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In 1014,
when the Danes held London, the Saxons, under King
Ethelred The Unready, were joined by a band of Vikings
from Norway led by their King Olaf. Together they sailed
up the Thames to attack the Bridge and divide the Danes.
But men protected their ships with the thatched roofs
pulled from the cottages that stood on and over the
London Bridge. They rowed up under the bridge, put their
cables around the piles which supported it, and rowed
off at full speed, pulling the bridge down. The London
Bridge once again had to be rebuilt.
In 1176,
the first stone bridge was built under the direction of
Peter Colechurch. It was common in those days for men of
the cloth to design buildings as they were taught the
art of building arch structures out of stone in the
Monastic Orders. Completed in 1209, this new London
Bridge took 33 years to build and lasted more than 600
years. It had a road 20 feet wide and 300 yards long. It
was supported by 20 arches which curved to a
Gothic-style point. There was a wooden drawbridge on the
bridge to let ships in and keep invaders out. The flow
of the water was used to turn water wheels below the
arches, first for grinding grain and, in 1580, to pump
water into the city.
People
and merchants began building houses and shops on the
well-built stone bridge. It was soon completely covered
with buildings. In 1212, a disaster occurred when a
crowd of people were trapped on the London Bridge
between two fires. Many were burned to death. There was
a Stone Gate House on the bridge and on its roof stood
poles where traitors' heads were placed. This practice
started in 1304. Oliver Cromwell's head was placed on
one of the poles 350 years later.
In 1577,
Nonesuch House was built to replace the drawbridge,
stretching across the bridge with a tunnel running
through it at street level. Nonesuch House had a
framework of timber, part of which was shipped from
Holland. Not a single nail was used in its construction.
Fire again struck the Bridge in 1623. This fire started
when a maidservant left a pail of ashes under wooden
stairs. Forty-three houses were destroyed and many of
the shops were also burned and damaged. Soon the
merchants began moving, as the bridge was getting
dilapidated.
By 1657, all the houses were pulled down. The bridge was
widened and partly rebuilt with a wide center arch. The
Bridge stood like this for years until 1831, when
another New London Bridge was opened.
In 1821, a committee was appointed by Parliament to
consider the condition of the bridge. The arches had
been badly damaged by the Great Freeze, so it was
decided to build a new bridge. Plans were submitted and
rejected. This bridge would have to be quite different
from the previous London Bridge as the old prints were
for horse drawn carriages. In 1824, John Rennie's plans
were accepted. The bridge was built 100 feet west of the
old bridge. The River Thames narrows to 900 feet at this
point.
On June
15, 1825, the first stone was laid by the London Mayor
of London, John Garratt, in the presence of the Duke of
York. Six years later, William IV and Queen Adelaide
opened the New London Bridge and the old one was
demolished.
This London Bridge was built out of granite which was
quarried on Dartmoor. It was a structure of 5 arches,
and its overall dimensions were 928 feet long and 49
feet wide.
In 1902-04, it was widened by means of corbels,
increasing the space between the parapets to 65 feet and
the footpath to 15 feet.
In 1962, it was discovered that the London Bridge was
"falling down," sinking into the Thames because it was
not adequate for the increase in traffic. The City of
London decided to put the 130-year old bridge up for
auction, and construct a new one in its place.
Robert P.
McCulloch, founder of Lake Havasu City, AZ, submitted
the winning bid for $2,460,000 in 1968. McCulloch spent
another $7million to move the London Bridge to Lake
Havasu City which took a total of three years.
The bridge was shipped by boat 10,000 miles to Long
Beach, California. From there, it was trucked to Lake
Havasu City where it was stored in seven-acre fenced
storage compound. On September 23, 1968, the Lord Mayor
of London, Sir Gilbert Inglefield, laid the corner
stone. Robert Beresfornd, a civil engineer from
Nottingham, England was in charge of the reconstruction
of the London Bridge in Lake Havasu City.
As a guideline, he had a copy of the original plans
drawn by John Rennie. During the reconstruction, Mr.
Beresford drew sketches of the bridge in different
phases of construction. There are a limited number of
these prints. When Mr. Beresford returned to England, he
gave exclusive right to D & P Antique in Lake Havasu
City to sell these prints.
Each piece of the granite bridge was marked with four
numbers: the first indicated which arch span; the
second, noted which row of stones; and the last two
indicated which position in that row. It was discovered
while dismantling the Bridge, that there were code
numbers on each stone when it was originally built:
Rennie must have used the same system when the sections
left the quarries.
Construction of a new bridge over the River Thames
coincided with the dismantling of the old London Bridge.
The new bridge was built directly over the old bridge.
This new construction was managed in such a way so that
London never lost one day of traffic while transferring
from the old bridge to the new one.
Reconstructing the London Bridge in Lake Havasu City was
done in the same manner as the Egyptians built pyramids.
Sand mounds beneath each arch were carefully formed to
the profile of the original bridge arches, serving the
same function as molds. When work was completed the sand
was removed. a one-mile channel was dredged and water
was diverted from the lake, under the Bridge, then back
into the lake.
The reconstructed London Bridge was dedicated in Lake
Havasu City on October 10, 1971 with many British and
Arizona officials participating in this event that drew
50,000 spectators. |
