London Bridges No.2: London Bridge

London Bridge


Built: 1973
Designed By: Lord Holford (architect) and Mott, Hay and Anderson (engineers)
Connects: The City of London (North) with Southwark (South)
What did the Romans ever do for us? Well they gave us a bridge – near the present London Bridge the Romans built a crossing from AD 43. Far from falling down, the modern day crossing is in rude health and turns 40 next year. The previous bridge, however, was dismantled and sold (1968); Wat Tyler torched some of the houses on London Bridge in 1381; it was assailed by fire on numerous occasions, most significantly in 1136; and the original version was destroyed by the greatest Essex Girl of them all, Queen Boudicca in AD 60.
Famous Friends: Hugh Grant struggles against the swarming crowds on London Bridge in the movie About A Boy; Sophia Loren appears on the previous version of the bridge in the 1960 movie The Millionairess (with Peter Sellers).
Did You Know…?: The medieval London Bridge had shops, dwelling places and a church built on either side of the narrow road. It was often faster to cross the river by boat than over the congested London Bridge.
London Walks By The Bridge: See London Bridge on the Along the Thames Pub Walk every Friday night.