London Bridge

For other uses, see London Bridge (disambiguation).

London Bridge-Fergie
The current London Bridge at dusk
Coordinates	51°30′29″N 0°05′16″W
Carries	5 lanes of A3
Crosses	River Thames
Locale	Inner London
Maintained by	Bridge House Estates, City of London Corporation
Characteristics
Design	prestressed concrete box girder bridge
Total length	262 m (860 ft)
Width	32 m (107 ft)
Longest span	104 m (340 ft)
Clearance below	8.9 m (29 ft)
History
Opened	17 March 1973
Location

London Bridge is a bridge between the City of London and Southwark in London, U.K., over the River Thames. Situated between Cannon Street Railway Bridge and Tower Bridge, it forms the western end of the Pool of London. On the south side of the bridge are Southwark Cathedral and London Bridge station; on the north side are the Monument to the Great Fire of London and Monument tube station.

It was the only bridge over the Thames downstream from Kingston until Putney Bridge opened in 1729. The current bridge opened on 17 March 1973 and is the latest in a succession of bridges to occupy the spot and claim the name.

The bridge carries part of the A3 road, which is maintained by the Greater London Authority; the bridge itself is owned and maintained by the Bridge House Estates (see City Bridge Trust), an independent charity overseen by the City of London Corporation. The area between London Bridge and Tower Bridge on the south side of the Thames is a business improvement district (BID) and is managed by Team London Bridge.

Tower Bridge is often mistakenly referred to as "London Bridge".

History

A bridge has existed at or near the present site over the period from the Roman occupation of the area, nearly 2,000 years ago. The first bridge across the Thames in the London area, probably a military pontoon bridge, was built of wood by the Romans on the present site around 50 AD.

Around 55 AD, a piled bridge was constructed, and the local Britons built a small trading settlement next to it—the town of Londinium. The settlement and the bridge were destroyed in a revolt led by Queen Boudicca in 60 AD. The victory was short-lived, and soon afterwards the Romans defeated the rebels and set about building a new walled town. Some of the 2nd-century Roman wall has survived to this day. The new town and bridge were built around the position of the present bridge, providing access to the south-coast ports via Stane Street (the A3 route) and Watling Street (the A2).

The bridge fell into disrepair after the Romans left. As Londinium was also abandoned, there was little need for a bridge at this point, and in the Saxon period the river was a political boundary between the hostile kingdoms of Mercia and Wessex. With the impact of the Viking invasions, the reconquest of the Roman city by the kings of Wessex and its re-occupation by Alfred the Great, the political conditions arose for a Saxon bridge crossing to be placed here. However, there is no archaeological evidence for a bridge before Aethelred's reign and his attempts to stem the Sweinian invasions of the 990s. In 1014, according to a much later skaldic tradition, the bridge was pulled down by the Norwegian prince Olaf, as he was aiding King Aethelred in what, if true, was a successful bid to divide the defending forces of the Danes who held the walled City of London plus Southwark, thereby regaining London for the Anglo-Saxon king. This episode has been thought to have inspired the well-known nursery rhyme "London Bridge is Falling Down".

The earliest contemporary written reference to a Saxon bridge is in 1016, when it was by-passed by King Cnut's ships in his war to regain the throne from Edmund II "Ironside". The rebuilt Norman London Bridge was destroyed in 1091 by a storm that spawned a T8/F4 tornado, which also struck St Mary-le-Bow, and is known as the London Tornado of 1091. The repair or replacement of this was carried out by William II "Rufus" through forced labour, along with the works at the new St Paul's Cathedral and the development of the Tower of London. It was destroyed yet again, this time by fire, in 1136.

"Old" (Medieval) London Bridge

An engraving by Claes Van Visscher showing Old London Bridge in 1616, with Southwark Cathedral in the foreground. The spiked heads of executed criminals can be seen above the Southwark gatehouse.

Following the 1136 destruction, some rebuilding was carried out during the reign of Stephen, presumably along the same lines as those instituted by William Rufus. On Henry II's accession, there was an attempt to regularise its maintenance by the institution of a national monastic guild to support this work—effectively by sale of indulgences. There is evidence that there were also unlicensed local guilds in London with the same purpose. In 1163, Peter de Colechurch was appointed as the "Warden of the Brethren of the Bridge", and this seems to have combined all of the preceding ad hoc arrangements. In 1173, Peter soon proposed to replace the timber bridge with a stone one, almost certainly required by the popularity of the Thomas Becket cult and the associated pilgrimage from the bridge to Canterbury. Construction began under de Colechurch's direction in 1176. A chapel was built near the centre of the bridge (dedicated to the recently martyred and canonised Becket who, appropriately, had been born in the parish of St Mary Colechurch). St. Thomas Chapel was grander than hi-town parish churches; it even had a river-level entrance for fishermen and those who taxied passengers across the river. The new bridge took 33 years to complete and was not finished until 1209, during the reign of King John. John licensed the building of houses on the bridge, as a direct means of deriving revenue for its maintenance, and it was soon colonised by shops.

