper "Heritage Protection for the 21st Century", published on 8 March 2007, offered

1900-519: A provision in the Town and Country Planning Act 1947 covering England and Wales, and the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1947 covering Scotland. Listing was first introduced into Northern Ireland under the Planning (Northern Ireland) Order 1972. The listing process has since developed slightly differently in each part of the UK. The process of protecting the built historic environment (i.e. getting

2000-557: A single document, the National Planning Policy Framework . A consultation draft of this was published on 25 July 2011 and the final version on 27 March 2012. This became a material consideration in planning matters on publication. It has since been revised in 2018, 2019 and 2021. The Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission in England and Cadw in Wales list buildings under three grades, with Grade I being

2100-415: A skeleton of steelwork, covered with a facing of granite and Portland stone, backed with brickwork on the inside faces." An octagonal steel column stands at each corner of each tower (119 feet 6 inches long). The smaller abutment towers were "generally similar...though on a smaller scale." "The total length of the bridge, including the abutments, is 940 feet, and the length of the approaches are 1,260 feet on

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2200-465: A third engine was installed in case the existing ones were damaged by enemy action. It was a 150  hp horizontal cross-compound engine, built by Vickers Armstrong Ltd. at their Elswick works in Newcastle upon Tyne. It was fitted with a flywheel having a 9-foot (2.7 m) diameter and weighing 9 tons, and was governed to a speed of 30 rpm. The engine became redundant when the rest of the system

2300-456: A total accepted tender cost of £189,732; Sir W. G. Armstrong, Mitchell, and Co. Ltd , was awarded the hydraulics contract for which they tendered £85,232 (December 1887); Mr William Webster was responsible for the southern approach at £38,383 (July 1888); Sir William Arrol & Co. had the contract for the metalwork of the superstructure at £337,113 (May 1889), which amounted to about 12,100 tons; Messrs Perry & Co won two contracts covering

2400-459: A very heavy weight to maintain the desired pressure. The entire hydraulic system along with the gas lighting system was installed by William Sugg & Co Ltd . The gas lighting was initially by open-flame burners within the lanterns, but was soon updated to the later incandescent system. In 1974, the original operating mechanism was largely replaced by a new electro-hydraulic drive system, designed by BHA Cromwell House. The only remaining parts of

2500-618: A wide variety of forms and types, ranging from telephone boxes and road signs, to castles. Historic England has created twenty broad categories of structures, and published selection guides for each one to aid with assessing buildings and structures. These include historical overviews and describe the special considerations for listing each category. However, in 2020, the Supreme Court ruled in Dill v Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government and another that buildings in

2600-486: Is 940 feet (290 m) in length including the abutments and consists of two 213-foot (65 m) bridge towers connected at the upper level by two horizontal walkways, and a central pair of bascules that can open to allow shipping. Originally hydraulically powered , the operating mechanism was converted to an electro-hydraulic system in 1972. The bridge is part of the London Inner Ring Road and thus

2700-802: Is a power devolved to the Scottish Parliament and the Scottish Government . The authority for listing rests with Historic Environment Scotland (formerly Historic Scotland ), an executive agency of the Scottish Government, which inherited this role from the Scottish Development Department in 1991. The listing system is administered by Historic Environment Scotland on behalf of the Scottish Ministers. Listed building consent must be obtained from local authorities before any alteration to

2800-467: Is also commonly used to refer to wooden or metal structures that extend into the ocean from beaches and are used, for the most part, to accommodate fishing in the ocean without using a boat. In American English , the term for the water area between piers is slip . In the cottage country of Canada and the United States , a dock is a wooden platform built over water, with one end secured to

2900-441: Is not unusual for historic sites, particularly large sites, to contain buildings with multiple, sometimes varying, designations. For example, Derwent Valley Mills , a World Heritage Site contains 838 listed buildings, made up of 16 listed at Grade I, 42 at Grade II* and 780 at Grade II. A further nine structures are Scheduled monuments . Many councils, for example, Birmingham City Council and Crawley Borough Council , maintain

3000-552: Is possible but is rare. One example is Anmer Hall in Norfolk, which was listed in 1984 and de-listed in 1988. In an emergency, the local planning authority can serve a temporary " Building Preservation Notice " (BPN), if a building is in danger of demolition or alteration in such a way that might affect its historic character. This remains in force for six months until the Secretary of State decides whether or not to formally list

