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Old London Bridge: The Story of the Longest Inhabited Bridge in Europe
For over 600 years, Old London Bridge represented the pulsating heart of London. The scene of commerce and battle, romance and ceremony, it remained a vibrant focal point for 20 generations of Londoners. This remarkable structure—with its drawbridge, nineteen arches, and nineteen piers—stood majestic through the centuries and was an inspiration to many who saw it. This is the story of the bridge, its inhabitants, and its extraordinary evolution—and of how it came to live on in affectionate folk memory, occupying a unique place in London’s heritage.
344 pages, Paperback
First published August 30, 2001
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About the author
Patricia Pierce
16 books3 followersFrom Amazon:
Patricia (also Pat, P.M.) May Pierce (nee Culp), born 1943, was raised on a farm on Culp Road, Vineland, Ontario in the heart of Niagara's fruit lands. The family is descended from United Empire Loyalists, and from a young age she felt history all around her. Right next door was grandpa Joe Ed Culp, an amateur historian, who investigated local history. He also compiled a number of very detailed family trees, writing innumerable letters, while sitting at the kitchen table diligently bashing away on his antique typewriter.
With a knack for finding arrowheads in newly ploughed fields and orchards, it was easy for her to imagine the local native people hunting along the Twenty River and camping in nearby picturesque Jordan Hollow. On the family farm remains the huge old barn, built high for an earlier era (wheat) with a solid structure of massive tree trunks, some with the bark still on them. Parts of the barn are now listed as historic artifacts.
A graduate of The University of Waterloo, she joined the historic Ryerson Press in Toronto, Ontario. Ryerson was an old-style publishing house with presses and practices ranging from the Dickensian to the up-to-date. Older managers had been in the war together and avoided firing another veteran. It was not unheard of for a member of staff to retire after 60 years. The eccentricities of the authors - a poet with a bottle of wine might wander in before lunch for a relaxed chat - were often rivaled by those of the staff. The under-employed Advertising secretary might spend the day drawing up detailed astrological charts for colleagues followed by extensive discussion, that is, when she wan't studying electronic music. Yet in editorial meetings ideas for fine new books blossomed. (They were the first to publish Alice Munro in book form). It was all fascinating to a novice. Under one roof a successful book idea would appear and progress through all stages to printing, coming to rest in the attached warehouse. There, among the sky-high piles of books, the warehouse manager was constructing a sailboat. She was hooked on book publishing. This was wonderful. It was fun. But, of course, it had to end.
At this time Ryerson was taken over by super-efficient McGraw-Hill. The media and the public were enraged. The oldest publishing company in Canada could not be protected from a US takeover. (There was a change in the law as a result.)
It was time for a change. In 1973 came the first of 35 years in London, England, editing and writing books. With history and culture so densely to hand, and with the Continent so near, she traveled - on one adventure by motorcycle to Morocco (don't do it). She wrote and writes mainly on historical topics and the lives of the extraordinary people who make history. Her last in-house position in central London was as managing editor of a publishing house.
Patricia Pierce has returned to the Niagara Peninsula, writing and painting portraits - and still looking for arrowheads.
Patricia (also Pat, P.M.) May Pierce (nee Culp), born 1943, was raised on a farm on Culp Road, Vineland, Ontario in the heart of Niagara's fruit lands. The family is descended from United Empire Loyalists, and from a young age she felt history all around her. Right next door was grandpa Joe Ed Culp, an amateur historian, who investigated local history. He also compiled a number of very detailed family trees, writing innumerable letters, while sitting at the kitchen table diligently bashing away on his antique typewriter.
With a knack for finding arrowheads in newly ploughed fields and orchards, it was easy for her to imagine the local native people hunting along the Twenty River and camping in nearby picturesque Jordan Hollow. On the family farm remains the huge old barn, built high for an earlier era (wheat) with a solid structure of massive tree trunks, some with the bark still on them. Parts of the barn are now listed as historic artifacts.
A graduate of The University of Waterloo, she joined the historic Ryerson Press in Toronto, Ontario. Ryerson was an old-style publishing house with presses and practices ranging from the Dickensian to the up-to-date. Older managers had been in the war together and avoided firing another veteran. It was not unheard of for a member of staff to retire after 60 years. The eccentricities of the authors - a poet with a bottle of wine might wander in before lunch for a relaxed chat - were often rivaled by those of the staff. The under-employed Advertising secretary might spend the day drawing up detailed astrological charts for colleagues followed by extensive discussion, that is, when she wan't studying electronic music. Yet in editorial meetings ideas for fine new books blossomed. (They were the first to publish Alice Munro in book form). It was all fascinating to a novice. Under one roof a successful book idea would appear and progress through all stages to printing, coming to rest in the attached warehouse. There, among the sky-high piles of books, the warehouse manager was constructing a sailboat. She was hooked on book publishing. This was wonderful. It was fun. But, of course, it had to end.