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, restricting water flow and thereby making the river more susceptible to freezing over in winter because of the slower currents. The current was further obstructed by the addition of waterwheels (designed by Peter Morice) 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 to be built on London Bridge slowed down the traffic crossing the river. The houses and shops took up space and could draw crowds, and when carts broke down or animals misbehaved, 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 26 feet (8 m) wide, the buildings on the bridge took up about 7 feet (2 m) on each side of the street. Some of these buildings projected another seven feet out over the river. The road for traffic was thereby reduced to just 12 feet (4 m) wide. This meant that horses, carts, wagons, and pedestrians all shared a passageway just six feet wide, one lane going north and one south. There were a few places where houses and shops were not built, which allowed people to get out of the traffic and enjoy a glimpse of the river and the shorelines of London.

Nearly 200 places of business lined both sides of the narrow street. Ale and beer were not sold on the London bridge because these beverages required cellars, which were not present. 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 recognise 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. 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.

This pedestrian alcove is one of the surviving fragments of the old London Bridge that was demolished in 1831.

The gates to London Bridge were closed at curfew, and the bridge was regarded as a safe place to live or shop. Located within the jurisdiction of the City of London parish of St Magnus and the Southwark parish of St Olave, the Bridge community was almost a town unto itself.

In 1284, after many years of legal dispute, the City of London gained effective control and instituted the Bridge House Estates trust City Bridge Trust to maintain it from the older revenues and new endowments. The Bridge House stemmed from the site of Peter de Colechurch's original "house", i.e. maintenance depot and residence for his monastic "brethren of the bridge", next to St Olave's church in Southwark, a site still marked by the street name "Bridge Yard".

Various arches of the bridge collapsed over the years, 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.

File:Nonsuch House painting 1811.jpg

Artist's imaginative conception of Nonsuch House on London Bridge, 1811.

The Northern Gate, the New Stone Gate, was replaced by Nonsuch 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, Thomas More in 1535, Bishop John Fisher in the same year, and Thomas Cromwell in 1540. In 1598 a German visitor to London Paul Hentzner counted over 30 heads on the bridge:

On the south is a bridge of stone eight hundred feet in length, of wonderful work; it is supported upon twenty piers of square stone, sixty feet high and thirty broad, joined by arches of about twenty feet diameter. The whole is covered on each side with houses so disposed as to have the appearance of a continued street, not at all of a bridge. Upon this is built a tower, on whose top the heads of such as have been executed for high treason are placed on iron spikes: we counted above thirty..

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, both of which may have contributed to the 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 the death of 3,000 people. Another major fire broke out in 1633, destroying the northern third of the bridge, 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 has been suggested as one possible origin for the practice of traffic in Britain driving on the left.

Finally, under an Act of Parliament dated June 1756, permission was obtained to demolish all the shops and houses on London Bridge. 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.

Drawing of London Bridge from a 1682 map.

"New" (19th-century) London Bridge

New London Bridge in the early 1890s

By the end of the 18th century, it was apparent that the old London Bridge— by then over 600 years old— needed to be replaced. It was narrow and 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 feet (180 m). However, this design was never used, because of uncertainty about its feasibility and the amount of land needed for its construction. The bridge was eventually replaced by a 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 by Rennie's son (of the same name). Work began in 1824 and the foundation stone was laid, in the southern cofferdam, on 15 June 1825. The old bridge continued in use as the new bridge was being built, and was demolished after the latter opened in 1831. The scheme necessitated the building of major new approach roads, which cost three times that of the bridge itself. The total construction cost of around £2.5 million (£ as of 2024), was met by the Corporation of London and government. The contractors were Jolliffe and Banks of Merstham, Surrey. A fragment from the old bridge is set into the tower arch inside St Katharine's Church, Merstham.

Rennie's bridge had a length of 928 feet (283 m) and a width of 49 feet (15 m). Haytor granite was used in the construction, transported via the unique Haytor Granite Tramway. 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.

Corbels for London bridge at Swelltor quarry

In 1896, it was estimated that the bridge was the busiest point in London, with 8,000 people crossing the bridge by foot and 900 crossing in vehicles every hour. London Bridge was widened in 1902–04 from 52 to 65 feet (16 to 20 m), in an attempt to combat London's chronic traffic congestion. A dozen of the granite "pillars" quarried and dressed for this widening, but unused, still lie near Swelltor Quarry on the disused railway track a couple of miles south of Princetown on Dartmoor. In the end, the widening work proved too much for the bridge's foundations; it was subsequently discovered that the bridge was sinking an inch (3 cm) every eight years. By 1924, the east side of the bridge was some three to four inches (102 mm) lower than the west side; it soon became apparent that this bridge would have to be removed and replaced with a more modern one.