3100-599: Is speculated that Lothal engineers studied tidal movements and their effects on brick-built structures, since the walls are of kiln -burnt bricks. This knowledge also enabled them to select Lothal's location in the first place, as the Gulf of Khambhat has the highest tidal amplitude and ships can be sluiced through flow tides in the river estuary . The engineers built a trapezoidal structure, with north–south arms of average 21.8 metres (71.5 ft), and east–west arms of 37 metres (121 ft). In British English ,

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3200-460: Is technically synonymous with pier or wharf —any human-made structure in the water intended for people to be on. However, in modern use, pier is generally used to refer to structures originally intended for industrial use, such as seafood processing or shipping , and more recently for cruise ships , and dock is used for almost everything else, often with a qualifier, such as ferry dock , swimming dock, ore dock and others. However, pier

3300-482: The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) to deliver the government policy on the protection to historic buildings and other heritage assets. The decision about whether or not to list a building is made by the Secretary of State, although the process is administered in England by Historic England . The listed building system in Wales formerly also operated under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990, as in England, until this

3400-688: The London Olympics , the west walkway was transformed into a 200-foot-long (61 m) Live Music Sculpture by the British composer Samuel Bordoli. 30 classical musicians were arranged along the length of the bridge 138 feet (42 m) above the Thames behind the Olympic rings. The sound travelled backward and forwards along the walkway, echoing the structure of the bridge. Following the Olympics,

3500-569: The Pool of London between London Bridge and the Tower of London . A Special Bridge or Subway Committee chaired by Sir Albert Joseph Altman was formed in December 1875 to find a solution. On 7 December 1876, the Committee presented a report recommending a bridge or subway to the east of London Bridge should be constructed, funds permitting. More than fifty designs were submitted, including one from civil engineer Sir Joseph Bazalgette , which

3600-558: The Republic of Ireland , where buildings are protected under the Planning and Development Act 2000, although the statutory term in Ireland is " protected structure ". A listed building may not be demolished, extended, or altered without permission from the local planning authority, which typically consults the relevant central government agency. In England and Wales , a national amenity society must be notified of any work to be done on

3700-701: The Royal Institute of British Architects and the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings were dispatched to prepare the list under the supervision of the Inspectorate of Ancient Monuments, with funding from the Treasury. The listings were used as a means to determine whether a particular building should be rebuilt if it was damaged by bombing, with varying degrees of success. In Scotland,

3800-515: The Second World War , Tower Bridge was seen as a major transport link to the Port of London , and consequently was a target for enemy action. In 1940, the high-level span took a direct hit, severing the hydraulic mechanism and taking the bridge out of action. In April 1941, a parachute mine exploded close to the bridge, causing serious damage to the bascule, towers, and engine room. In 1942,

3900-484: The Tay Bridge Disaster . The system was designed and installed by Hamilton Owen Rendel while working for Armstrong, Mitchell and Company of Newcastle upon Tyne . Water at a pressure of 750 psi (5.2 MPa) was pumped into the accumulators by a pair of stationary steam engines . Each drove a force pump from its piston tail rod. The accumulators each comprise a 20-inch (51 cm) ram which sits

4000-547: The foundation stone laid by the Prince of Wales on 21 June, and took eight years. The work was divided into eight contracts. Mr (later Sir) John Jackson won three of those contracts and was responsible for the northern approach to the bridge (which started in February 1887), the foundations of the piers and the abutments of the bridge (started February 1887), and the cast iron parapet for the northern approach (December 1887) at

4100-558: The 2008 draft legislation was abandoned, Historic England (then part of English Heritage) published a single list of all designated heritage assets within England in 2011. The National Heritage List for England is an online searchable database which includes 400,000 English Listings, this includes individual listed buildings, groups of multiple listed buildings which share the same listing, scheduled monuments, registered parks and gardens, protected historic wrecks and registered battlefields and World Heritage Sites in one place. The 400,000 in

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4200-604: The Bridge Master. Some of the control mechanism for the signalling equipment has been preserved and is housed in the Tower Bridge's museum. During the first twelve months after the opening of the bridge, the average stoppage of road traffic at each bridge lift was six minutes. The average number of vehicles crossing the bridge daily was about 8,000. Listed building#Grade I In the United Kingdom ,

