In 1963 it was proposed to replace the bridge with a modern development containing seven floors of shops, office space, hotel rooms and leisure facilities supported above the river, but the plans were abandoned because of costs.

With the exception of alterations to the road layout and the balustrade, the design and appearance of the current bridge has remained almost unchanged since 1907.

In the early 13th century, Anglo-Norman mercenary Falkes de Breauté built a manor house in the then empty marshlands of South Lambeth, across the River Thames from Westminster.

[3][n 1] With the exception of housing around the New Spring Gardens (later Vauxhall Gardens) pleasure park, opened in around 1661,[5] the land at Vauxhall remained sparsely populated into the 19th century,[3] with the nearest fixed river crossings being the bridges at Westminster, 1 mile (1.6 km) downstream, and Battersea, 2 miles (3.2 km) upstream.

[6] In 1806 a scheme was proposed by Ralph Dodd to open the south bank of the Thames for development, by building a new major road from Hyde Park Corner to Kennington and Greenwich, crossing the river upstream of the existing Westminster Bridge.

[3] The proprietors of Battersea Bridge, concerned about a potential loss of customers, petitioned Parliament against the scheme, stating that "[Dodd] is a well known adventurer and Speculist, and the projector of numerous undertakings upon a large scale most if not all of which have failed",[n 2] and the bill was abandoned.

[7] In 1809 a new bill was presented to Parliament, and the proprietors of Battersea Bridge agreed to allow it to pass and to accept compensation.

[11] In anticipation of the areas surrounding the bridge becoming prosperous suburbs, tolls were set at relatively high rates on a sliding scale, ranging from a penny for pedestrians to 2s 6d for vehicles drawn by six horses.

[12] Usage rose considerably in 1838 when the terminus of the London and South Western Railway was built at nearby Nine Elms.

[16] Sir Alexander Binnie, the resident engineer of the London County Council (LCC), submitted a design for a steel bridge, which proved unpopular.

At the request of the LCC, Binnie submitted a new design for a bridge of five spans, to be built in concrete and faced with granite.

Leading architects condemned the design, with Arthur Beresford Pite describing it as "a would-be Gothic architectural form of great vulgarity and stupid want of meaning",[17] and T G Jackson describing the bridge designs as a sign of "the utter apparent indifference of those in authority to the matter of art".

[16][n 4] After the construction of the foundations and piers it was then discovered that the clay of the riverbed at this point would not be able to support the weight of a concrete bridge.

[19] The new bridge was eventually opened on 26 May 1906, five years behind schedule, in a ceremony presided over by the Prince of Wales and Evan Spicer, Chairman of the LCC.

[8][21] In 1993, a remnant of the earliest known bridge-like structure in London was discovered alongside Vauxhall Bridge, when shifting currents washed away a layer of silt which had covered it.

[6][28] Following the closure of a number of the area's industries, in the 1970s and 1980s the land at the southern end of Vauxhall Bridge remained empty, following the failures of multiple redevelopment schemes.

The most notable came in 1979 when Keith Wickenden MP, owner of the land at the immediate southern end of the bridge, proposed a large-scale redevelopment of the site.

[29] The then Secretary of State for the Environment, Michael Heseltine, refused permission for the development and the site remained empty.

[22] Immediately to the east of the southern end of the bridge, a slipway provides access for amphibious buses between the road and river.

[22] The only significant alteration to the structure of the bridge itself since the addition of the sculptures in 1907 came in 1973, when the Greater London Council (GLC) decided to add an extra traffic lane by reducing the width of the pavements.

To counter the increased load of extra traffic, the council announced the replacement of the cast-iron balustrades with low box-girder structures.

[21] In 2015, the extra lane of motor traffic was removed in favour of a kerb-protected two-way cycle track, on the north-east side of the bridge.

The bridge was declared a Grade II* listed structure in 2008, providing protection to preserve its character from alteration.