The Afterlife of Old Waterloo Bridge: Stones, Stories, & Global Journeys

John Rennie's 19th-century Waterloo Bridge, a Scottish granite structure with multiple arches, was demolished in the 1930s to make way for the modern bridge built during WWII. Unlike London Bridge, which went to Arizona, the fate of Old Waterloo Bridge's vast tonnage of stone and materials was more fragmented and widespread.

Much of the bridge’s stone was recycled, with its ornamental balusters particularly sought after. These upright stone barriers were sold to the public for £1, raising funds for London County Council, and now reside in private gardens supporting features like birdbaths and sundials. Beyond individual sales, significant portions were repurposed structurally. Some material remains under the current bridge, forming part of the Embankment wall on the north bank. A large stockpile was stored at Harmondsworth Moor, later helping to repair Dutch bridges destroyed by the Nazis in 1945. The moor still contains remnants, including a war memorial and the “Giant's Teeth” henge, though much was eventually crushed for M25 motorway aggregate.

Elsewhere in London, stone built a cemetery wall in St Mary Cray, while individual balusters are found in public parks like Antrim Park and private gardens. The bridge's keystone is preserved at the Institution of Civil Engineers, and a stone supports a Winston Churchill bust in Wanstead. Across the UK, balusters serve as garden features in places like Alfriston and Bournemouth, and one was gifted to Aberdeen Town Hall. Notably, elm wood from the bridge's foundations was salvaged for panelling in King's Lynn and bookcases at Anglesey Abbey, with some even used for Westminster Abbey doors and Royal Train coaches.

Internationally, remnants were distributed across the British Commonwealth to foster historic links. Examples include potential lamp standards in Nakuru, Kenya, and confirmed lamps and stones in various locations across Zimbabwe. In the Americas, a baluster is found in a Cuernavaca, Mexico, hotel garden. Europe saw six balusters travel to the Pyrenees in France for a private garden. Oceania received several pieces, including a lamp in Adelaide, stones under Canberra's Commonwealth Avenue bridge, and various memorials and viewing platforms in New Zealand. While much was reused creatively, some stone, found to be partly sandstone, was broken down for rubble or ‘crazy paving', or destined for kerbs and gravestones, indicating that not all parts were suitable for high-value structural reuse.

(Source: https://londonist.com/london/old-waterloo-bridge)