4300-547: The Court of Common Council for a mechanical bridge built according to one of three models: Design A, a swing bridge ; Design B, a variation of that swing bridge; and Design C a bascule bridge . Design C was recommended and a bill was prepared to present to Parliament. The Act of Parliament authorising construction received royal assent on 14 August 1885 and is called the Corporation of London (Tower Bridge) Act 1885. The Act

4400-763: The DCLG published Planning Policy Statement 5 , "Planning for the Historic Environment". This replaced PPG15 and set out the government's national policies on the conservation of the historic environment in England. PPS5 was supported by a Practice Guide, endorsed by the DCLG, the DCMS, and English Heritage, which explained how to apply the policies stated in PPS5. In December 2010, the Department for Communities and Local Government announced that in England all PPSs and Planning Policy Guidance Notes would be replaced by

4500-665: The Firestone demolition, the Secretary of State for the Environment , Michael Heseltine , also initiated a complete re-survey of buildings to ensure that everything that merited preservation was on the lists. In England, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) works with Historic England (an agency of the DCMS), and other government departments, e.g. Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) and

4600-519: The Government's Heritage Protection Reform (HPR) report in July 2003 by the DCMS, entitled "Protecting our historic environment: Making the system work better", asked questions about how the current designation systems could be improved. The HPR decision report "Review of Heritage Protection: The Way Forward", a green paper published in June 2004 by the DCMS, committed the UK government and English Heritage to

4700-537: The Tower Bridge Exhibition opened, housed in the bridge's twin towers, the long-closed high-level walkways, and the Victorian engine rooms. The latter still houses the original steam engines and some of the original hydraulic machinery . The bridge closed for a month in 2000 to repair the bascules and perform other maintenance. A computer system was installed to control the raising and lowering of

4800-628: The Tower [of London]...shall at all times have...the right to occupy the Tower Bridge." The extent of the maritime trade conducted at this time between the site of Tower Bridge and London Bridge (a distance of approximately 0.5 miles) is demonstrated in Schedule B of the Act which lists 11 active docks , quays and wharfs operating on the north side of the Thames, and 20 wharfs operating on the south side. Two further Acts of Parliament were required to extend

4900-696: The UK's architectural heritage; England alone has 14,500 listed places of worship (4,000 Grade I, 4,500 Grade II* and 6,000 Grade II) and 45% of all Grade I listed buildings are places of worship. Some of the listed churches are no longer in use; between 1969 and 2010, some 1,795 churches were closed by the Church of England , equalling roughly 11% of the stock, with about a third listed as Grade I or Grade II. The criteria for listing include architectural interest, historic interest and close historical associations with significant people or events. Buildings not individually noteworthy may still be listed if they form part of

5000-549: The architectural and historic interest. The Secretary of State, who may seek additional advice from others, then decides whether to list or delist the building. In England, the authority for listing is granted to the Secretary of State by the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 . Listed buildings in danger of decay are listed on the Historic England 'Heritage at Risk' Register . In 1980, there

5100-445: The bascules remotely. However, the system proved unreliable, resulting in the bridge being stuck in the open or closed positions on several occasions during 2005 until its sensors were replaced. In April 2008, authorities announced that the bridge would undergo a £4 million refurbishment that would take four years to complete. The work entailed stripping existing paint down to bare metal and repainting in blue and white. Before this,

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5200-482: The boundary of the London congestion charge zone, and remains an important traffic route with 40,000 crossings every day. The bridge deck is freely accessible to both vehicles and pedestrians, whereas the bridge's twin towers, high-level walkways, and Victorian engine rooms form part of the Tower Bridge Exhibition. Tower Bridge has become a recognisable London landmark. It is sometimes confused with London Bridge , about 0.5 miles (800 m) upstream, which has led to

5300-457: The bridge piers. At night, coloured lights were used, in either direction, on both of the piers: two red lights to show that the bridge was closed, and two green to show that it was open. In foggy weather, a gong was sounded as well. Vessels passing through the bridge were required to display signals. By day, a black ball at least 2 feet (0.61 m) in diameter was mounted high up where it could be seen. Night passage called for two red lights in

