Ice damage destroyed a portion of the bridge in 1281, and it was weakened by repeated fires in the 1600s, notably the Great Fire of London in 1666. Despite all of its structural flaws, London Bridge lasted 600 years and never "came down," as the nursery rhyme suggests.
The popular image of a gallows with nooses hanging from its beams is based on descriptions written after the disaster. But these descriptions are not accurate; there were no gibbets on the bridge. What you see today is one of many revisions made to the design over time. The original bridge was built out of wood, which would have been destroyed by the hanging bodies. The designers of London Bridge rebuilt it out of stone in the late 13th century.
After the fire, the city's leaders decided that any structure this important should not be built out of wood again. So they hired an Italian architect named Stefano di Bella Porta to redesign the bridge. His plan called for a wooden frame filled with stones set into a strong riverbed foundation. This type of construction was common in Europe at the time. The famous Tower of Babel in Turkey is also made of similar materials because building with wood was so easy and cost-effective back then.
London Bridge became a symbol of London itself, since it connected the capital with everything surrounding it. In fact, the first known use of the phrase "as solid as London Bridge" was in 1553!
Apart from that, it withstood one fire in 1633 and the Great Fire of London in 1666. In the late 1820s, it was ultimately dismantled and replaced by a modern bridge. That bridge was demolished in the early 1970s and sold to an American who, according to legend, thought he was purchasing Tower Bridge. He later disassembled it piece by piece and sent the parts to all 48 states plus Canada and Australia. Unfortunately, some of the pieces were stolen and others lost under mysterious circumstances. However, what remains today of the original Tower Bridge is certainly an impressive structure.
The White Tower was built by William the Conqueror as part of the new Palace of Westminster. The tower was originally composed of three separate buildings: the White Tower, the Green Tower and the Red Tower. All that remains of the White Tower are its four white walls. The other two towers were both destroyed during the English Civil War when they were used as powder magazines.
The bridge was designed by Sir John Rennie and built by Messrs Thomas Paine and Company at a cost of £150,000 (about $1.5 million in today's money). It opened for traffic in 1772. The crossing-place was formerly called "Tower Hill" but this was changed after the erection of the White Tower because people would come to see whether the king was still alive. After the fire, the bridge was repaired several times before it was finally dismantled and replaced by the present structure in 1828.
The homes on the northern end of the bridge were destroyed by fire in 1633. Because the gap was only partially filled by new dwellings, there was a firebreak that kept the Great Fire of London (1666) from spreading to the remainder of the bridge and Southwark. The southern section remained intact because it was used as a site for public executions.
After the fire, the area was not rebuilt. The gap was eventually filled by market stalls which were replaced by roadways when the bridge was refurbished in 1756. By this time, there were no houses on the north side of the river; instead, the site is now occupied by shops and restaurants.
The last execution took place in 1783 and the bridge was then abandoned. It remains so today, serving exclusively as a pedestrian crossing between Westminster and Southwark Park.
There have been proposals to rebuild the houses on the bridge but these have never come to fruition. The current status of the bridge's housing suggests that it was not intended to be permanent or complete. Rather, it is presumed that the bridge will be replaced when necessary.
In conclusion, the removal of the northern houses from London Bridge was an effort made by Southwark Council to prevent further damage from fire. This section of the bridge was also used for public executions which did not benefit Southwark as a whole. Finally, the bridge is expected to be replaced when necessary.
The London Tornado of London Bridge has a long history of "coming down"; on this occasion, William the Conqueror's wooden bridge was one of the victims of the London Tornado of October 17th, 1091. The tornado ripped through the city's centre, causing extensive damage. It began near Charing Cross and ended near Southwark Cathedral.
The bridge was built by King Henry I and was originally called New Bridge. It replaced an earlier structure that had been damaged by Norman invaders who came to England with William the Conqueror in 1066. The new bridge was made of wood and had three arches. It was about 400 feet (120 m) long and was the only means of crossing the river south of Westminster Abbey until 1824 when the first modern bridge was built.
The old London Bridge was located north of the current one. It was made of stone and had only two arches. In 1538, it collapsed due to heavy traffic and has not been rebuilt since.
The destruction of London Bridge caused serious problems for the people living in the area at the time because there were no other bridges across the River Thames south of Westminster Abbey. As a result, they had no choice but to walk or ride their horses over the now-ruined northern bridge or try to find another way around the city.
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