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London Bridge

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Architecture

   The current London Bridge, viewed from the south
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   The current London Bridge, viewed from the south

   London Bridge is a bridge in London, England over the River Thames,
   between the City of London and Southwark. It is between Cannon Street
   Railway Bridge and Tower Bridge; it also forms the western end of the
   Pool of London. London's original bridge made this one of the most
   famous bridge emplacements in the world. It was the only bridge over
   the Thames in London until Westminster Bridge was opened in 1750.

   On the south side of the bridge is Southwark Cathedral and London
   Bridge station. On the north side is the Monument to the Great Fire of
   London and Monument tube station.

   The bridge is designated as part of the A3 road, maintained by the
   Greater London Authority.

   Tower Bridge is sometimes mistakenly referred to as London Bridge.

History

   A bridge has existed at or near the present site for nearly 2000 years.
   The first bridge across the Thames in the London area was built by the
   Romans on the present site around 46 AD and was made of wood. The
   location was most likely chosen as a bridgeable spot which still had
   deepwater access to the sea. The bridge fell into disrepair after the
   Romans left, but at some point either it was repaired or a new timber
   replacement constructed, probably more than once. In 1013, the bridge
   was burned down by King Aethelred in a bid to divide the invading
   forces of the Dane Svein Haraldsson. This episode might have inspired
   the well-known nursery rhyme London Bridge is Falling Down although the
   version of the song we know today refers to the many bridges that were
   destroyed and rebuilt, and the trading done on the shops over it
   ("Silver and Gold") in the 14th century so the song's origin is
   presumably of a much later date. The rebuilt London Bridge was
   destroyed by a storm in 1091 and yet again, this time by fire, in 1136.

Old London Bridge

   A contemporary drawing showing Old London Bridge in 1616
   Enlarge
   A contemporary drawing showing Old London Bridge in 1616
   This pedestrian alcove is one of only two surviving fragments of the
   old London Bridge that was demolished in 1831. They have resided in
   Victoria Park, Tower Hamlets since 1860.
   Enlarge
   This pedestrian alcove is one of only two surviving fragments of the
   old London Bridge that was demolished in 1831. They have resided in
   Victoria Park, Tower Hamlets since 1860.

   Following the 1136 destruction of London bridge, its maintainer Peter
   de Colechurch proposed to replace the timber bridge with a permanent
   stone construction. A tax was levied to fund the new stone bridge, and
   construction of a new stone bridge was begun in the reign of Henry II,
   under de Colechurch's direction, in 1176. The new bridge took 33 years
   to complete and was not finished until 1209, four years after de
   Colechurch died, during the reign of King John.

   John had the idea to build houses on the bridge, and it was soon
   colonised by houses, shops and even a chapel built at the centre of the
   bridge (dedicated to the recently martyred and canonised Thomas Becket
   who, appropriately, had been born in the parish of St Mary Colechurch).
   St. Thomas Chapel was grander than many small town parish churches. It
   even had a river level entrance for fishermen and those who taxied
   passengers across the river.

   The medieval bridge had 19 small arches and a drawbridge with a
   defensive gatehouse at the southern end. Contemporary pictures show it
   crowded with buildings of up to seven stories in height. The narrowness
   of the arches meant that it acted as a partial barrage over the Thames,
   blocking an estimated 80% of the river flow and thereby making the
   river more susceptible to freezing over in winter. The current was
   further obstructed by the addition of water-wheels under the two north
   arches to drive water pumps, and under the two south arches to power
   grain mills. This produced ferocious rapids between the piers or
   "starlings" of the bridge, as the difference between the water levels
   on each side could be as much as six feet (two metres). Only the brave
   or foolhardy attempted to "shoot the bridge" – steer a boat between the
   starlings – and many were drowned trying to do so. As the saying went,
   the bridge was "for wise men to pass over, and for fools to pass
   under."

   The decision of King John to allow shops built on London Bridge slowed
   down the traffic crossing the river. The houses and shops took up space
   and when carts broke down or animals revolted, crossing the bridge
   could take up to an hour. For this reason people on foot often chose to
   use the dozens of river taxi boats that quickly ferried Londoners from
   shore to shore.