At this time Ryerson was taken over by super-efficient McGraw-Hill. The media and the public were enraged. The oldest publishing company in Canada could not be protected from a US takeover. (There was a change in the law as a result.)
It was time for a change. In 1973 came the first of 35 years in London, England, editing and writing books. With history and culture so densely to hand, and with the Continent so near, she traveled - on one adventure by motorcycle to Morocco (don't do it). She wrote and writes mainly on historical topics and the lives of the extraordinary people who make history. Her last in-house position in central London was as managing editor of a publishing house.
Patricia Pierce has returned to the Niagara Peninsula, writing and painting portraits - and still looking for arrowheads.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
January 6, 2015
Three and a half stars. Old London Bridge is a marvelous, lively romp through over six hundred years of English history told from a unique perspective.
The bridge was a seriously scary place. The narrow passageway from London proper to Southwark was barely passable by carts and left little room for pedestrians. More frightening still was the water below the bridge, which was forced through narrow channels that created a sort of man-made rapids with terrifying water-level drops of six feet. Half of the Thames's flow was blocked by the bridge's foundations.
This is an old print of the London Bridge that shows the huge pilings that dammed water upstream and created strong currents and waterfalls between the arches. Note the drop in the water level on the downstream side.
This is a print showing Thames watermen 'shooting the bridge'--taking a boat through one of the weirs. The waterman's life depended on expert knowledge of the river's tides and currents.
And then, of course, there were the heads. Until well into the 17th century, dozens of heads adorned the gates to London bridge. There was a special Keeper of the Heads who was in charge of the often-renewed display. They dipped the heads in pitch so they would last longer.
I wavered between three and four stars and settled on three and a half, mostly because I think it should have been published in a coffee-table format with lots of maps and pictures and diagrams. I'm lucky to know London fairly well, and I had a map of 19th century London available, but at times I still felt the lack of visual aides. There are some illustrations, but not enough, and the author winds up spending a great many pages describing works of art that would be better viewed.
But still--great fun and truly fascinating!
The bridge was a seriously scary place. The narrow passageway from London proper to Southwark was barely passable by carts and left little room for pedestrians. More frightening still was the water below the bridge, which was forced through narrow channels that created a sort of man-made rapids with terrifying water-level drops of six feet. Half of the Thames's flow was blocked by the bridge's foundations.
This is an old print of the London Bridge that shows the huge pilings that dammed water upstream and created strong currents and waterfalls between the arches. Note the drop in the water level on the downstream side.
This is a print showing Thames watermen 'shooting the bridge'--taking a boat through one of the weirs. The waterman's life depended on expert knowledge of the river's tides and currents.
And then, of course, there were the heads. Until well into the 17th century, dozens of heads adorned the gates to London bridge. There was a special Keeper of the Heads who was in charge of the often-renewed display. They dipped the heads in pitch so they would last longer.
I wavered between three and four stars and settled on three and a half, mostly because I think it should have been published in a coffee-table format with lots of maps and pictures and diagrams. I'm lucky to know London fairly well, and I had a map of 19th century London available, but at times I still felt the lack of visual aides. There are some illustrations, but not enough, and the author winds up spending a great many pages describing works of art that would be better viewed.
But still--great fun and truly fascinating!
April 4, 2021
This was such an engrossing and wonderful book about the Old London Bridge. I read it as part of my research for my PhD and it didn't disappoint. Maybe showing a few more illustrations instead of just referencing them would have been better in order to not stop every time and google the painting because it interrupts the flow of reading.
August 28, 2011
Patricia Pierce's 'Old London Bridge-The Story of the Longest Inhabited Bridge in Europe' published in 2001 is a fascinating read from start to finish. The intricate detail of the history that surrounds the seven phases of this bridge from 1209 to the completion of Sir John Rennie's replacement in 1831 is vast. Old London Bridge spanning six hundred years, sat astride Old Father Thames when Magna Carta was signed just up river at Windsor. Three kings presided over it's construction, thirty English kings and queens passed over it. The Black Prince entered the city after Poitiers. Henry V after Agincourt. Queen Elizabeth I held a fear of travelling across it, and Queen Victoria saw it as a child.
