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London Bridge

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A Brief History

From the time the Romans built Londonʼs first wooden bridge in 52 CE until Putney Bridgeʼs opening in 1729, London Bridge was the only bridge across the Thames. Throughout this time, several structures were built and rebuilt upon the bridge. John Stow’s 1598 Survey of London recalls that the bridge itself was rebuilt at least once in 1136 after a fire consumed it (Stow 1:22). Lasting for two hundred and fifteen years, the wooden bridge was not replaced by a bridge of stone until 1176 (Stow 1:23).
Since London Bridge was the only way to cross the Thames without a boat and wooden bridges of the past were often unsafe, the construction of the stone bridge was important to the city of London. Commissioned by King Henry II, partially funded by Archbishop of Canterbury Richard of Dover, and designed by Peter of Colechurch, the stone bridge was 20 feet wide and 300 yards long and was supported by 20 arches curving to a point in Gothic Style (Peter De Colechurch Bridge). Beginning in 1176 under King Henry II, the construction of the Bridge was not finished until 1209 during the reign of King John I (Stow 1:23). During this thirty-three year construction period, Peter of Colechurch died and was buried in the Chapel of Saint Thomas Becket, one of the structures built upon the bridge.
Detail from Claes Jansz Visscher’s London, reprinted ca. 1885. MAP L85c no.7 copy 3 (Digital Image File 12941). Used by permission of the Folger Shakespeare Library under a CC BY-SA 4.0 license.
Detail from Claes Jansz Visscher’s London, reprinted ca. 1885. MAP L85c no.7 copy 3 (Digital Image File 12941). Used by permission of the Folger Shakespeare Library under a CC BY-SA 4.0 license.

New Construction

Many structures were built upon London Bridge in an attempt to help repay the cost of its construction (Stow 1:23). The first was a stone chapel, located on the east side of the bridge and south side of the river (Stow 1:24). In addition to this chapel, the bridge had gatehouses, a drawbridge and Gap in transcription. Reason: Editorial omission for reasons of length or relevance. Use only in quotations in born-digital documents. (JB)[…] street houses to provide rent for the upkeep of the bridge (Peter De Colechurch Bridge). By 1358, the bridge was adorned with one hundred and thirty-eight shops, which sold various goods to those crossing. Structures on the bridge reached up to seven stories tall, and many hung over the river by measures of feet. Locations on London Bridge were rented to shops at various rates.1 For example, rent in 1401 varied from four pounds to eight pounds yearly, which amounted to a total yearly income of approximately 500 pounds. In addition to the rent gathered from shops, King Henry II placed a tax upon both wool and sheepskin, and King John licensed building plots to help offset construction costs. Neither of these tactics were successful; in 1284, the City of London acquired the charter of maintenance for the bridge by loaning money to the royal purse.
Despite its stone reconstruction, London Bridge was still subject to fire. On 10 July 1212, a fire began in Our Lady of the Canons Church on the south side of the Thames. Strong winds whipped sparks to the north end of the bridge, leaving those in the middle stranded between fires (Stow 1:24). Although rescue boats did arrive, every boat sank because they were over capacity, resulting in a death toll of approximately three thousand (Stow 1:24). In an attempt to help fund restoration of the bridge after the 1212 fire, King John levied tolls on foreign merchants, and King Henry III permitted certain monks of the Brethren of the London Bridge to travel the country to collect alms. In addition, a toll was created to add to the bridge repair fund. In 1281, a crossing cost every man on foot, with merchandise, to pay one farthing; every horseman, one penny; every pack carried on horseback, one halfpenny (Thornbury 1: 9). These tolls, while a reasonable rate, were doubtless an important component in the recuperation of the money spent on the bridge’s construction.
In addition to fire, London Bridge saw other destructive forces. Since the bridge was the only way for infantry-based armies to cross the Thames, London Bridge was the site of many battles. In 1450, Jack Cade attempted to take London, but the residents of the bridge overcame him and his followers (Stow 1:25). The gate houses on either end of the bridge succeeded in holding off other battles and sieges, such as those in 1471, 1481, and 1553 (Stow 1:25–26).
London Bridge was also the site of celebration and ceremony. Thornbury writes of the return of King Richard II in 1392, stating:
In 1392, when Richard II returned to London, reconciled to the citizens, who had resented his reckless extravagance, London Bridge was the centre of splendid pageants. At the bridge-gate the citizens presented the handsome young scapegrace with a milk-white charger, caparisoned in cloth of gold and hung with silver bells, and gave the queen2 a white palfrey, caparisoned in white and red; while from every window hung cloths of gold and silver. The citizens ended by redeeming their forfeited charter by the outrageous payment of £10,000. (Thornbury 1: 12)
Upon the Kingʼs arrival, the people adorned the bridge with extravagant decoration, a gesture which signifies London Bridge’s status as an important landmark of early modern London.