   Although the bridge itself was about twenty-six feet wide, the
   buildings on the bridge took up about seven feet on each side of the
   street. Some of these building projected another seven feet out over
   the river. The road for traffic was thereby reduced to just twelve feet
   wide. This meant that horses, carts, wagons, and pedestrians all shared
   a passage way just six feet wide, one lane going north and one south.
   There were a few places where houses and shops were not built. These
   breaks allowed people to get out of the pushing traffic and enjoy a
   glimpse of the Thames and the shorelines of London and Southwark.

   Most people who visited the bridge, for reasons other than crossing the
   Thames, went there to shop. Nearly two hundred places of business lined
   both sides of the narrow street. Ale and beer were not sold on the
   London because these beverages required cool cellars, which were not
   possible in a building construction on a bridge. The merchants lived
   above their shops and sold goods from the street level floor. They used
   windows to show their goods and transact business. Over each shop hung
   a sign usually in the shape of the articles sold in order that the
   illiterate could recognize the nature of the business. These signs were
   posted high enough that a rider on a horse could pass beneath them.
   Every inch of the small street had to be available to vehicular
   traffic.

   One of the benefits of shopping on London Bridge was that many of the
   top floors of the houses and shops were built over the street and
   actually connected to the house or shop across the street, giving the
   street a tunnel look. These connecting overhead structures provided
   shelter from the weather and was a forerunner of the modern shopping
   mall.

   The gates to London Bridge were closed at curfew, and the bridge was
   regarded as a safe place to live or shop. Located neither in London nor
   in Southwark, the Bridge community was almost a town unto itself. The
   major thievery was the ever present pickpocket. Its greatest dangers
   were fire and death by drowning as few people knew how to swim.
   Additionally, the winter sounds of ice floes cracking and crashing into
   its nineteen piers must have caused bridge dwellers many a sleepless
   night.

   Various arches of the bridge collapsed at various points, and houses on
   the bridge were burnt during Wat Tyler's Peasants' Revolt in 1381 and
   Jack Cade's rebellion in 1450, during which a pitched battle was fought
   on the bridge.

   The northern gate, the New Stone Gate, was replaced by Nonesuch House
   in 1577. The southern gatehouse, the Stone Gateway, became the scene of
   one of London's most notorious sights: a display of the severed heads
   of traitors, impaled on pikes and dipped in tar to preserve them
   against the elements. The head of William Wallace was the first to
   appear on the gate, in 1305, starting a tradition that was to continue
   for another 355 years. Other famous heads on pikes included those of
   Jack Cade in 1450; Sir Thomas More in 1535; Bishop John Fisher, also in
   1535; and Thomas Cromwell in 1540. A German visitor to London in 1598
   counted over thirty heads on the bridge. The practice was finally
   stopped in 1660, following the Restoration of King Charles II.

   The buildings on London Bridge created a major fire hazard and served
   to increase the load on its arches, so it is not surprising that there
   were several disasters on the bridge. In 1212, perhaps the greatest of
   the early fires of London broke out on both ends of the bridge
   simultaneously, trapping many in the middle and reportedly resulting in
   3,000 people being killed. Another major fire broke out in 1633 with
   the northern third of the bridge being destroyed, although this
   prevented the bridge from being damaged by the Great Fire of London in
   1666. By 1722, congestion was becoming so serious that the Lord Mayor
   decreed that "All carts, coaches and other carriages coming out of
   Southwark into this City do keep all along the west side of the said
   bridge: and all carts and coaches going out of the City do keep along
   the east side of the said bridge". This is possibly the origin of
   traffic in Britain driving on the left. Finally, in 1758–62, the houses
   were removed along with the two centre arches, replaced with a single
   wider span to improve navigation on the river.