Here is a very broad and entertaining journey through time. Stories of London and it's people from the everyday hussle of the vibrant capital, the tribulations of violent rebellions, disasters of fire and plague, the heads on poles of executed traitors over the Southwark gatehouse, the personalities of the inhabitants who lived on the bridge as well as the thousands who lost their lives 'shooting the bridge' on the water.
Literary contributions from Chaucer all the way to Pepys and Dickens. Inspiration of artists from Wyngaerde, Hollar to Canaletto and Turner. The detail in this book is just excellent.
Here is a very broad and entertaining journey through time. Stories of London and it's people from the everyday hussle of the vibrant capital, the tribulations of violent rebellions, disasters of fire and plague, the heads on poles of executed traitors over the Southwark gatehouse, the personalities of the inhabitants who lived on the bridge as well as the thousands who lost their lives 'shooting the bridge' on the water.
Literary contributions from Chaucer all the way to Pepys and Dickens. Inspiration of artists from Wyngaerde, Hollar to Canaletto and Turner. The detail in this book is just excellent.
December 21, 2014
It's hard for us today, seeing the Thames flowing brown and sullen between the high walls of its embankments, to imagine the river as it once was: broad, tidal, flowing and ebbing four times daily as it sent snaking channels through the mud flats of Southwark and the marshes of Rainham and Deptford. Then the Thames breathed through London, a liquid respiration that breathed life into the city, that life being the gold of trade carried on the tidal stream upriver to the city. The Romans, with their genius for military engineering, identified the site of London Bridge, and built the first, between Cornhill and Southwark, the site being reused when the first stone bridge was built, by Peter de Colechurch, priest and architect, in the early 13th century. Peter de Colechurch was buried in the chapel on the bridge, and it is this bridge, the inhabited, piered, weir-on-the-water wonder-of-the-world that Pierce tells the story of in her lovely book. But perhaps most wonderful of all are the drawings and paintings of the bridge, through its various incarnations, as housing rose, burned and fell along its length and the fortunes of bridge and city became entwined.
April 14, 2025
4.5 stars 😃
I saw a video on the internet a little while ago that got me really interested in learning about Old London Bridge. In the video, someone had built a model of the Old London Bridge, complete with the people walking around and the heads on Traitor’s Gate. It’s wild to think that the bridge was full of shops and homes, and was almost a city of its own. I wish it had survived intact. That would be a real bucket list travel destination for me!
This book was a close second to that. It goes into great detail on what the bridge looked like at various different times during its 622 year history, and it’s clear that much of that knowledge came from repair records, and sometimes court documents. The author presents it in a way that is very readable and fun. I’m a bit of a history nerd, and I also love Medieval architecture, so this book was a real win for me.
More than just the buildings, the book also goes into great detail on the people: Livery Companies, Bridge Wardens, the many unfortunate traitors whose heads ended up on Traitor’s Gate, ordinary Fishmongers and Haberdashers who lived on the bridge, Priests, Watermen, the list goes on and on. And the day-to-day life is given context with the broader historical events that were taking place at the time: coronations of kings and queens, Civil War, plague, prosperity and bankruptcy, the many ongoing wars with Spain and France and the many peace treaties, colonization and occupation, one very memorable jousting tournament, and even theater and festivals.
This book does seem a bit disjointed at times. What might start out as a description of a church could go off on a tangent about a person buried there, and how years later scientific analysis of the bones revealed them to be one human bone and some animal bones. It was interesting facts to be sure, but sometimes one paragraph would start off describing events in the 1700s, shoot back to the 1300s, then fast forward to the present day. I had to re-read some parts of the book occasionally when this happened. Although I will say that I’ve read a lot of other nonfiction books that do the same thing, and maybe it is just a pitfall of the genre.
I desperately wish that the very first picture in the book (the sketch of Old London Bridge during its seven stages) was much, much larger. I kept flipping back to reference it, and it was soooooo hard to read. And I wish that the art of the bridge which survived would have included more up close drawings of the buildings, like what you really would have seen if you had walked along the bridge.
At the end of the book, when the bridge is dismantled it does feel very sad. I get why they had to do it, but it’s too bad that they couldn’t have relocated the bridge and its houses to another place, so that future generations could walk through history. Rennie’s Bridge still remains, and was relocated to Arizona, but the Medieval Old London Bridge is gone forever.
I saw a video on the internet a little while ago that got me really interested in learning about Old London Bridge. In the video, someone had built a model of the Old London Bridge, complete with the people walking around and the heads on Traitor’s Gate. It’s wild to think that the bridge was full of shops and homes, and was almost a city of its own. I wish it had survived intact. That would be a real bucket list travel destination for me!