5400-552: The bridge was opened, the Tower Subway – 0.25 mi (400 m) to the west – was the shortest way to cross the river from Tower Hill to Tooley Street in Southwark . Opened in 1870, Tower Subway was among the world's earliest underground ("tube") railways, but it closed after just three months and was reopened as a tolled pedestrian foot tunnel. Once Tower Bridge was open, the majority of foot traffic transferred to using

5500-529: The bridge's colour scheme dated from 1977, when it was painted red, white, and blue for Queen Elizabeth II 's Silver Jubilee . Its colours were subsequently restored to blue and white. Each section was enshrouded in scaffolding and plastic sheeting to prevent the old paint falling into the Thames and causing pollution. Starting in mid-2008, contractors worked on a quarter of the bridge at a time to minimise disruption, but some road closures were inevitable. The completed work should stand for 25 years. The renovation of

5600-415: The bridge, as there was no toll to cross. Having lost most of its income, the tunnel was closed in 1898. The high-level open-air walkways between the towers gained a reputation for prostitutes and pickpockets . Since they were only accessible by stairs, the walkways were seldom used by regular pedestrians and were closed in 1910. The walkway reopened in 1982 as part of the Tower Bridge Exhibition. During

5700-508: The building. Until the passing of the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 an application for a Certificate of Immunity from Listing (CoI) could only be made if planning permission was being sought or had been obtained in England. However, the changes brought about by the Act means that now anyone can ask the Secretary of State to issue a Certificate of Immunity in respect of a particular building at any time. In England and Wales,

5800-487: The construction. The first caisson was started in September 1886 and it was not until January 1890 that both piers were complete. The reason for the long duration of the foundation works was the need to defer excavation of the second pier until the staging for the first pier had been removed to allow 160 feet of clear water-way for shipping. More than 11,000 long tons (12,320 short tons; 11,177 t) of steel were used in

5900-407: The decision to list a building may be made on the basis of the architectural or historic interest of one small part of the building, the listing protection nevertheless applies to the whole building. Listing applies not just to the exterior fabric of the building itself, but also to the interior, fixtures, fittings, and objects within the curtilage of the building even if they are not fixed. De-listing

6000-451: The face of each pier. The bascules, weighing about 1,070 tons each including ballast and paving, are counterbalanced to minimise the force required and allow raising in five minutes and have an arc of rotation of 82° with the centre of the arc, or pivot point, being 13 feet 3 inches inside the face of each pier and 5 feet 7 inches beneath the surface of the roadway. The two side spans are suspension bridges, each 270 feet (82 m) long, with

6100-462: The framework for the towers and walkways, which were then clad in Cornish granite and Portland stone to protect the underlying steelwork, and achieve the stipulation that the bridge should fit architecturally with the Tower of London. Jones died in 1887, and Barry took over as architect. Barry later summarised the contributions to the construction of Tower Bridge: "Mr Fyson, who undertook much of

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6200-602: The highest grade, as follows: There was formerly a non-statutory Grade III , which was abolished in 1970. Additionally, Grades A, B and C were used mainly for Anglican churches in active use, loosely corresponding to Grades I, II and III. These grades were used mainly before 1977, although a few buildings are still listed using these grades. In 2010, listed buildings accounted for about 2% of English building stock. In March 2010, there were about 374,000 list entries, of which 92% were Grade II, 5.5% were Grade II* and 2.5% were Grade I. Places of worship are an important part of

6300-432: The judges). Jones and Barry designed a bridge with two bridge towers built on piers. The central span was split into two equal bascules or leaves, which could be raised to allow river traffic to pass. The two side spans were suspension bridges, with rods anchored both at the abutments and through rods contained in the bridge's upper walkways. Construction - overseen by Edward Cruttwell - started on 22 April 1886, with

6400-410: The listing should not be confused with the actual number of listed buildings, which will be much larger than the listing, because a listing can include more than one building that share the same listing number. The legislative frameworks for each type of historic asset remains unchanged. A photographic library of English listed buildings was started in 1999 as a snapshot of buildings listed at the turn of