New London Bridge

   New London Bridge in the early 1890s
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   New London Bridge in the early 1890s

   By the end of the 18th century, it was apparent that the old London
   Bridge — by now over 600 years old — needed to be replaced. It was
   narrow, decrepit, and blocked river traffic. In 1799, a competition for
   designs to replace the old bridge was held, prompting the engineer
   Thomas Telford to propose a bridge with a single iron arch spanning 600
   ft (180 m). The revolutionary nature of this design won praise but it
   was never used, due to uncertainty about its feasibility and the amount
   of land needed for its construction.

   The bridge was eventually replaced by an elegant structure of five
   stone arches, designed by engineer John Rennie. The new bridge was
   built 100 feet (30 m) west (upstream) of the original site at a cost of
   £2,000,000 and was completed by Rennie's son (of the same name) over a
   seven-year period from 1824 to 1831. The old bridge continued in use as
   the new bridge was being built, and was demolished after the new bridge
   opened in 1831.

   Rennie's bridge was constructed from Dartmoor granite, with a length of
   928 feet (283 m) and a width of 49 feet (15 m). The official opening
   took place on 1 August 1831; King William IV and Queen Adelaide
   attended a banquet in a pavilion erected on the bridge. The recently
   constructed HMS Beagle was the first ship to pass under it. It was
   widened in 1902–4 from 52 to 65 feet (16 to 20 m) in an attempt to
   combat London's chronic traffic congestion. Unfortunately, this proved
   too much for the bridge's foundations; it was subsequently discovered
   that the bridge was sinking an inch every eight years. By 1924, the
   east side of the bridge was some three to four inches lower than the
   west side; it soon became apparent that the old bridge would have to be
   removed and replaced with a more modern one.
   The rebuilt London Bridge in Lake Havasu City, Arizona
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   The rebuilt London Bridge in Lake Havasu City, Arizona

   On 18 April 1968, Rennie's bridge was sold to the American entrepreneur
   Robert P. McCulloch of McCulloch Oil for the sum of $2,460,000. It has
   been claimed that he was under the mistaken impression that he was
   buying the more impressive Tower Bridge, which is often erroneously
   thought of as 'London Bridge' by tourists, although McCulloch denied
   this. The bridge was reconstructed at Lake Havasu City, Arizona, and
   dedicated on October 10, 1971. Not all of the bridge was transported to
   America, as some was kept behind in lieu of tax duties.

   The version of London Bridge that was rebuilt at Lake Havasu consists
   of a concrete frame with stones from the old London Bridge used as
   cladding. The remaining stone was left at Merrivale Quarry on Dartmoor
   in Devon, so a large part of Rennie's bridge never left the UK. When
   Merrivale Quarry was abandoned and flooded in 2003, the remaining
   stones were auctioned off. The reconstruction of Rennie's London Bridge
   spans a canal that leads from Lake Havasu to Thomson Bay, and forms the
   centrepiece of a theme park in English style, complete with mock- Tudor
   shopping mall. Rennie's London Bridge has become Arizona's
   second-biggest tourist attraction, after the Grand Canyon.

Modern London Bridge

   London Bridge at 0800. The bridge is a major commuter route into the
   City of London
   Enlarge
   London Bridge at 0800. The bridge is a major commuter route into the
   City of London

   The current London Bridge was constructed by contractors John Mowlem
   from 1967 to 1972, and opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 17 March 1973.
   It is a dull edifice comprising three spans of pre-stressed concrete
   cantilevers, paid for in part by the sale of the earlier Rennie bridge.
   It is 928 feet (283 m) long. The cost of £4 million was met entirely by
   the City of London's Bridge House Estates. The current bridge was built
   in the same location as Rennie's bridge, which was carefully demolished
   piece by piece as the new bridge was built, so the bridge would remain
   in use throughout.

   In 1984 the British warship HMS Jupiter collided with London Bridge
   causing significant damage to both ship and bridge.

   On Remembrance Day 2004, various London bridges were furnished with red
   lighting as part of a night-time flight along the river by wartime
   aircraft. The red lighting on London Bridge considerably improved its
   drab appearance, so it has been left on the bridge (but not the other
   bridges) and lights it at night.

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Bridge"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
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