London Bridge at the Time of Richard III
                        by Marion Harris

	The London Bridge of Richard's time was an extraordinary
structure. According to John Stow, writing in the sixteenth
century, `...it is a work very rare, having with the drawbridge
twenty arches made of squared stone of height sixty feet and
joined together with vaults and cellars; upon both sides be
houses built so that it seemeth rather a continual street than a
bridge.'1  The road ran through the center of the bridge,
beneath the houses, forming a long tunnel with shops on each
side. The shops provided prime locations for London tradesmen.
The Bridge Records of the fifteenth century list the trades of
Cutter, Pouchmaker, Glover, Goldsmith, Bowyer, plus assorted
taverns _ `Boars Head,' `White Horse,' `Red Rose.'  

	The most remarkable building on the bridge was a large
beautiful chapel, located halfway across the Thames, and
consisting of two stories; the upper was level with the road,
the lower only slightly above the surface of the river. The
chapel was dedicated to St. Thomas of Acon and `endowed for two
priests, four clerks, etc.'2  The architect & builder of the
bridge, Peter Colechurch, who had died before his work was
completed, was entombed in the chapel. 

	In addition there were towers located at each end of the
drawbridge. The gate tower, over which traitor's heads were
displayed, was on the south end toward Southwark. The second
tower was added in 1426. `John Reynwell, mayor of London, laid
one of the first corner stones in the foundation of this work,
the other three were laid by the sheriffs and the bridge
masters; upon every of these four stones was engraven in fair
Roman letters the name of `Ihesus.''3  

	Bridge House, on the Southwork end of the bridge adjoining St.
Olave's church, was the center of administration for the bridge
and its repairs. As London Bridge was regarded as a work of
national importance, Bridge House Trust attracted a long roll of
wealthy benefactors. The trust was administered by two Bridge
Masters or Wardens who were appointed by the mayor, the alderman
and the Commonality of the City. The position was much coveted &
bestowed on the most powerful citizens. The Wardens kept great
state at the Bridge House. Besides offices, the Bridge House
contained state apartments for official meetings and sumptuous
entertainments. The building had extensive grounds, with
gardens, ponds and a fountain. The Wardens kept a `game' of
swans and a pack of hounds. There was also a wharf for landing
stone, timber and anything else necessary for the repair of the
bridge or the buildings upon it.

	`London Bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down' may
refer to an early wooden bridge that was pulled down in 1008 by
King Olaf and his Norwegians who had come to the aid of Ethelred
II against the attacking Danes. When the Danes gained control of
the bridge, King Olaf pulled down the piles of the bridge by
means of ropes attached to his ships. The grateful English named
four churches in London for St. Olaf. The song may, however,
refer to the Stone Bridge that began to disintegrate almost as
soon as it was completed in 1209. `About the year 1282, through
a great frost and deep snow, five arches were borne down and
carried away. In the year 1289, the bridge was so sore decayed
for want of reparations, that men were afraid to pass thereon,
and a subsidy was granted towards the amendment thereof,...In
1381, there was a great collection or gathering of all
archbishops, bishops, and other ecclesiastical persons, for the
reparations of London Bridge.'4  Not withstanding, the counsels
of this distinguished assembly, things went from bad to worse,
and a survey made in 1425 found one of the arches was cracked
and the water of the Thames could be seen below. The Court of
Alderman passed a law that stated that no person should drive a
cart shod with iron over the bridge. In 1492, a reward of five
shillings was given to John Johnson, that the king's `great
gonne should not pass over the bridge, but rather by another
way.'5  The other way involved a long journey up river to
Kingston, where the next bridge was to be found. Until the
mid-eighteenth century, London Bridge provided the only
thoroughfare across the Thames within the vicinity of London.

	In its long history London Bridge was the scene of many
drama's. In July 1450 Cade's Rebellion played out its final act
on the bridge. The citizen's of London had been tolerant and
even somewhat sympathetic to the rebels, until they turned into
a mob and committed many acts of violence in the city. By
Sunday, July 5, the Londoners resolved to prevent Cade and his
`menie' from entering the city ever again. `And that same
evening London did rise and came out upon him at ten of the
bell, being that time her captains the good old Lord Scales and
Matthew Gough. And from that time unto the morrow eight of bell
they were ever fighting upon London Bridge, and many a man was
slain and cast into the Thames, harness, body and all; and among
the press was slain Matthew Gough and John Sutton alderman. And
the same night, anon after midnight, the Captain of Kent (Cade)
did fire the drawbridge of London.'6  After the battle Cade
fled, was captured and killed; the rebels were pardoned and the
rebellion ended.

	In spite of all these problems and many more, Old London Bridge
endured considerably over 600 years before it was finally
demolished in 1832. The bones of its builder Peter of Colechurch
were found beneath the masonry foundations of the chapel. A new
bridge was built about 100 feet upstream from the medieval
bridge. This `new bridge,' of course, now resides in Arizona.



1 Stow, John, A Survey of London, edited by Henry Morley, LLD
(London: George Routledge & Sons, 1598), 56.

2 Ibid., 54.

3 Ibid., 88.

4 Ibid., 55.

5 Benham, William, Medieval London (New York: The MacMillan
Company, 1901), 38.

6 Gairdner, J. ,ed., "The historical collections of a citizen of
London in the fifteenth century," Gregory's Chronicle,  (Camden
Society, 1876), 193.


Copyright (C) 1994 Marion Harris