Chapter XVII: Part 17

“The petition alluded to, contains a curious historical outline of the Water-works at London Bridge, tracing their gradual extension from one to four of its Arches; the leases of all which were to terminate in the year 2082, being 500 years from the time when the original grant was made, the remainder taking only the unexpired term. The 1st and 2nd Northern Arches were let for 500 years, from November 24th, 1582, at 10_s._ _per annum_; and the 4th Arch, from August 24th, 1701, for 381-1/4 years, also at 10_s._ _per annum_, and a fine of £300. The lease of the 3rd Arch, however,--formerly stopped up and let to a Wharfinger,--did not commence until Michaelmas day, 1761, when it was granted for the term of 321 years, at the old rent; though the Proprietors of the Water-works had made proposals for it in 1731 and 1743, when it was unoccupied, the last tenant having quitted it at Lady-day, 1718. These leases were the more readily granted, as it was supposed that the Water-works were a protection to the Bridge and the vessels below it; whilst it was asserted that the Arches they occupied were but very seldom used, and the lessees covenanted to secure their engines by piles, as well as to keep the Piers and Sterlings built upon, in proper repair. Their fire-plugs, too, were to be under the direction of the Committee of City-Lands; the Works were not to rise higher than the cellars of the buildings on London Bridge; and houses in general, in the City and its liberties, were to be supplied with water at 20_s._ _per annum_. In petitioning for a fifth Arch, it was represented, that, notwithstanding the great expense incurred for the Water-works, the engine was yet inadequate to the furnishing at all times a sufficient supply of water. The wheels under the other four Arches would never act with the same velocity as they did before the late alteration of the Bridge; but as the 5th Arch stood nearer the central current of the River, the continual flowing of the tide would give the works additional power, without being any obstacle to the navigation. On the other hand, however, several counter-petitions were presented from the Wharfingers and Lightermen, stating the dangerous eddy at the Great Arch, arising from the closing of those Arches called the Long Entry and Chapel Locks, to give force to the current at the Water-works; and praying that they might be opened, the middle of the River kept free, or that two Arches at the South end might be closed instead of them. We have already seen, that these suits made but slow progress; and accordingly we find that the petition from the Water-works was first referred to a Sub-committee by the Committee of City-Lands, on Wednesday, December 4th, 1765; to the Committee itself on Friday, November 28th, 1766: and on Tuesday, December 16th, their Report was delivered to the Court of Common Council. Before these Committees, the Proprietors of the Water-works appeared on Tuesday, October 21st, and Wednesday, November 19th, 1766; when the complaints of their pipes leaking, and the navigation being endangered, were stated, and remedies ordered to be provided. They were also asked, whether they would undertake, on forfeiture of their lease, ‘to keep their engine at work during the times of dead high and low-water, when their wheels lay still, provided they had leave to raise their tenants 1_s._ yearly for every house.’ To this they ultimately agreed, the additional rent being made 2_s._; and to remedy the leakage of such pipes as lay across the Bridge for the supply of Southwark, it was proposed that they should be entirely removed, the first Arch on the Surrey side of the Bridge being stopped up, and a wheel erected in the second, 10_s._ _per annum_ being paid for each, whilst the Long Entry and Chapel Locks were to be re-opened. Such then were the measures recommended in the Committee’s Report, as being without danger and of general benefit; but before they were acceded to, these particulars were ordered to be printed, and a copy sent to some of the most eminent Surveyors of the time, Messrs. Brindley, Smeaton, Yeoman, Mylne, and Wooler, whose answers were read to the Common Council, on Wednesday, February 25th, 1767. At the same time, too, as we are informed by the ‘_Gazetteer_’ of the day following, the Proprietors of the Water-works were heard upon the subject of their alterations, though the decision was referred to the next Court. The Engineers generally agreed, that by opening the Long Entry and Chapel Locks, taking away the water-pipes upon the Bridge, erecting a wheel in the 5th Arch, and occupying the farthest two on the Surrey side, the edifice and navigation would be generally improved. Mr. Mylne, however, recommended that the 5th Arch should not be granted; but that so many Arches at the South end should be wholly stopped, as would be equal to compensate the Water-works for their loss by the Great Arch; adding, that the pipes were slowly, but certainly, ruining the Bridge; and that a Water-company, then established in Southwark, should be encouraged to supply the whole of the Borough. The Corporation, however, did not yet come to a decision, but on Friday, March 13th, 1767, the Town Clerk was again ordered to solicit the Engineers to re-consider the subject, and to point out the course most proper to be followed. The second series of answers, which was read at a Court of Common Council, on Tuesday, June 23rd, chiefly confirmed and referred to the former. Messrs. Wooler and Mylne were, however, decidedly against any new grants to the Water-works, of which they earnestly recommended the removal, as well as the opening of the closed-up Arches; proposing to substitute a horse, or fire, engine, on both sides of the river, or closing up three Arches on the Surrey shore. Mr. Yeoman also recommended the taking away of the Water-works; whilst Mr. Smeaton, considering that the bed of the Thames had become so unequal that it would require several centuries to restore its level, argued that the stoppage of London Bridge was useful both to the Water-works and navigation in general, and that it remained only to employ the force of water in the most beneficial manner. By his Report the Corporation seems to have been determined; since the ‘_Gazetteer_’ of June 24th states, that Mr. Mylne was examined, and, after a long debate, the 5th Arch was granted to the Water-works, upon the conditions already mentioned: though there were, subsequently, several disputes on points of law, and particularly upon the power which the Corporation had to grant away the passage of a navigable river.