Shooting the Bridge

London Bridge had some deficiencies, the largest of which was that it obstructed the navigability of the Thames. Since the Thames is a tidal river, the current changes direction with the tides. The arches across the river were not equidistant, causing the river to develop spots that were dangerous to navigate when passing under the bridge. Because of this, bargemen who worked the river had their favourite spots to cross depending on the tidal level. They called it shooting the bridge in the same way that people today shoot rapids.
The dangers associated with shooting the bridge were exemplified as early as 1428, during the reign of Henry VI. According to Thornbury, the barge of the Duke of Norfolk, starting from St. Mary Overie’s, with many a gentleman, squire, and yeoman, about half-past four of the clock on a November afternoon, struck (through bad steering) on a starling of London Bridge, and sank (Thornbury 1: 13). Fortunately, the duke and a few other gentlemen were able to leap on the piles and were saved by ropes cast down from the parapet above. The rest, however, perished.
Upon close inspection of John Norden’s illustration, it is possible to see the currents that surround the arches which supported the bridge. It is also possible to see small boats about to shoot the bridge.
The view of London Bridge from east to weste by John Norden () From the Folger Shakespeare Library Digital Image Collection Digital Image File 7497. Used by permission of the Folger Shakespeare Library under a CC BY-SA 4.0 license.
The view of London Bridge from east to weste by John Norden (1548-1625) From the Folger Shakespeare Library Digital Image Collection Digital Image File 7497. Used by permission of the Folger Shakespeare Library under a CC BY-SA 4.0 license.

London Bridge Experience

Crossing London Bridge during the early modern period was unlike crossing any bridge that we have today. The majority of the twenty-foot-wide bridge was covered with structures on either side. Because London Bridge was the only way to cross the Thames that did not involve a boat, it was the primary way carriages, wagons, and horses crossed the river, so traffic was both thick and dangerous. Since there were no sidewalks on the bridge, pedestrians had to be as aware of other traffic as they were in the narrow, winding roads of London. The structures on either side were so large that they were buttressed from the river below and needed to be connected across the bridge with wood for support; otherwise, they would either fall into the river or crash down upon the bridge. According to Cushman, the structures above the shops Gap in transcription. Reason: Editorial omission for reasons of length or relevance. Use only in quotations in born-digital documents. (JB)[…] leaned so far over the street that Mistress A could pass a sausage to Mistress B across the road without leaving her house (Cushman 128).
In 1304, London began putting traitors’ heads on poles attached to the gate house. The first person with this ignoble honour was William Wallace. The practice of displaying heads on London Bridge (as depicted in Claes Visscher’s illustration, shown above) seems to have continued for centuries. Perhaps most notably, the head of Sir Thomas More was displayed in 1535, and Thomas Cromwell’s head was displayed following his execution in 1540. James Shapiro notes that Shakespeare’s relatives John Somerville and Edward Arden also had their heads mounted on stakes atop London Bridge as punishment for their involvement in a Catholic conspiracy against Queen Elizabeth I’s life in 1583 (Shapiro 142). The displaying of heads on the bridge functioned as a symbolic testament to political authority. Many playgoers would see these heads as they crossed the London Bridge to reach the Swan, the Globe, and the Rose in Southwark—an experience that would perhaps have added further significance to plays dealing with execution and treason.
During the Great Fire of London in 1666, the bridge was one of the few places in the heart of London that was not completely decimated. Because of an earlier fire that had occurred in 1633, a large break between buildings which had not yet been completely rebuilt prevented the houses on the other side from catching fire. Had the gap from the previous fire not remained, there is a very real possibility that the fire could have crossed into Southwark.
Over the years, citizen traffic increased on the bridge, and as traffic increased, the bridge became considerably more dangerous. In 1722, a keep left rule was instituted to help with congestion. By 1763, it could take several hours to cross London Bridge, so the houses and shops that lined the bridge were torn down. Due to age, modification, and damage from ice, a new London Bridge was commissioned in 1821, and building began on 15 June 1825 (Rennie Bridge). The most recent incarnation of London Bridge, which opened officially in 1973, dates back to a 1967 act of Parliament (2000 Years of London Bridge).

Notes

  1. Data for Bridge House rentals from 1381-1538 is available through British History Online, accessible here. (JB)↑
  2. I.e., Anne of Bohemia. (JB)↑

References

Cite this page

MLA citation

Bourgon, Jennifer, and Thomas Szymankiewicz. London Bridge. The Map of Early Modern London, Edition 6.6, edited by Janelle Jenstad, U of Victoria, 30 Jun. 2021, mapoflondon.uvic.ca/edition/6.6/LOND1.htm.

Chicago citation

Bourgon, Jennifer, and Thomas Szymankiewicz. London Bridge. The Map of Early Modern London, Edition 6.6. Ed. Janelle Jenstad. Victoria: University of Victoria. Accessed June 30, 2021. mapoflondon.uvic.ca/edition/6.6/LOND1.htm.

APA citation

Bourgon, J., & Szymankiewicz, T. 2021. London Bridge. In J. Jenstad (Ed), The Map of Early Modern London (Edition 6.6). Victoria: University of Victoria. Retrieved from https://mapoflondon.uvic.ca/editions/6.6/LOND1.htm.

RIS file (for RefMan, RefWorks, EndNote etc.)

Provider: University of Victoria
Database: The Map of Early Modern London
Content: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

TY  - ELEC
A1  - Bourgon, Jennifer
A1  - Szymankiewicz, Thomas
ED  - Jenstad, Janelle
T1  - London Bridge
T2  - The Map of Early Modern London
ET  - 6.6
PY  - 2021
DA  - 2021/06/30
CY  - Victoria
PB  - University of Victoria
LA  - English
UR  - https://mapoflondon.uvic.ca/edition/6.6/LOND1.htm
UR  - https://mapoflondon.uvic.ca/edition/6.6/xml/standalone/LOND1.xml
ER  -

TEI citation

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