Sham Bridge - HAMPSTEAD HEATH - 2012

HEATH
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The Sham Bridge

Lord Mansfield (formerly William Murray) commissioned Robert Adam to remodel Kenwood House and was also responsible for landscaping the pleasure grounds in the second half of the 18th century.

The formal gardens were replaced by a sloping lawn and three of the ponds were joined together to form the Wood Pond.

The Thousand Pound Pond was formed, with a Sham Bridge (about 1767-1768, rebuilt 1791, Listed Grade II) at the east end.

It consists of a timber three-span facade with a balustrade.

When viewed from the terrace or lawn in front of the house, it gives the illusion that the water continues beyond it.

(A curious Italian influence in England is that of the Palladium bridge. "In the Park of Kenwood House in London an eighteenth century white painted Sham bridge was reflected in the dark waters of the lake."
Humphrey Repton, who was consulted about the landscape, thought it "an object beneath the dignity of Kenwood"
It happily survives in a recreated version.
The Oxford companion to the garden by Patrick Taylor )