“The ‘_Gazetteer_’ for Monday, Dec. 28th, 1767, informs us that the two Arches adjoining the South end of the Bridge were, at length, then stopped up, and wheels preparing to be erected in each of them; and on the 30th, most of the Locks at that part of the edifice were entirely closed by the ice. It was not, however, until the year 1770, as we are informed in Concannen’s ‘_History of Southwark_,’ page 233, that the Borough Water-works were perfected by the erection of a Steam-Engine; though a part of the machinery was originally erected on the River-banks for the supply of Mr. Thrale’s Brewery, when it was worked by horses. These works were then known by the name of their proprietor, which was afterwards changed for that of the Company which bought them: and an engine erected, wherein the pressure of the atmosphere acted upon the Steam-piston.

“I proceed now, Mr. Barbican, to give you some account of the Water-works erected at the North end of London Bridge, which were considered to be far superior even to the celebrated hydraulics of Marli, in France. You are already aware, that the wheels beneath the Arches were turned by the common tide-water of the Thames; the axle-trees being 19 feet in length, and 3 in diameter, having 4 sets of arms, 8 in each place, on which were fixed 4 rings, or fellies, 20 feet in diameter, with 26 floats of 14 feet long, and 18 inches deep. The gudgeons, or centre-pins, of these wheels, rested upon brasses, fixed on 2 large levers 16 feet long, the tops of which were formed of arched timber, the levers being made circular on their lower sides to an arch, and kept in their places by 2 arching studs fixed in a stock, through 2 mortices in the lever. To the lower part of the arch on the lever, was fixed a strong triple chain, the links attached to circles of 1 foot in diameter, having notches or teeth, to take hold of the leaves of a cast-iron pinion, 10 inches in diameter, with 8 teeth in it, moving on an axis. The other end of this chain had a large weight hanging from it, to assist in counterpoising the wheel, and to preserve the chain from sliding on the pinion. On the same axis with the pinion, were 2 cog-wheels; one of 6 feet in diameter having 48 cogs, and another of 51 cogs, each working in a trundle of 6 rounds: on this axis there was also a winch, by which one man could raise or lower the wheels as occasion might require. Near the end of the great axle-tree, was another cog-wheel of 8 feet in diameter, and 44 cogs, working into a trundle of 20 rounds, 4-1/2 feet in diameter; the axis of which was fixed in brasses at each end of the lever before mentioned, and communicated with iron cranks having 4 necks, each of which raised an iron spear attached to levers 24 feet in length. To the other ends were fastened iron rods and forcing-plugs, working in cast-iron cylinders 4-3/4 feet long, 7 inches in bore above, and 9 below, where the valves were. These cylinders were placed over a hollow trunk of cast-iron, with 4 valves in it, immediately beneath them; and as one end of the trunk was furnished with a sucking-pipe and grate going into the water, they were each filled alternately, and delivered their supplies through curved pipes into a second trunk, furnished with an iron pipe, through which the water was forced up to any height required. These were, however, only half the works; the whole of the mechanism being double to each wheel. The first wheel in the Arch next the City, worked 16 forcers; and in the third Arch were three wheels, one working 12, the second 8, and another 16 forcers. Their utmost power of raising water was estimated from four of the wheels, to be 2052 gallons per minute; 123,120 gallons--being equal to 1954 hogsheads--in an hour; or 46,896 hogsheads daily, to the height of 120 feet, including the waste, which might be considered as a fifth part of the whole. Every revolution of a wheel, made 2-1/2 strokes in every minute in all the forcers, the wheels turning 6 times in a minute at high-water, and 4-1/2 times at middle water; and it was stated before a Committee of the House of Commons, that in the year 1820, these Works supplied 26,322,705 hogsheads of water. It is usual to give Dr. Desaguliers as the authority for these particulars, but I have abstracted them from the ‘_Philosophical Transactions_,’ already referred to; and they are also printed in Maitland’s ‘_History_,’ volume i., page 51, whence they have been copied into almost every subsequent account of London. After the grant of a fifth Arch to the Water-works, about July 1767, an improved wheel was designed by Mr. Smeaton, to be erected at that part; of which two engravings and several particulars, together with his remarks on the Water-engine, are inserted in the Second volume of his ‘_Reports_’ already cited, Plates ii.-iii., pages 27-30.