Sale of Rennie's bridge to Robert McCulloch

Rennie's Old London Bridge during reconstruction at Lake Havasu in March 1971

In 1967, the Common Council of the City of London placed the bridge on the market and began to look for potential buyers. Council member Ivan Luckin had put forward the idea of selling the bridge, and recalled: "They all thought I was completely crazy when I suggested we should sell London Bridge when it needed replacing." On 18 April 1968, Rennie's bridge was sold to the Missourian entrepreneur Robert P. McCulloch of McCulloch Oil for US$2,460,000. The claim that McCulloch believed mistakenly that he was buying the more impressive Tower Bridge was denied by Luckin in a newspaper interview. As the bridge was taken apart, each piece was numbered to aid re-assembly. The bridge was reconstructed at Lake Havasu City, Arizona, and re-dedicated on 10 October 1971. The reconstruction of Rennie's London Bridge spans the Bridgewater Channel canal that leads from Lake Havasu to Thomson Bay, and forms the centrepiece of a theme park in English style, complete with a Tudor period shopping mall. Rennie's London Bridge has become Arizona's second-biggest tourist attraction, after the Grand Canyon.

The rebuilt London Bridge in Lake Havasu City, Arizona

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 cladding stones used are 150 to 200 millimetres (6 to 8 inches) thick. The remaining stone was left at Merrivale Quarry at Princetown in Devon. When Merrivale Quarry was abandoned and flooded in 2003, some of the remaining stone was sold in an online auction.

Modern London Bridge

The current London Bridge was designed by Mott, Hay and Anderson. The senior engineer was Alan Simpson, the superstructure was designed by a team led by Michael Leeming, and foundations by a team led by Keith Ponting. The bridge was constructed by contractors John Mowlem and Co from 1967 to 1972, and opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 17 March 1973. It comprises three spans of prestressed-concrete box girders, a total of 928 feet (283 m) long. The bridge's lights were made from Napoleon's cannons. The bridge was built to be functional and long-lived, and, as such, it is noticeably less decorated than other Thames bridges. The cost of £4 million (£ as of 2024), was met entirely by the City Bridge Trust charity. The current bridge was built in the same location as Rennie's bridge, with the previous bridge remaining in use while the first two girders were constructed upstream and downstream. Traffic was then transferred onto the two new girders, and the previous bridge demolished to allow the final two central girders to be added.

London Bridge with the Gherkin in the background

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. London Bridge was the one bridge not subsequently stripped of the illuminations, which are switched on at night.

The current London Bridge is often shown in films, news and documentaries showing the throng of commuters journeying to work into The City from London Bridge Station (south to north). A recent example of this is actor Hugh Grant crossing the bridge north to south during the morning rush hour, in the 2002 film About a Boy.

On Saturday 11 July 2009 an 'Anniversary Fayre' of activities involving the Livery Companies and the Guildable Manor and also hosting a 'sheep drive', took place to commemorate the 800th Anniversary of the Colechurch Bridge's completion.

In vaults below the southern abutment of the bridge is 'The London Bridge Experience'.

Transport

The nearest London Underground stations are Monument and London Bridge. They are respectively at the northern and southern ends of the bridge. The London Bridge National Rail station is also nearby.

Gallery

• 
  One of the arches of London Bridge
• 
  Arches of London Bridge
• 
  London Bridge panorama photograph
• 
  London Bridge from South Bank
• 
  London Bridge southern end
• 
  London Bridge and surrounding London
• 
  Rush hour on London Bridge

See also

• List of Roman bridges
• London Bridge Is Falling Down
• Roman bridge
• The London Bridge Experience
• Kidsongs

Further reading

• Jackson, Peter, "London Bridge - A Visual History", Historical Publications, revised edition, 2002, ISBN 0-948667-82-6
• Murray, Peter & Stevens, Mary Anne, "Living Bridges - The inhabited bridge, past, present and future", Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1996, ISBN 3-7913-1734-2
• Pierce, Patricia, "Old London Bridge - The Story of the Longest Inhabited Bridge in Europe", Headline Books, 2001, ISBN 0-7472-3493-0
• Yee, Albert, "London Bridge - Progress Drawings", no publisher, 1974, no ISBN

External links

• The London Bridge Museum and Educational Trust
• Views of Old London Bridge ca. 1440, BBC London
• Southwark Council page with more info about the bridge
• Lyrics to the song "London Bridge is falling down"
• Virtual reality tour of Old London Bridge
• Futurist project of an inhabited London Bridge
• Origin of the nursery rhyme London Bridge is Falling Down
• London Bridge ca. 1647, 1749, 1831
• London Bridge at Structurae
• Team London Bridge