Cavenagh Bridge - Iron from Glasgow

Cavenagh Bridge - Iron from Glasgow

Photo: Neil Parley, CC BY 3.0 (cropped)

A stop on Singapore: Marina Bay to Chinatown, a free self-guided tour.

Cavenagh Bridge opened in 1869, making it one of the oldest bridges across the Singapore River. Its ironwork was made by P. and W. MacLellan in Glasgow, Scotland, shipped out in pieces and put together here, and it was among the last projects in Singapore built with the labor of Indian convicts, who were transported here by the British.

The bridge is named after Orfeur Cavenagh, the last governor of the Straits Settlements appointed by the East India Company. The governor of the day wanted to call it Edinburgh Bridge, after a visiting duke, but local councillors chose Cavenagh instead.

By the early 1900s the river traffic had outgrown it, and newer Anderson Bridge took the carts and cars. Today Cavenagh Bridge is for walkers only. As you cross, look down at the river: a century ago it was jammed with bumboats carrying goods to the warehouses upstream.

Getting here: The bridge starts right beside the Fullerton's river side; walk out onto it.

Did you know?: An old police notice is still fixed to the bridge, banning cattle, horses and any vehicle over 3 hundredweight from crossing. It went up after Anderson Bridge opened in 1910 and has been kept as a relic.

Photo op: Stop at mid-span and look upstream: the curve of Boat Quay's low shophouses sits right in front of the skyscrapers of the financial district.

More on Wikipedia: Cavenagh Bridge · Orfeur Cavenagh · Singapore River

Stops on this tour

  1. Merlion Park - Half Lion, Half Fish
  2. The Fullerton Hotel - Singapore's Old Post Office
  3. Cavenagh Bridge - Iron from Glasgow
  4. Asian Civilisations Museum - The Old Government Offices
  5. Raffles' Landing Site - Where Colonial Singapore Began
  6. Boat Quay - The Belly of the Carp
  7. Jamae Mosque - The Chulia Mosque
  8. Sri Mariamman Temple - Singapore's Oldest Hindu Temple
  9. Pagoda Street - From Coolie Trade to Street Market
  10. Chinatown Heritage Centre - Life in a Shophouse
  11. Buddha Tooth Relic Temple - A New Temple in Tang Style
  12. Maxwell Food Centre - Lunch, Hawker Style