A model of medieval London Bridge in a riverside church
In its day, it was the longest inhabited bridge in Europe and considered a wonder of the medieval world.
In 1176 work began to construct the first stone bridge over the river Thames, replacing the latest in a succession of timber crossings that had been built from the Roman through early medieval periods.
It was aligned with today’s Fish Street Hill, passing right by the west side of St Magnus the Martyr. The church became part of the ‘gateway’ to the City of London from the south of the river.
London Bridge was completed in 1209, stretching around 280metres between the Thames’ banks. As well as providing a route for carriages and pedestrians across the river, it was also a vibrant residential and commercial precinct, lined with 100+ houses and shops on either side.
London Bridge was the longest inhabited bridge in Europe and considered a wonder of the medieval world. The historian John Stow described it in his 1603 ‘Survey of London’ as “a work very rare”.
But impressive though it was, it had plenty of issues, too.
Ongoing development of the houses and shops transformed it into more of a tunnel than a bridge in some places. I’ve seen it written that the congestion caused by so many people, animals, and wagons meant it could take a good hour to make the crossing! Meanwhile, the piers the bridge was built upon restricted boats and transformed the flow of the river, making it prone to freezing in winter. The bridge had to be rebuilt several times following fires and arch collapses.
Eventually, in the mid-18th Century, the London Bridge Improvement Act forced the removal of the buildings to widen the road, ease congestion, and improve safety. But it wasn’t enough to ensure its long-term viability in a rapidly growing city. In 1831 a new, modern London Bridge was opened just 40m west and the medieval original demolished.
(Present day London Bridge is the third version, built in the 1970s, after the second 19th Century version was sold to an American businessman who rebuilt it in Arizona.)
Today, the only visible remains at the site of the medieval London Bridge is the pedestrian entrance arch at the foot of the St Magnus church tower. (There are also a couple of stones from the bridge in the churchyard, but building work going on next door means they’re currently behind hoardings.)
But if you step inside the church, you’re in for a lovely surprise. For on the left-hand-side of the nave is a 4.35metre long model of London Bridge c. 1400. The largely cardboard-based creation, which features hundreds of human figures, was built in 1987 by David Aggett, a member of the Worshipful Company of Plumbers.
It provides a fascinating 360degree close-up view of the bridge, giving visitors a real sense – more so than any of the many paintings and drawings created during its lifetime – of the narrowness of the passageway, the physical closeness of those who lived, worked, and crossed over it, and the unique community that perched above the river for over 500 years.
There's just something so fascinating about bridges with (semi-) permanent structures on them. Makes me wish (against all reason) we still had them. Fantastic article on a great subject.