6500-536: The management of listed buildings is the responsibility of local planning authorities and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (i.e., not DCMS, which originally listed the building). There is a general principle that listed buildings are put to 'appropriate and viable use' and recognition that this may involve the re-use and modification of the building. However, listed buildings cannot be modified without first obtaining Listed Building Consent through

6600-415: The masonry superstructure (May 1889), and paving and lighting (May 1892) for a total accepted tender of £179,455. The total accepted tender for the eight contracts was £830,005. On average 432 people worked on the site, although at least 1,200 worked on its construction overall and received invitations to the entertainment provided for the workmen at its opening. Cruttwell was the resident engineer throughout

6700-486: The millennium. This is not an up-to-date record of all listed buildings in England – the listing status and descriptions are only correct as at February 2001. The photographs were taken between 1999 and 2008. It is maintained by the Historic England archive at the Images of England project website. The National Heritage List for England contains the up-to-date list of listed buildings. Dock "Dock" may also refer to

6800-655: The nearby Tower of London. The total cost of construction was £1,184,000 (equivalent to £170 million in 2023). Tower Bridge was officially opened on 30 June 1894 by the Prince and Princess of Wales . The opening ceremony was attended by the Lord Chamberlain , the Lord Carrington and the Home Secretary , H. H. Asquith . It was reported that "few [pageants] have been more brilliant or will have

6900-441: The north side, and 780 feet on the south side. The width of the bridge and approaches between the parapets is 60 feet, except across the opening span where it is 49 feet. The steepest gradients are 1 in 60 on the north side, and 1 in 40 on the south side." The central span of 200 feet (61 m) between the towers is split into two equal bascules, or leaves, which project 100 feet out each and extend backwards 62 feet 6 inches within

7000-412: The old system are the final pinions, which fit into the racks on the bascules and were driven by hydraulic motors and gearing. Oil is now used in place of water as the new hydraulic fluid . Originally, river traffic passing beneath the bridge was required to follow several rules and signals. Daytime control was provided by red semaphore signals , mounted on small control cabins on either end of both of

7100-671: The owners are often required to use specific materials or techniques. Although most sites appearing on the lists are buildings, other structures such as bridges, monuments, sculptures, war memorials, milestones and mileposts , and the Abbey Road zebra crossing made famous by the Beatles , are also listed. Ancient, military, and uninhabited structures, such as Stonehenge , are sometimes instead classified as scheduled monuments and are protected by separate legislation. Cultural landscapes such as parks and gardens are currently "listed" on

7200-405: The period of construction (and remained associated with the bridge until his death in 1933). He noted that there were "only" ten fatal accidents during the construction: four in sinking the foundations, one on the approaches, and the remaining five on the superstructure. Two piers, containing over 70,000 long tons (78,400 short tons; 71,123 t) of concrete, were sunk into the riverbed to support

7300-475: The preparation of the detailed drawings; Mr Stevenson, who had been his assistant with the architectural work; and...most of all...Mr Cruttwell, the Resident Engineer, and Mr Homfray, who superintended the machinery." Stevenson replaced Jones's original brick façade with the more ornate Victorian Gothic style, which made the bridge a distinctive landmark and was intended to harmonise the bridge with

7400-520: The process slightly predated the war with the Marquess of Bute (in his connections to the National Trust for Scotland ) commissioning the architect Ian Lindsay in September 1936 to survey 103 towns and villages based on an Amsterdam model using three categories (A, B and C). The basis of the current more comprehensive listing process was developed from the wartime system. It was enacted by

7500-539: The relevant local planning authority. In Wales, applications are made using a form obtained from the relevant local authority. There is no provision for consent to be granted in outline. When a local authority is disposed to grant listed building consent, it must first notify the Welsh Parliament ( i.e. Cadw ) of the application. If the planning authority decides to refuse consent, it may do so without any reference to Cadw. Carrying out unauthorised works to

7600-571: The responsibility for the listing process rests with the Historic Environment Division of the Department for Communities , which took over the built heritage functions of the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (formerly the Environment and Heritage Service) following the break up of the Department of the Environment. Following the introduction of listing, an initial survey of Northern Ireland's building stock

7700-579: The rest of the UK: the first provision for listing was contained in the Planning (Northern Ireland) Order 1972; and the current legislative basis for listing is the Planning (Northern Ireland) Order 1991. Under Article 42 of the Order, the relevant Department of the Northern Ireland Executive is required to compile lists of buildings of "special architectural or historic interest". Since 2016,

