Former Mayor thanks the community for supporting the Ring the Bell campaign

10 March 2021

Windsor Bridge has been removed although Hawkesbury City Council put a strong case forward to retain the historic bridge which was built in 1874.

Council also created a Windsor Bridge Survey on Your Hawkesbury Your Say asking people to vote if they would like to Save Windsor Bridge – Yes or No, with 85.7% of people voting to save the bridge. Sadly, the bridge was not saved with the NSW Government removing the bridge in 2020.

The former Mayor of Hawkesbury, Councillor Barry Calvert, had arranged for the survey to be conducted as part of community consultation.

“There was a great deal of discussion about the replacement bridge but most people were unaware that the demolition of the old bridge was also going to take place. In the information distributed about the new bridge by the State Government, the fate of the old bridge was hardly mentioned.

“Hawkesbury City Council supported saving our historic Windsor Bridge. We asked the State Government to stop the demolition of the old Windsor Bridge and conduct a proper public consultation about the bridge’s future.”

The Ring the Bell to Save Our Historic Windsor Bridge campaign was created in 2020 to encourage community members and visitors to try to save Windsor Bridge and sign the petition at the Hawkesbury Regional Museum.

Council had placed a bell (which was originally used for the Centenary of Federation in 2001) at Hawkesbury Regional Museum, Windsor, for people to sign the petition and then ring the bell. The Ring the Bell Save the Bridge campaign has now concluded and Councillor Calvert thanks the community for their involvement.

“Over 11,000 signatures were received electronically and 2,054 on hard copy during the campaign, which was a huge response,” Councillor Calvert said.

A viewing platform will be built by the NSW Government in remembrance of the old Windsor Bridge. It is expected that the platform will be completed later this year.

A new exhibition now open at Hawkesbury Regional Museum explores the history of the river at Thompson Square and its surrounds. Over 30,000 artefacts were uncovered during archaeological excavations carried out in 2016-2020 as part of Transport for NSW Windsor Bridge Replacement project. The Museum is located at 8 Baker St, Windsor, Entry is free. For opening hours and more details visit www.hawkesbury.nsw.gov.au/museum or call 4560 4655 or email museum@hawkesbury.nsw.gov.au

About Windsor Bridge

The Windsor Bridge had a high level of historic, technical, aesthetic and social significance as an important historical and physical landmark in one of the State's pre-eminent historic towns, and in the wider Sydney region. It was the oldest extant crossing of the Hawkesbury River. Together with the successive crossings upstream at Richmond, the bridge played a major role in shaping the history of the Hawkesbury area, functioning for well over a century as an all important link between the communities on either side of the River, and as an essential component in a thoroughfare of importance in the development of the Sydney region.

The series of major alterations to the structure since its construction articulated the continuing difficulties of negotiating a crossing of this major waterway with its frequent floods.

The Windsor Bridge had landmark qualities as one of only two bridge crossings of the Hawkesbury River in the Hawkesbury area and as such it defines the surrounding network of roads. It is a large structure, and although simple in appearance, impressive. The bridge represents a major engineering project in the State for its time. The addition of a reinforced concrete beam deck to replace the timber deck in the 1920s is a relatively early use of this technology.

The River, and this crossing of it, defined the life of several generations of local inhabitants on both sides of the River. As the suburban outskirts of Sydney widen and come closer to the still distinct and distinctive Macquarie towns, the rich history of the area and its physical remains become increasingly important to the community's sense of identity. The Windsor Bridge was an important part of Windsor's history and identity.