This book was a close second to that. It goes into great detail on what the bridge looked like at various different times during its 622 year history, and it’s clear that much of that knowledge came from repair records, and sometimes court documents. The author presents it in a way that is very readable and fun. I’m a bit of a history nerd, and I also love Medieval architecture, so this book was a real win for me.
More than just the buildings, the book also goes into great detail on the people: Livery Companies, Bridge Wardens, the many unfortunate traitors whose heads ended up on Traitor’s Gate, ordinary Fishmongers and Haberdashers who lived on the bridge, Priests, Watermen, the list goes on and on. And the day-to-day life is given context with the broader historical events that were taking place at the time: coronations of kings and queens, Civil War, plague, prosperity and bankruptcy, the many ongoing wars with Spain and France and the many peace treaties, colonization and occupation, one very memorable jousting tournament, and even theater and festivals.
This book does seem a bit disjointed at times. What might start out as a description of a church could go off on a tangent about a person buried there, and how years later scientific analysis of the bones revealed them to be one human bone and some animal bones. It was interesting facts to be sure, but sometimes one paragraph would start off describing events in the 1700s, shoot back to the 1300s, then fast forward to the present day. I had to re-read some parts of the book occasionally when this happened. Although I will say that I’ve read a lot of other nonfiction books that do the same thing, and maybe it is just a pitfall of the genre.
I desperately wish that the very first picture in the book (the sketch of Old London Bridge during its seven stages) was much, much larger. I kept flipping back to reference it, and it was soooooo hard to read. And I wish that the art of the bridge which survived would have included more up close drawings of the buildings, like what you really would have seen if you had walked along the bridge.
At the end of the book, when the bridge is dismantled it does feel very sad. I get why they had to do it, but it’s too bad that they couldn’t have relocated the bridge and its houses to another place, so that future generations could walk through history. Rennie’s Bridge still remains, and was relocated to Arizona, but the Medieval Old London Bridge is gone forever.
March 31, 2025
This was a detailed history of the history of London Bridge from its construction in the 12th century through to its demolition in the late 17th and the final ignonimity of its current concrete, soulless construction.
I was amazed by the ingenuity of those early builders to successfully build across a deep fast flowing Thames, at that time over 1000 feet wide as well as by the complexity and scale of the buildings on top, which included houses, shops and even a 2 storey chapel. Nonsuch House was an incredible Tudor building with several floors and mullioned windows. In places people built over the bridge too so parts of it were like a tunnel.
It was noisy, narrow, easy to fall off but held all London life as it was the only bridge across the river for several centuries. Fascinating book but sometimes a little overly detailed and lacked maps, illustration etc.
I was amazed by the ingenuity of those early builders to successfully build across a deep fast flowing Thames, at that time over 1000 feet wide as well as by the complexity and scale of the buildings on top, which included houses, shops and even a 2 storey chapel. Nonsuch House was an incredible Tudor building with several floors and mullioned windows. In places people built over the bridge too so parts of it were like a tunnel.
It was noisy, narrow, easy to fall off but held all London life as it was the only bridge across the river for several centuries. Fascinating book but sometimes a little overly detailed and lacked maps, illustration etc.
March 28, 2022
A wonderful journey through history on Londons most famous bridge!
February 27, 2025
Fascinating look at Old London Bridge’s history.
March 19, 2025
Serendipty book. found at a friperies in Montreal. Fascinating to see the history of the bridge/ city and country. Canadian author.
October 26, 2014
This was a fascinating read. I got interested in learning more about London Bridge after my daughter, in singing "London Bridge is Falling Down", wanted to know WHY the bridge was falling down and WHO is the fair lady? I knew only the barest outlines of the story of the bridge and so ordered this book to learn more. This book was fun because it encompasses such a long time period-there is a lot of history here-and because it is about the lives of the ordinary people of London who lived on this extraordinary structure. I read a lot of history and historical fiction, and much of that focuses on the nobility or royalty. The people of the bridge kept shops, worked as repairmen for the bridge, etc, and it was nice to have a story about regular people. The little slices of London life, things like a joust on the bridge, or the frost fairs on the Thames, were new to me and very interesting to learn about. I also really liked all of the engineering discussion; how the bridge was built, how it affected the flow of the river, how it was repaired, and how structures were built upon it.