7800-470: The rings were removed from Tower Bridge and replaced by the emblem of the Paralympic Games for the 2012 Summer Paralympics . In 2016, Tower Bridge was closed to all road traffic from 1 October to 30 December. This was to allow structural maintenance work to take place on the timber decking, lifting mechanism and waterproofing the brick arches on the bridge's approaches. During this, the bridge

7900-454: The same position. Foggy weather required repeated blasts from the ship's steam whistle . If a black ball was suspended from the middle of each walkway (or a red light at night) this indicated that the bridge could not be opened. These signals were repeated about 1,000 yards (910 m) downstream, at Cherry Garden Pier , where boats needing to pass through the bridge had to hoist their signals/lights and sound their horn, as appropriate, to alert

8000-456: The scheme must meet certain criteria – "a three-fold test which involved considering size, permanence and degree of physical attachment" – referred to as the Skerritts test in reference to a previous legal case in England. Both Historic Environment Scotland and Cadw produce guidance for owners. In England, to have a building considered for listing or delisting, the process is to apply to

8100-413: The secretary of state; this can be done by submitting an application form online to Historic England . The applicant does not need to be the owner of the building to apply for it to be listed. Full information including application form guidance notes are on the Historic England website. Historic England assesses buildings put forward for listing or delisting and provides advice to the Secretary of State on

8200-411: The suspension rods anchored both at the abutments and through rods contained within the bridge's upper walkways. The pedestrian walkways are 143 feet (44 m) above the river at high tide and accessed by lifts and staircases. These walkways were designed as cantilever bridges for a distance from each tower of 55 feet, with girders bridging the 120 feet between the ends of the cantilevers. The structure

8300-459: The time allowed to complete the works. On 12 August 1889 the Corporation of London (Tower Bridge) Act 1889 received royal assent to extend the time allowed for construction by a further four years to 1893 and make various adjustments to neighbouring streets that had proved necessary. The work was not yet complete after those four years, and on 29 June 1893 the Corporation of London (Tower Bridge) Extension of Time Act 1893 received royal assent extending

8400-530: The time by a further year. Construction was funded by the City Bridge Foundation , a charity established in 1282 for maintenance of London Bridge that subsequently expanded to cover Tower Bridge, Blackfriars Bridge , Southwark Bridge and the Millennium Bridge . Sir John Wolfe Barry was appointed engineer and Sir Horace Jones the architect (who, as the City Architect, was also one of

8500-470: The two main towers were converted from being cantilever bridges , projecting horizontally out into space, to suspension bridges when suspension cables were added. This was to reinforce the strength of the walkways. In 1974, the original operating mechanism was largely replaced by a new electro-hydraulic drive system, designed by Geoffrey Beresford Hartwell, of BHA Cromwell House, with the original final pinions driven by modern hydraulic motors . In 1982,

8600-473: The walkway interior was completed in mid-2009. The renovation of the four suspension chains was completed in March 2010 using a state-of-the-art coating system requiring up to six different layers of paint. A lighting system based on RGB LED luminaires was installed, concealed within the bridge superstructure, and attached without drilling holes, owing to the bridge's Grade I listing. On 8 July 2012, as part of

8700-517: Was at this point in 1885 that John Wolfe Barry partnered with Jones and developed the concept of the "level soffit for the upper bridge" which allowed the design to proceed as it stands today. Unusually, Tower Bridge was designed to include three types of bridge: the two spans from the shore to the piers are a suspension bridge; the central, opening span is a bascule bridge; and the high level walkways were cantilever bridges until converted to suspension bridges in 1960. The main towers "consist of

8800-564: Was begun in 1974. By the time of the completion of this First Survey in 1994, the listing process had developed considerably, and it was therefore decided to embark upon a Second Survey, which is still ongoing, to update and cross-check the original information. Information gathered during this survey, relating to both listed and unlisted buildings, is entered into the publicly accessible Northern Ireland Buildings Database. A range of listing criteria, which aim to define architectural and historic interest, are used to determine whether or not to list

