EXHIBIT 31.1

                  CERTIFICATION OF THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
            PURSUANT TO SECTION 302 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002

I, John C. Warren,  Chairman and Chief  Executive  Officer of  Washington  Trust
Bancorp, Inc., certify that:

1.   I have  reviewed  this  quarterly report  on Form 10-Q,  for the  quarterly
     period  ended  June  30,  2004,  of  Washington  Trust  Bancorp,  Inc. (the
     "Registrant");

2.   Based on my  knowledge, this  quarterly report does  not contain any untrue
     statement of a  material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to
     make the statements  made, in light of the  circumstances under  which such
     statements were  made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by
     this quarterly report;

3.   Based  on  my  knowledge,  the  financial  statements,  and other financial
     information  included  in  this quarterly  report, fairly  present  in  all
     material  respects the financial condition, results of operations  and cash
     flows  of  the Registrant  as of, and  for, the  periods presented  in this
     quarterly report;

4.   The  Registrant's  other  certifying  officer  and  I are  responsible  for
     establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined
     in  Exchange Act  Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15 (e) for the Registrant  and we
     have:

     (a)designed  such  disclosure  controls  and  procedures,  or  caused  such
        disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision,
        to  ensure  that  material  information  relating  to  the   Registrant,
        including  its  consolidated  subsidiary,  is made known to us by others
        within  that  entity,  particularly  during  the  period  in  which this
        quarterly report is being prepared;
     (b)evaluated the effectiveness of the Registrant's disclosure controls  and
        procedures and  presented in this quarterly report our conclusions about
        the effectiveness of the disclosure  controls and procedures, as  of the
        end  of  the  period  covered  by this  quarterly  report based  on such
        evaluation; and
     (c)disclosed  in  this  quarterly  report any  change in  the  Registrant's
        internal  control  over  financial  reporting  that  occurred during the
        Registrant's  most recent fiscal  quarter that has  materially affected,
        or is reasonable likely to materially affect, the  registrant's internal
        control over financial reporting; and

5.   The Registrant's  other  certifying  officer and I have disclosed, based on
     our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to
     the Registrant's auditors and the audit committee of the Registrant's board
     of directors:

     (a) all significant deficiencies  and material weaknesses in  the design or
         operation  of  internal  control over  financial  reporting  which  are
         reasonably  likely  to adversely  affect  the  Registrant's  ability to
         record,  process,  summarize  and  report  financial  information;  and
     (b) any fraud,  whether or  not material, that involves management or other
         employees  who have  a significant  role in  the Registrant's  internal
         controls over financial reporting.


Date:  August 6, 2004                     By: John C. Warren
- ---------------------                     --------------------------------------
                                          John C. Warren
                                          Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
                                          (principal executive officer)