Kingston Bridge is a road bridge at Kingston upon Thames in south west London, England, carrying the A308 across the River Thames. It joins the town centre of Kingston in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames to Hampton Court Park, Bushy Park, and the village of Hampton Wick in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. In 2005 it was carrying approximately 50,000 vehicles per day with up to 2,000 vehicles per hour in each direction during peak times.

Kingston Bridge is on the reach above Teddington Lock and close to and downstream of the mouth of the Hogsmill River, a minor tributary of the Thames. The Thames Path crosses the river here and the bridge is the end point for the Thames Down Link long-distance footpath from Box Hill & Westhumble station.^[2]

Until Putney Bridge was opened in 1729, Kingston Bridge was the only crossing of the river between London Bridge and Staines Bridge.

According to 16th-century antiquarian John Leland, the bridge existed in the centuries when Anglo-Saxon England existed (after Roman Britain and before 1066). He wrote "And yn the old tyme the commune saying ys that the bridge where the commun passage was over the Tamise was lower on the ryver then it is now. And when men began the new town in the Saxons tymes they toke from the very clive of Comeparke [cliff of Coombe Park] side to build on the Tamise side; and sette a new bridge hard by the same."^[3] Other sources claim that the first Kingston Bridge was constructed in the 1190s.^[4]

Leland refers to a contemporary bridge and to an older wooden bridge that had existed at Kingston since the 13th century. This was about 100 feet downstream of the present bridge: Old Bridge Street at Hampton Wick used to be matched by an Old Bridge Street on the Kingston side.^[5] In 1318 the bridge was described as being in a dangerous condition.^[6] The successive bridges contributed greatly to Kingston's success as a medieval market town.

Destroying or defending the few bridges of the Thames gave power – having no nearby bridges would particularly hinder mounted armies. The mediaeval timber bridge fell victim to destructions during the Wars of the Roses and Wyatt's rebellion. There are records of tolls being granted for various spells to pay for repairs to the bridge, but in 1567, Robert Hamond gave a sum to make it a free bridge 'forever'.^[3] However, in spite of his endowments, for some years in the 18th century certain tolls were reimposed under the authority of the mayor and aldermen of the borough. The bridge was described in 1710 "The great Wooden Bridge hath 20 interstices:^{[note 1]} two in the middle wide enough for barges...it had 22 pierres [piers] of Wood and had in the middle two fair Seates for Passengers to avoid Carts and to sit and enjoy the delightfull Prospect".^[7]

The bridge's state of repair became increasingly problematic by the early 19th century. It had become increasingly dilapidated and its narrowness made passage difficult both for river and road traffic. Pressure mounted for it to be rebuilt but no agreement could be reached on who would be responsible or who would pay for it. The courts became involved in 1813 but were overtaken by events in January 1814, when part of the bridge collapsed due to a severe frost. The court ordered Kingston to repair the bridge from its own resources but a complete replacement was by that time clearly necessary.^[8]

• Kingston Railway Bridge
• List of crossings of the River Thames
• List of bridges in London