“I have in my possession a large and curious old drawing, in colours, representing two elevations, and a ground-plan of these Works and the Water-Tower, executed before the grant of a fifth Arch, or the erection of wheels at the South end of the edifice, which is chiefly interesting, as shewing the courses of the main-pipes then attached to every wheel for conveying water to the various parts of London; which were connected and furnished in the following manner. Bishopsgate Main, supplied from the Wheels under the 3rd Arch, and Western end of the 4th, called ‘the Upper, and Borough Wheels:’ Cheapside Main, from those under the second and 3rd Arches, called the ‘Three-Ringed, and Low Wheels:’ Aldgate Main, from those under the 2nd Arch, and the Eastern end of the 4th, expressed by the same name: Fleet-street Main, from a small Wheel in the 1st Arch, and another at the Western end of the 4th, called ‘the Two-Ringed, and Borough Wheels:’ Newgate-street Main, from those in the 2nd Arch, and the Western end of the 4th, or ‘the Upper, and Three-Ringed Wheels:’ Broad-street Main, principally from ‘the Low-Wheel,’ under the 2nd Arch; though it also derived some water from that at the Western end of the 4th: Grace Church-street Main, from those in the 1st and 2nd Arches, or ‘the Two-Ringed, and Three-Ringed Wheels:’ Cannon-street Main, from ‘the Upper, and Borough Wheels,’ or those beneath the 3rd and 4th Arches: Thames-street Main, from a ‘Low Wheel’ at the Eastern end of the 4th Arch; and the Borough Main, from the proper Wheel, which was situate at its Western extremity, forming ten sets of main-pipes in all. At each end of the Bridge, round the Western-sides of the Water-works, were wooden platforms or galleries, occasionally decorated with plants and flowers; and immediately over the Wheels at the City end, were the work-shops belonging to them. Their history is now, however, fast drawing to a close: in March, 1817, the managers gave notice that they were about to rebuild their largest Water-wheel; but on July 26th, 1822, the third Year of King George IV., an Act was passed for their entire removal, with a view of improving London Bridge, or erecting a new one. You will, of course, find this document in ‘_The Statutes of the Realm_,’ by John Raithby, Esq., volume viii., London, 1822, quarto, pages 1049-1054; it being chapter cix. of the ‘_Local and Personal Acts declared public_:’ and I shall now give you a slight idea of its contents. Having declared, that about 260 years of the original grants to the Water-works are yet unexpired, it is enacted that the Corporation of London shall raise £15,000 out of the Bridge-House Estates, for carrying the Act into effect; £10,000 of which should be paid to the Proprietors of the Water-works, for rendering void all their licences, and transferring all their machinery, buildings, &c. to the New-River Company, which Company was entitled to commence receiving rents and defraying expenses connected with the Water, from June 24th, 1822; and it was also licensed to procure leave from the Corporation, to cut the River-banks, &c. below low-water mark, not exceeding 100 feet from the East side of the present Bridge, for laying down pipes, &c., saving the City’s rights in the Thames; paying the sum of 20_s._ as a fine for so doing, and 20_s._ annually afterwards. Full powers were likewise granted, that the Company might lay down pipes in the streets, and over the Bridges of London; and that it might resign the supply of a part of a district to another party, and receive a recompence in return; adding that it should neither be compelled to continue the supply, nor be considered to have an exclusive right to it. Upon conclusion of the agreement, the Company was to remove the whole machinery, &c. within the six months following, which was otherwise to be taken up and sold by the Corporation. The New-River Company was also charged with the payment of certain annuities to the former Proprietors of the Water-works, for the remainder of their lease, as well as with the pensions due to their servants, &c. to be defrayed out of the rents received. Such, then, was the end of the London Bridge Water-works; and the only other remarkable event which I find recorded in the year 1767, connected with our edifice is, that on Saturday, November 28th, about 5 o’clock in the morning, the tide ebbed and flowed at this place, and at Greenwich, twice within an hour and a half; as you will find recorded both in the ‘_Continuation of Maitland’s History_,’ page 71, and in the ‘_Gazetteer_’ for Wednesday, December 22nd.

“The year 1768 commenced with so violent and general a frost, that its effects were felt equally upon the land and the water. ‘It is said,’ observes the ‘_Gazetteer_’ of Friday, January 1st, ‘that London Bridge is in great danger by this severe frost: the most essential of the piles which form the Sterlings have been lately observed to be quite loose, and playing in the water; and workmen have been ordered, notwithstanding the imminent danger, to throw Kentish rag-stone round the piers.’ In addition to this, there were also several fatal accidents, arising from the River being frozen, which were likewise greatly detrimental to this edifice. The night of Tuesday, January 5th, was said to have been the most fatal ever known for damage done upon the Thames: one French vessel was thrown upon the Sterlings of the Bridge, with the loss of her bow-sprit, where it was obliged to be kept for several days secured by ropes; and two others were driven through the Centre Arch, losing their main-masts, and carrying away the lamps from the parapet. Some barges also got across the other Arches, and after the breaking up of the frost, which was about the middle of January, the ‘_Gazetteer_’ of Thursday, 21st, states, that ‘yesterday a great many tons of Kentish rag-stones were thrown under the Great Arch of London Bridge, as a supposed temporary remedy against the damage the foundation received during the late frost. An expedient productive of infinite ruin to the navigation, as they are soon scowered away again, and an accumulating expense to the City of an alarming nature.’ It is also added in the same paper for Tuesday, February 2nd, that ‘the damages done to London Bridge Water-works in the late severe weather, are not yet repaired, though the workmen have worked over hours, and on Sundays, ever since the weather broke. The last damaged wheel will be at work this week.’ It had been frequently remarked in the papers of this period, that the amount of rents received from the Proprietors of the London Bridge Water-works, was not, in any degree, proportionate to the expenses of their repairs, which were calculated at £2500 yearly; and in the ‘_Gazetteer_’ for Friday, April 22nd, 1768, it is stated that they returned only £3000 clear of all expenses. It is also rather curiously observed, that ‘’tis computed that there are drowned at London Bridge, about 50 people upon an average every year; which, as they are the prime of watermen, bargemen, and seamen, amount, at £400 each, to £20,000 _per annum_.’ The ‘_Continuation of Maitland’s History_,’ page 73, states, that on April 10th, in this year, the Thames was so remarkably low, that it was with difficulty even a wherry could cross it, the sand-banks on both sides of the Bridge being entirely dry. And now, as I have already mentioned to you several particulars concerning the foundation of Blackfriars’ Bridge, let me conclude this year with a summary notice of its completion. The Architect, then, was Robert Mylne, Esq.; the first pile of it was driven in the middle of the Thames on Saturday, June 7th, 1760; and the first stone was laid by Sir Thomas Chitty, Lord Mayor, on Friday, October 31st. On Wednesday, November 19th, 1768, it was made passable as a bridle-way, exactly two years after its reception of foot passengers; and it was finally and generally opened on Sunday, November, 19th, 1769. The total expense of this building amounted to £152,840. 3_s._ 10_d._; exclusive of £5830 for altering and filling-up the Fleet-ditch, and £2167, the cost of the Temporary Wooden Bridge. Until June 22nd, 1785, there was a toll of 1/2_d._ for every foot-passenger, and 1_d._ on Sundays; the yearly amount of which, from its commencement in 1766, with the purposes to which it was applied, may be seen in the ‘_Second Report of the Select Committee for Improving the Port of London_,’ 1799, folio, _Appendix_ B 11, page 49. The Toll-house was burned down in the Riots of 1780, when all the account-books were destroyed.

“And now to return again to our memorials of London Bridge, I do not find, even after the most careful search, any particulars of this edifice, connected with the great Frost of 1785, notwithstanding its extent and severity for 115 days; and for that of 1789, though there are many descriptions of its appearance both up and down the River, there are but few notices of it at this identical spot. The ‘_Public Advertiser_’ of Friday, January 9th, 1789, states, that the shipping below the Bridge was in considerable danger, from the tiers at Deptford, Greenwich, &c. being enclosed with ice; and that the Thames being frozen over on the day preceding, ‘several purl-booths were erected, and many thousands of persons crossed upon the ice from Tower-wharf to the opposite shore.’ The same paper for the day following, states, that the frost had then continued for about six weeks; whilst its severity down the River kept still increasing. Passages across the ice, strewed with ashes, were formed at Gun-Dock, Execution-Dock, &c.; and these parts seem to have constituted the principal scenes of attraction. ‘No sooner,’ says the ‘_London Chronicle_’ from Saturday, January 10th, to Tuesday, January 13th, page 48, ‘had the Thames acquired a sufficient consistency, than booths, turn-abouts, &c. &c. were erected; the puppet-shows, wild-beasts, &c. were transported from every adjacent village; whilst the watermen, that they might draw their usual resources from the water, broke in the ice close to the shore, and erected bridges, with toll-bars, to make every passenger pay a halfpenny for getting to the ice. One of the suttling booths has for its sign ‘Beer, Wine, and Spirituous Liquors without a License.’ A man who sells hot gingerbread, has a board on which is written ‘no shop-tax nor window-duty.’ All the adventurers contend in these short sentences for the preference of the company, and the Thames is in general crowded.’ Another specimen of the humour exhibited at this place, was contained in the following inscription on a temporary building on the Thames, and printed in the ‘_Public Advertiser_’ of Thursday, January 15th: ‘This Booth to Let. The present possessor of the Premises is Mr. Frost. His affairs, however, not being on a permanent footing, a dissolution or bankruptcy may soon be expected, and the final settlement of the whole entrusted to Mr. Thaw.’ On Wednesday, January 7th, a large pig was roasted on one of the principal roads; and on Monday the 12th, a young bear was hunted on the ice, near Rotherhithe. As usual, too, a printing-press was erected near the same spot, of which there is a curious memorial preserved in Mr. Crowle’s ‘_Illustrated Pennant_,’ volume viii., page 262, consisting of a bill, having a border of type flowers containing the following verses; afterwards altered and adopted in the Frost of 1814.

‘The silver Thames was frozen o’er,
No diff’rence ’twixt the Stream and shore;
The like no Man hath seen before,
Except he liv’d in Days of Yore.

_On the Ice, at the Thames Printing-Office opposite St. Catherine’s Stairs in the severe Frost, January, 1789. Printed by me, William Bailey._’ The same collection also contains a small stippled engraving, entitled ‘_A View of the Thames from Rotherhithe Stairs, during the Frost in 1789. Painted by G. Samuel, and Engraved by W. Birch, Enamel-painter._’ The severity of this frost, however, appears to have been felt considerably beyond these scenes of amusement. The East-India ships were hastily sent down to Gravesend, to which place, and even below it, large shoals of ice had already floated, extending almost through the whole Reach; the navigation of boats was entirely stopped, and it was supposed that the River would soon be completely impassable from London Bridge to Woolwich. Vast quantities of boiling water were poured every morning upon the Bridge Water-works, before the wheels could be set in motion, and 25 horses were daily employed in removing the ice which surrounded them: whilst at Blackfriars the masses of floating ice were said to be 18 feet in thickness, and were continually increasing from the many cart-loads of snow constantly thrown over the ballustrades. ‘The various parts of the River,’--says the ‘_Public Advertiser_’ of Friday, January 9th,--‘present different appearances; in some, the surface is smooth for a mile or two, and then rough and mountainous, from the great quantities of snow driven by the wind, and frozen in large bodies.’ Towards Putney Bridge and upwards, the scene on the ice again became really entertaining. ‘Opposite to Windsor-street,’ continues the same paper, ‘booths have been erected since Friday last, and a fair is kept on the river. Multitudes of people are continually passing and repassing; puppet-shows, round-abouts, and all the various amusements of Bartholomew fair are exhibited. In short, Putney and Fulham, from the morning dawn till the dusk of returning evening, are a scene of festivity and gaiety.’

“At length, the expected thaw commenced with some rain, about two o’clock on Tuesday, January 13th; and before night the streets were almost overflowed. ‘Perhaps,’ says the ‘_London Chronicle_,’ from that date to Thursday, January 15th, page 56, ‘the breaking up of the Fair upon the Thames last Tuesday night below Bridge, exceeded every idea that could be formed of it, as it was not until after the dusk of the evening, that the busy crowd was persuaded of the approach of a thaw. This, however, with the cracking of some ice about 8 o’clock, made the whole a scene of the most perfect confusion; as men, beasts, booths, turn-abouts, puppet-shows, &c. &c. were all in motion, and pouring towards the shore on each side. The confluence here was so sudden and impetuous, that the watermen who had formed the toll-bars over the sides of the river, where they had broken the ice for that purpose, not being able to maintain their standard from the crowd, &c. pulled up the boards, by which a number of persons who could not leap, or were borne down by the press, were soused up to the middle. The difficulty of landing at the Tower stairs was extreme, until near 10 o’clock, occasioned by the crowding of people from the shore, who were attracted by the confusion on the water. The inconvenience to the shipping is now increased more than since the setting in of the Frost, as no persons will venture upon the ice to fetch or carry any thing for them, and it is not yet sufficiently disunited for a boat to live.’ The succeeding number of this paper, page 60, mentions that on Thursday, January 15th, the ice was so powerful as to cut the cables of two vessels lying at the Old Rose Chain, and drive them through the Great Arch of London Bridge; when their masts becoming entangled with the ballustrades, both were broken, and many persons hurt. The Thames, however, continued to be considerably frozen for some time after this. I shall terminate the year 1789, by informing you, that it is stated in the ‘_Public Advertiser_’ of Friday, January 16th, that the shares of the London Bridge Proprietors, which some years before had been worth £3000 per annum in Life Annuities, had then fallen below £2000.

“In the years 1793 and 1794, the Great Centre Arch again became a subject of consideration; for, in order to confine the rubble which had been deposited there to raise and preserve the form of its bed, nine strong beams of timber were sunk in it horizontally between the Sterlings, having upright pieces at each end fitting into grooves cut in the sides of the Sterlings, which forced them down and held them in their places. This contrivance, however, was only of temporary benefit, for, at the excellent survey of London Bridge, made by Mr. George Dance, in 1799, he supposed that only two of these timbers were remaining, the rest having been carried away by the ice. If we remember, indeed, the accidents that were continually happening to the Bridge, by vessels driving through it at this very part, there can be no great reason to wonder at these defences being speedily destroyed. So early as January 19th, 1795, we find by ‘_Dodsley’s Annual Register_’ for that year, volume xxxvii., page 3 of the ‘_Chronicle_’ part, that, about 12 o’clock, two vessels broke from their moorings a little below the Bridge, when the tide drove them violently against it. One of them being a large West-Indiaman, making the Centre Arch, had all its masts carried away close by the board, when it drove through with a violent crash, and continued up the river to Somerset House. In 1798, also, the same authority, volume xl., page 40 of the ‘_Chronicle_’ part, mentions, that on May 23rd, a sprit-sail vessel, laden with hay, drove against the Bridge with great velocity, and the mast not being lowered in time, it struck the ballustrades over the Centre Arch and broke them away to the space of nearly ten feet; the two persons on board being killed by the stones. But if I were to record all the accidents of this nature, which are contained in the registers of every year, my narrative would be much longer, and more melancholy, than either of us would desire; and I shall add only, therefore, that even the timbers, sunk as an improvement to the passage of the Centre Arch, were found, in some degree, to injure the navigation of the Bridge. For in the examination of Mr. M. P.--now Alderman--Lucas, on June 26th, 1799, he stated, that the chalk, &c. thrown into the water to support the foundation of that part of the Bridge, had produced shoals both above and below it; and, that the timbers recently laid there having prevented the rubble being scattered, it was stopped up in the wake of the Great Arch, where it formed a bar. On this account, the last three hours of the ebb-tide, which were always attended with danger, became additionally hazardous; empty craft under 3 or 4 tons burthen, could not go through with safety, and loaded craft could not pass at all at that time. The stream being then sunk below the level of the Sterlings, the passage was reduced nearly one half; the fall commenced and increased until the ebb was over; a barge of 30 or 40 tons would consequently pass with her bows under water, of which it frequently shipped four or five tons; whilst it was impossible for any one to stand upon the deck, without holding on to some part of the vessel. Let me add, that you will find all these particulars, together with a ‘_Plan and description of the Timbers sunk in the Great Arch of London Bridge, in the years 1793 and 1794_,’ in plate vii. of ‘_The several Plans and Drawings referred to in the Second Report from the Select Committee upon the Improvement of the Port of London_,’ 1799, folio; and in the Appendix A 5, B 6, and pages 19 and 35 of the Report itself.

“As I do not find that the famous Frost of 1794 produced any very remarkable circumstance connected with London Bridge, I shall hasten to the year 1799, when it again became the subject of considerable inquiry and speculation, the particulars of which are so fully recorded in that Report to which I have now referred you: pages 5 and 6, section 2, and ‘_Appendix_,’ B. 1,-B. 11, pages 21-49, plates v.-vii. The amount of these proceedings was, that after a minute survey of the Bridge and River, by Mr. George Dance, Clerk of the Works, and Mr. John Foulds, his assistant, and Engineer to the Water-works, executed between the months of May and July, it was ascertained, that, provided the Sterlings were kept in repair, the structure itself was likely to stand for ages. These defences, they added, had then been recently altered and improved in shape, size, and construction, so as to retain the chalk, &c. with which they were then filling; and though there were many fractures in the building, they had not increased in the last 30 years. The average cost of its repairs had exceeded £4200 annually, for the last six years, and the Wardens’ receipts for the same period had varied from £9772: 2_s._ 1-1/2_d._ to £24,848: 10_s._ 4-1/2_d._ These financial particulars are recorded at length in the Report whence we derive our information; ‘_Appendix_,’ B. 10, pages 38-49, in a document entitled ‘_An account of the produce of the Estates of the City of London, called the Bridge-House Estates, and the application thereof, from the year 1756 to Christmas 1798_;’ which may properly be considered as a continuation of that paper which furnished us with the ancient revenues and expenditures. I should observe, however, that the Report still represents the dangers of the Bridge navigation; stating, that, although the stream was 10 feet deep under the Middle Arch at low-water, yet, at the distance of only a few yards below it, there were not more than 18 inches. These Reports contain also the following engravings.

“1. ‘_Ground-plan and Elevation of London Bridge in its present state, 2nd July, 1799, taken by Mr. Dance. R. Metcalf Sculp._’ A most curious and interesting print, measuring 8 feet 5 inches, by 2 feet; shewing the sizes of the several locks; the different heights of the tides; the singular forms of the Sterlings; a Section through one of the arches and roadway, and the measurement of every part set down in figures. See Plate v. in the large folio of Drawings, &c. belonging to the Second Report. If to these particulars we add the Water-works, the line of Soundings taken along the points of the Sterlings, a Section of the bed of the River beneath them, and Mr. Smeaton’s new foundation of the Great Arch, we shall have the most accurate materials for constructing the GROUND-PLAN AND ELEVATION OF OLD LONDON BRIDGE.

“2. Another print belonging to this Report, consists of the ‘_Soundings of the Great Arch of London Bridge, taken from the top of the Sterlings, 29th May, 1799, by J. Foulds and I. K._:’ to which are added the depths of the River, at, and between, London Bridge and Billingsgate, taken at low-water. Plate vi. in the same volume. The printed Report also contains three other engravings connected with this subject, from drawings made by Mr. Smeaton, to illustrate his observations on London Bridge, in March, 1763, and afterwards preserved by Sir Joseph Banks, with the original manuscript of his Report. They will be found at page 25, B. 5, of the ‘_Appendix_,’ and they consist of--1. ‘_Section of the Water-way at London Bridge as it was before the opening of the Great Arch, and at the beginning of Feb. 1763_:’--2. ‘_Plan of the Sterlings of London Bridge, before the opening of the Great Arch_;’--3. ‘_Plan of the proposed Water-way under the Great Arch of London Bridge_,’ shewing the bed of rubble, &c. laid down for lining the foundation, and the additions to the two centre Sterlings. All these engravings, however, you will find reduced upon one plate, by W. Lowry, and inserted in Smeaton’s ‘_Reports_’ already cited, volume ii., page 1.

“And now, Mr. Geoffrey Barbican, though I am rapidly advancing towards the end of my Chronicles, like the tired post-horse, which exerts all his remaining strength when he sees his resting-place is not far distant, though I may not delay my course to enlarge upon any part of our subject, yet I think it not only a fair opportunity, but a positive duty, to collect all the omissions that I can remember from the former part of my history; ‘unconsidered trifles,’ as _Autolycus_ says, and add them to the end of the 18th Century, which is to us the great barrier between ancient and modern times.

“And firstly, I would observe, that so early as the year 1179-80, the inhabitants of the vicinity of London Bridge appear to have formed themselves into several of those fraternities anciently called Guilds; though, having done so without lawful authority, they were fined in various penalties. Whilst they all bore, however, the title of _Gilda de Ponte_, or Bridge-Guild, we can only suppose that the members of them lived in the Bridge-street, since the stone edifice had been at that time no more than three or four years begun. You will find these particulars recorded by Madox, in his ‘_History of the Exchequer_,’ chapter xiv., section xv., pages 390, 391, note z, and cited from the Great Roll of the 26th year of Henry II.; the following being those articles which immediately refer to the present subject. ‘The Bridge-Guild, whereof Thomas Cocus is Alderman, oweth 1 mark,’--13_s._ 4_d._: ‘the Bridge-Guild, whereof Ailwin Fink is Alderman, oweth 15 marks:’--‘the Bridge-Guild, whereof Robert de Bosco is Alderman, oweth 10 marks:’--‘the Bridge-Guild, whereof Peter Fitz Alan was Alderman, oweth 15 marks.’

“In speaking, too, of the reign of Queen Mary, I omitted to mention that short notice with which John Fox has furnished us, of certain ‘vaine pageants,’ exhibited to her upon London Bridge. You will find the passage in the second volume of that edition of his ‘_Acts and Monuments_’ which I have already cited, page 1338, and it runs thus. ‘And the next day, being Saturday, the xix. of August--1554,--the King and Queene’s Majesties rode from Suffolk Place, accompanied with a great number as well of noblemen as of gentlemen, through the City of London to White Hall, and at London Bridge, as he entered at the Draw-Bridge, was a great vaine spectacle set vp, two images presenting two Giants, one named Corineus and the other Gogmagog, holding between them certain Latin verses, which, for the vain ostentation of flattery, I overpasse.’ I can discover no other particulars of this exhibition, but the preceding paragraph was copied, by Holinshed, into his ‘_Chronicles_,’ volume ii., page 1120.

“In mentioning the tradesmen who resided on London Bridge, I ought, also, to have pointed out to your notice that paragraph concerning them, first inserted in Strype’s edition of _Stow’s Survey_, edit. 1720, Book i.; chapter xxix., volume 1, page 242; where it is said that ‘Men of trades, and sellers of wares in this City, have oftentimes,’--since the days of Fitz Stephen--‘changed their places as they have found to their best advantage. For, whereas, Mercers and Haberdashers used then to keep their shops in West-Cheap, of later time they held them on London Bridge, where, partly, they do yet remain.’

“One would expect to find frequent references to London Bridge, in the works of our ancient Dramatists, yet my memory supplies me with but very few instances; though I may observe, that Shakspeare has an allusion to the heads of traitors erected over the gate of this edifice, in Act iii. Scene 2, of ‘_King Richard the Third_,’ where _Catesby_ says to _Hastings_:

‘The Princes both make high account of you,--
For they account his head upon the Bridge. [_Aside._’

Another passage, referring to this custom, is also to be found in the second Act of George Wilkins’s ‘_Miseries of Inforced Marriage_,’ first printed in quarto, 1607, and inserted in Dodsley’s ‘_Select Collection of Old Plays_,’ London, 1780, duodecimo, volume v., page 27; where _Ilford_ says to _Wentloe_, ‘S’foot! you chittiface, that looks worse than a collier through a wooden window, an ape afraid of a whip, or a knave’s head, shook seven years in the weather on London Bridge;--do you catechise me?’ In Act v., Scene 1, of Shakerley Marmion’s ‘_Antiquary_,’ originally printed in 1641, quarto, and published in the preceding collection, volume x., page 97, is likewise the following passage, the idea of which appears to be taken from the noisy situation of the houses on the Old Bridge: ‘That man that trusts a woman with a privacy, and hopes for silence, may as well expect it at the fall of a bridge.’ But ‘rare Ben Jonson,’ in his ‘_Staple of News_,’ Act ii., Scene 1, has a reference to those frequent, and almost useless, repairs of this edifice, of which we have recounted so many; since he makes _Shunfield_ say of _Old Pennyboy_,

‘He minds
A courtesy no more than London Bridge,
What Arch was mended last.’

“In William Gifford’s ‘_Works of Ben Jonson_,’ London, 1816, octavo, volume v., page 215, he has rather a violent note upon this passage, in which he says, ‘Two hundred years have nearly elapsed since this was written, and the observation still holds. This pernicious structure has wasted more money in perpetual repairs, than would have sufficed to build a dozen safe and commodious Bridges; and cost the lives, perhaps, of as many thousand people. This may seem little to those whom it concerns, but there is blood on the City, and a heavy account is before them. Had an Alderman or a turtle been lost there, the nuisance would have been long since removed.’ As I have already referred to the heads of the Regicides, &c. standing over the Bridge-gate at the time of the Great Fire, I may observe, that ‘glorious John Dryden,’ in his ‘_Annus Mirabilis_,’ stanza 223, has this solemn mention of them, with a fine allusion to the infernal hymns chanted on a Witches’ sabbath:

‘The ghosts of traitors from the Bridge descend,
With bold fanatic spectres to rejoice;
About the fire into a dance they bend,
And sing their sabbath-notes with feeble voice.’

See ‘_The Works of John Dryden_,’ edited by Walter Scott, Esq., London, 1808, octavo, volume ix., pages 144, 186, _Note_ xlv.

“In recording these analecta of Old London Bridge, I may also take the opportunity of observing to you, that from about July to September, you may see almost every ‘jutty, frieze, and coigne of ’vantage, made the pendent bed and procreant cradle’ of the small yellow flowers and pointed leaves of the _Sisymbrium Irio_, or London Rocket. It probably made its first appearance on this edifice soon after the Great Fire of 1666, since the famous Botanist, Robert Morison, who lived at the period, has a singular dialogue upon it in his rare and curious ‘_Præludia Botanica_,’ printed in 1669; where he states, that in 1667-68 it sprang up in such abundance from the City ruins, that in many places it might have been mown like corn, though London Bridge is not specially referred to. A coloured engraving of the plant, with the foregoing particulars, will be found in William Curtis’s ‘_Flora Londinensis_,’ London, 1767, folio. Fasciculus vi., plate 48, marked 311.

“I have but few other fragments to mention; and the first of them relates to the very extensive use which is made of London Bridge as a thoroughfare. What it must have been formerly, when it was the only passage across the Thames, we know not; but after the introduction of a toll, the rent at which I have told you it was farmed, affords some general idea of its importance. In July, 1811, however, when the Southwark Bridge was projected, the Directors of that Company attended one whole day, to ascertain the probable amount of passengers, &c. over London Bridge; when it was found that 89,640 persons on foot, 769 waggons, 2924 carts and drays, 1240 coaches, 485 gigs and taxed carts, and 764 horses, went across it.

“But, to descend from the roadway to the foundation, I shall next remark, that the natural soil of the Thames, where the present London Bridge is erected, consists chiefly of black gravel, for about 2 feet in depth, below which it is gravel with red sand: and this we learn from a table of ‘_Borings of the River betwixt London and Blackfriars’ Bridges, performed betwixt the 19th of May and the 16th of June, 1800, by John Foulds and assistants_;’ printed in the ‘_Third Report_’ of the Port of London Committee, ‘_Appendix_,’ A. 2, page 39.

“Another point, connected with this part of the edifice, concerning which I am very desirous of giving some little information, is the etymology of the word Sterling, or perhaps Starling, according to the general pronunciation; yet what can I presume to say upon it, when we find that, in the meaning of a defence to bridges, it is unnoticed in the learned glossaries of Somner, Minsheu, Stephen Skinner, Sir Henry Spelman, John Jacob Hoffman, Du Fresne, Edward Phillips, Francis Junius, Doctors Johnson and Jamieson, and Archdeacon Nares? In the last edition of ‘_Dr. Johnson’s Dictionary_,’ indeed, by the Rev. H. J. Todd, this signification is inserted, though the Editor candidly adds, ‘I know not the etymology;’ and, therefore, it seems alike futile to search after, and presumptuous to conjecture it; howbeit, take what hints I have met with upon the subject. And firstly, in a small tract entitled ‘_A short Review of the several Pamphlets and Schemes that have been offered to the Public, in relation to the building of a Bridge at Westminster_,’ by John James, of Greenwich; London, 1736, octavo, at page 16, we find the following conjecture. ‘It is very probable, that the _Stallings_,--as I choose to call them, our workmen after the Normans, having, perhaps, taken the name from the French word, _créche_, which signifies a manger, or crib in a stall,--may have been much enlarged since the first building of the Bridge.’ For my own part, however, I am greatly inclined to think that the term is of Northern origin, not very much corrupted, since the Danish word _Staer_, and the German, _Starr_, or _Starck_, a defence, evidently appear to be the root of it; and Christian Ludwig, in his ‘_Dictionary of English, German, and French_,’ Leipsic, 1763, quarto, volume i., page 840, translates the word Starling by _Stahr_, explaining it to be ‘a spur to the pillar of a stone bridge, for dividing the water.’ It is common, in most Dictionaries, to consider the word Sterling as referring only to that authorized coin, originally manufactured by the Flemings or Easterlings, whose name it has made immortal. Even in this sense, however, it is still connected with the history of London Bridge; since in Thomas Hearne’s ‘_Collection of Curious Discourses_,’ edit. London, 1771, octavo, volume ii., article xliii., page 316, is a paper on the derivation of the expression Sterling Money, written by that eminent Antiquary Arthur Agarde, containing a singular anecdote on this subject; which, however, I shall give from the original manuscript in the Cottonian collection, marked ‘_Faustina_,’ E V., article 10, folio 52 a. ‘I suppose,’ says he, ‘the name came by meanes the Easterlinges from vs, being Germaynes, brought vp in the mynes of syluer and copper there, were vsed here in Englaunde for the reducynge and refyninge the diuersyte of coynes into a perfecte Standarde. As in the beginning of the Quenes Mat^s raigne, they were brought hyther by Alderman Lodge, (w^{th} whom I was famylyarlye acquaynted,) by her Mat^s order, for the refining of o^r base coignes: And this he toulde me, That the mooste of them in meltinge fell sycke to deathe w^{th} the sauoure, so as they were advised to drynke in a dead man’s skull for theyre recure. Whereupon he, w^{th} others who had thoversyght of that worke, procured a warrant from the Counsaile to take of the heades vppon London Bridge, and make cuppes thereof, whereof they dranke and founde some reliefe, althoughe the mooste of them dyed.’ This wild and romantic circumstance probably took place about the year 1560 or 1561, when Queen Elizabeth had all the base coin in the Realm brought to the Tower and melted there; when it is supposed that the fumes of the arsenic which it contained induced the illness of the foreigners: see Ruding’s ‘_Annals of the Coinage_,’ which I have already quoted, volume iii., page 38, _note_. When, to these particulars, I have added, that you will find a view of part of Old London Bridge with the houses, in the sixth plate of Hogarth’s ‘_Marriage à la Mode_,’ my reminiscences of this edifice are concluded to the end of the eighteenth century.”

“Well, sir, well,” said I, fetching a long breath, which sounded a good deal like a yawn, “I know what you would say,--another libation of Sack, to the memory of Old London Bridge; in the which I more readily join you, seeing that your history of it is rapidly closing, and that we are something like the Merchant Abudah, in Ridley’s Tales of the Genii, when he first saw the distant light after his wanderings in the murky caverns of Tasgi: though, indeed, Master Barnaby, I should ask you, on your veracity, if we really are coming to a conclusion, or am I only deceiving myself in thinking so?”

“No, truly,” answered the Antiquary, “I have but little more to speak, and you but little to hear; for, excepting the usual accidents of London Bridge, which I shall omit to notice, the great employment of the last quarter of a century has been coming to the resolution of building a new one, and considering the best means of doing it. Whilst, however, I give you my hearty thanks for your attention and assistance during upwards of eight hundred years of our Bridge-history, I would only remind you of the great mass of information which we have collected upon it, much of which was either never before brought together, or adapted to it.”

“Why, really,” said I, with that kind of half agreement with which men admit a truth not discovered by themselves, “there is something in your remark; and he who next writes the history of London Bridge will have some difficulty in finding new materials for it, at least in any ordinary authorities. But then, you know, others, who are not acquainted with the mass of matter relating to it, may accost us with the old Italian saying of, ‘Where the Devil did you get all this rubbish from?’”

“Out upon them for unthankful knaves, then,” replied Master Postern; “let us console ourselves with the thought that virtue rewards itself; and so, as I see that you are again set in a position either for listening or sleeping, I shall, for the last time, take up my tale.” To this remark I nodded assent, and the old Gentleman thus went on.

“The present century, Mr. Barbican, commenced with some active exertions for the immediate erection of a new London Bridge, upon the most extensive and elaborate scale; of the numerous schemes for which, however, I can give you little more than a catalogue, referring you for full particulars to various parts of ‘_The Third Report from the Select Committee upon the Improvement of the Port of London_,’ 1800, Folio, and the large volume of engraved ‘_Plans and Drawings_’ belonging to it. It is stated in sections i. ii. of the former authority, pages 4-6, that the great, continual, and ineffectual expenses of the old Bridge, its irremediable insecurity, and the dangers of its navigation, had induced the Committee to collect information and provide designs for the building of a new one. In this edifice it was proposed to construct a free passage for vessels not exceeding 200 tons’ burthen, to that part of the River between London and Blackfriars’ Bridges; where it was supposed, upon examination, that they would always have a depth of from 12 to 15 feet above low-water, formed and maintained at only a slight expense after the shoals had been cleared away. To ascertain the number of ships which might be expected to use this passage, the Committee procured an account of the Foreign and Coasting Trade of London for 1799, with the measurements of their masts, by which it appeared that an Arch of 65 feet above high-water mark, at medium Spring-Tides, would allow vessels of 200 tons to pass it with their top-masts struck; and that of Coasters under that burthen the number was 7248. Such, then, being the general design, the Artists, who proposed sending in drawings, were directed particularly to consider a convenient passage over the Bridge, with as little acclivity as possible, as well as its access to the principal avenues of London; to the attainment of these objects with the least interference with private property; to the embellishment of the Metropolis of London; and to the length of time, and expense of the whole work. The designs presented were of three different characters: being, firstly, for a Bridge with a lofty Centre Arch, and a descending causeway leading to some principal street on each side of the River; secondly, for a similar Bridge, having its approaches at right angles, and parallel to the shores, to be raised on Arches on a new embankment in front of the old wharfs, &c.; and, thirdly, for two Parallel Bridges, enclosing a space sufficient for so many vessels as would probably pass in one tide, their passage being through corresponding drawbridges, one of which should always remain lowered for the use of passengers. See the ‘_Third Report_,’ already cited, page 7; and having mentioned these particulars, let us now take a glance at some of the plans themselves.