8900-468: Was designed to withstand wind pressures of 56 lb per square foot ( 2.7 kPa), a design constraint introduced following the Tay Bridge disaster which had occurred just 15 years before the opening of Tower Bridge. There is a chimney on the bridge that is painted to look like a lamppost. It was connected to a fireplace in a guardroom located in one of the bridge piers. The original raising mechanism

9000-487: Was located away from the main current to avoid deposition of silt . Modern oceanographers have observed that the ancient Harappans must have possessed great knowledge relating to tides in order to build such a dock on the ever-shifting course of the Sabarmati , as well as exemplary hydrography and maritime engineering . This is the earliest known dock found in the world equipped to berth and service ships. It

9100-613: Was modernised in 1974 and was donated to the Forncett Industrial Steam Museum by the City of London Corporation . The southern section of the bridge, in the London Borough of Southwark , was Grade I listed on 6 December 1949. The remainder of the bridge, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets , was listed on 27 September 1973. In 1960, the upper bridges of the two pedestrian walkways that connected

9200-515: Was powered by pressurised water stored in six hydraulic accumulators . There were then two pairs of engines on each pier. Each pair consisted of a larger engine 8 ½ inches in diameter and a smaller one at 7 ½ inches. All eight engines had three cylinders. The reason for two pairs of engines on each pier was to build in redundancy. The machinery was "equal to twice the requirements of the Board of Trade", already very rigorous standards established following

9300-477: Was presented with a commemorative pipe and packet of tobacco, and each workman's wife with a box of sweetmeats. An Act of Parliament stipulated that a tug boat should be on station to assist vessels in danger when crossing the bridge, a requirement that remained in place until the 1960s. The bridge connected Iron Gate, on the north bank of the river, with Horselydown Lane, on the south – now known as Tower Bridge Approach and Tower Bridge Road , respectively. Until

9400-490: Was public outcry at the sudden destruction of the art deco Firestone Tyre Factory ( Wallis, Gilbert and Partners , 1928–29). It was demolished over the August bank holiday weekend by its owners Trafalgar House , who had been told that it was likely to be 'spot-listed' a few days later. In response, the government undertook to review arrangements for listing buildings in order to protect worthy ones from such demolition. After

9500-493: Was rejected because of a lack of sufficient headroom. None of the designs gained support and it was not until 24 July 1884 that the Bridge House Estates Committee brought forward a report that proposed "a low level bridge, with mechanical opening or openings" be built. Following a deputation from the Committee visiting Belgium, Holland, and Newcastle Bridge, a proposal was presented on 28 October 1884 to

9600-507: Was replaced in 2024 with Wales-specific heritage legislation. In Wales, the authority for listing is granted to the Welsh Ministers by section 76 of the Historic Environment (Wales) Act 2023, although the listing system is in practice administered by Cadw . There have been several attempts to simplify the heritage planning process for listed buildings in England. As of 2021, few changes had been implemented. The review process

9700-436: Was specific about the design of what it (and contemporary media) named "The Tower Bridge", rather than just "Tower Bridge". Key stipulations were: Barry later noted that "at one time it was intended that the new works should be made suitable for the mounting of guns and for military occupation." But that "The latter idea was afterwards to a great extent discarded." However, the Act provided for "the senior officer commanding in

9800-460: Was started in February 2000 by Alan Howarth , then minister at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). The outcome was the paper "Power of Place" in December 2000, followed by the subsequent policy document "The Historic Environment: A Force for Our Future", published by the DCMS and the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DTLR) in December 2001. The launch of

9900-429: Was still open to waterborne traffic. It was open to pedestrians for all but three weekends when a free ferry service was in operation. The structure was originally designed by Horace Jones but his design had an arch instead of the current high-level footways. Concerns about ships' masts and rigging hitting the arch meant that his design faced objections and Jones "began to think that the arched form must be given up". It

10000-644: Was that the existing registers of buildings, parks and gardens, archaeology and battlefields, maritime wrecks, and World Heritage Sites be merged into a single online register that will "explain what is special and why". English Heritage would become directly responsible for identifying historic assets in England and there would be wider consultation with the public and asset owners, and new rights of appeal. There would have been streamlined systems for granting consent for work on historic assets. After several years of consultation with heritage groups, charities, local planning authorities, and English Heritage, in March 2010,

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