I will say that this book presupposes a level of knowledge about the following (none of which I possess): 1) the geography of London. A really good, large, detailed map would have been immensely helpful. 2) The kings and queens of England. I'm pretty good from about the Tudors onward, but I have to say that the reign of Aethelred the Unready isn't my strong suit and there isn't much background. 3) The basic history of London. While there is a lot of information given, I'm not British and I'm not as familiar with the founding of the city, various peasant revolts throughout the centuries, etc. There are a LOT of names dropped in this book. The organization of the book was also a little weird. It is roughly chronological, going through previous London Bridges before the medieval bridge was built, then taking the reader through the history of the bridge roughly in order. But there were a lot of deviations from this chronology to talk about particular topics, where a broader time period might be covered (e.g. one of the later chapters has a section on booksellers on the bridge, so she starts with the relevant time period and then backtracks through some history and forward again). The other frustrating thing about this book was the constant detailed references to paintings or drawings of the bridge. I wound up reading it with Google in front of me to try to see some of the images being discussed. The book would have greatly benefited from more (and better quality) illustrations.
So all in all, a very interesting read with a few complaints about the way the book is organized and illustrated. I've been trying to learn about the bridge and this is the best modern summary source I have read so far.
I will say that this book presupposes a level of knowledge about the following (none of which I possess): 1) the geography of London. A really good, large, detailed map would have been immensely helpful. 2) The kings and queens of England. I'm pretty good from about the Tudors onward, but I have to say that the reign of Aethelred the Unready isn't my strong suit and there isn't much background. 3) The basic history of London. While there is a lot of information given, I'm not British and I'm not as familiar with the founding of the city, various peasant revolts throughout the centuries, etc. There are a LOT of names dropped in this book. The organization of the book was also a little weird. It is roughly chronological, going through previous London Bridges before the medieval bridge was built, then taking the reader through the history of the bridge roughly in order. But there were a lot of deviations from this chronology to talk about particular topics, where a broader time period might be covered (e.g. one of the later chapters has a section on booksellers on the bridge, so she starts with the relevant time period and then backtracks through some history and forward again). The other frustrating thing about this book was the constant detailed references to paintings or drawings of the bridge. I wound up reading it with Google in front of me to try to see some of the images being discussed. The book would have greatly benefited from more (and better quality) illustrations.
So all in all, a very interesting read with a few complaints about the way the book is organized and illustrated. I've been trying to learn about the bridge and this is the best modern summary source I have read so far.
February 17, 2014
Pierce has obviously undertaken meticulous research to deliver up such a fascinating book. Her snippets of real history taken from archives and anecdotes relating to the Kings and Queens who travelled over this bridge throughout the centuries brings alive this gateway to London. Her descriptions of the village life on the bridge and the ever changing shopfronts according to market demand and new technologies keeps us forever moving through time. Her portrayal of the horse drawn carriage overtaking the ferry trade and the additional bridges having to be built in more modern times to take on increasing traffic is indicative of the ever changing world we live in. There was actually a "keeper of the heads", a person who was responsible for the putting up and taking down of those heads from people who had been executed - a particularly gruesome period of history. These interesting "believe it or not" Ripley moments make it even more readable. I really enjoyed the book, although the detail at times meant I couldn't always see the forest for the trees. Also, rather than descriptions of paintings and drawings of the bridge, I would love to see actual illustrations. In a condensed form with large glossy illustrations, enlarged drawings and etchings of the bridge this would make a great coffee table book. Congratulations to Pierce for her energy and obvious passion in undertaking this project, let's hope that down the track she will do an illustrated edition.
November 24, 2012
A very interesting book, full of wonderful stories of one of the most interesting structures ever built in Europe. From its first version built in 1209 through to the 1830's version which eventually ended up in Arizona, the book chronicles the historical events and figures that happened or passed over its stones and under its arches. The only real problem with the book is that it is under-illustrated. The author mentions many different engravings but most of them are not reproduced in the book. But this aside, it is a ver valuable resource for understanding the history of this important bridge.
March 28, 2013
Interesting history full of notable "firsts" and such as well as other kinds of anecdotes. The bridge's importance is demonstrated by the simple fact of how much of England's history you get just by reading Pierce's history of the bridge. She does stretch the topic a bit to include the environs but that is probably necessary to get the complete story.
August 26, 2013
Fascinating book about a bridge that was not merely a means to cross the Thames, but a village in itself -- with shops, taverns, homes, and churches. The book's one flaw is that the illustrations are poor. Not enough of them, and those that are there are tiny and on newsprint, so no details can be seen.
Read
August 12, 2011.
May 10, 2014
good
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews