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