| Copyright 2005 S Wander | | | | executed who were to be put on display |
| London Bridge today is not the same London | | | | afterward. As late as the year 1598, a German |
| Bridge that crossed the Thames when it was first | | | | traveller counted over thirty heads. |
| built. Peter, a priest and chaplain of St. Mary's of | | | | But having so much on the bridge itself became |
| Colechurch, began the foundation of the original | | | | dangerous indeed to inhabitants and travellers. |
| bridge in 1176 to replace a wooden bridge | | | | Only three years after it was first completed, a |
| (expensive to maintain and repeatedly burned | | | | huge fire destroyed its buildings, killing perhaps |
| down) that had first been built by the Romans. | | | | 3000 people when it jumped from one end of the |
| The original London Bridge consisted of nineteen | | | | bridge to the other, trapping firefighting crowds |
| pointed arches, each with a span averaging 7 | | | | between the flames. The houses were quickly |
| meters, and built on 6-metre-wide piers. A | | | | rebuilt - and in 1282 five of the bridge arches |
| twentieth opening in the bridge was spanned by a | | | | collapsed with the weight of winter ice. But they |
| wooden drawbridge. With the building of this | | | | too were rebuilt along with their requisite buildings, |
| bridge, a peculiar effect was discovered - the tide | | | | and the bridge continued as London's sole crossing |
| roared through the narrow arches every day with | | | | of the Thames until 1750, when Westminster |
| great force; in fact, it was so dramatically | | | | Bridge opened. |
| affected that it created temporary 5-foot-high | | | | At about this time, the designer of Westminster |
| cataracts every day as it went in and out.. A new | | | | Bridge was hired to repair and renovate London |
| sport based on this nifty effect was "shooting the | | | | Bridge. Redesign and repair was deemed |
| bridge" - slipping through the arches in a small boat | | | | necessary by the narrowness of the road, the |
| when the tide was turning. | | | | huge supports of the bridge (which took up about |
| Peter of Colechurch died in 1205, and his work | | | | a quarter of the river's width), and by the |
| was completed by three other London citizens by | | | | dangerous sport of shooting the bridge and other |
| 1209. The bridge, already rather narrow for its | | | | health hazards posed by the bridge. By 1762 the |
| function, became even narrower (about 4 metres | | | | character of the bridge was changed: all the |
| wide) when shops and homes were built along | | | | houses were gone, the roadway was 14 metres |
| both sides of the roadway right on the bridge | | | | wide, and the two central arches replaced by one |
| itself; by 1358, 138 places of business were | | | | great arch, allowing much easier passage for |
| recorded in the tax rolls. And, like most older | | | | larger boats. |
| London buildings, the shops were built so that the | | | | Alas, this central arch proved difficult to maintain, |
| upper floors stretched over the roadway - at | | | | and in the early 1800s a second bridge was built a |
| last, the bridge became more like a long tunnel | | | | few meters away. The original London Bridge was |
| lined with shops, through which travelers and | | | | demolished by 1832. The new bridge was called |
| other people flowed. One can only imagine the | | | | Rennie's Bridge. Designed by George Rennie and |
| smell, with the sheltered road, no real drainage, | | | | constructed by John Rennie, it was composed of |
| and lots of horses and people! The houses were | | | | only five arches, with the central span reaching 46 |
| built so that they overhung the water as well as | | | | metres. Rennie's London Bridge had a very odd |
| the roadway, and were anchored by tying them | | | | ending. It lasted less than 140 years. Between |
| together across the street with arches of strong | | | | 1968 and 1971, it was dismantled and shipped |
| timber. In 1580, water mills added to the general | | | | across the Atlantic to the United States, where it |
| chaos of the bridge. | | | | was rebuilt in Lake Havasu City, where it still |
| The bridge was not only a home and place of | | | | stands, crossing Lake Havasu, 255 kilometres |
| business, it was a defensible structure. More than | | | | south of Hoover Dam on the Colorado River. To |
| once, its drawbridge was raised and men fought | | | | see that London Bridge, Londoners have to fly |
| under its strong tower to repulse invaders or | | | | ten thousand miles! |
| rebels, putting the wooden houses built on the | | | | The current London Bridge is modern |
| bridge at some risk. Until after the Scottish | | | | pre-stressed concrete with a central span of 104 |
| Restoration, the bridge was often decorated by | | | | meters. |
| the heads, quarters, or body parts of the | | | | |