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IN THE NEWS
TOUR OF THE MONTH
ON THIS DAY IN LONDON
23rd April 1959 1st heliport in Britain opens in London
23rd April 1925 1st London performance of operetta Fasquita staged
23rd April 1881 Gilbert and Sullivan's opera Patience produced in London
23rd April 1775 Artist J.M.W. Turner was born in Covent Garden, London.
23rd April 1705 Richard Steele's Tender Husband, premieres in London
23rd April 1702 The Coronation of Anne I in Westminster Abbey.
23rd April 1685 The Coronation of James II (and VII of Scotland) in Westminster Abbey.
23rd April 1661 English king Charles II crowned in London
23rd April 1661 The Coronation of Charles II in Westminster Abbey.
London Bridge Alcoves
These 2 alcoves are from the London Bridge demolished in 1831
Location: Approach Road, Victoria Park, Hackney Wick
Description: These two stone pedestrian alcoves, are surviving fragments of the old London Bridge, demolished in 1831. They arrived here in 1860. This incarnation of the famous bridge (there have been two others since), stood for over 600 years and was lined with shops and houses.
With regard to these turrets, Labelye, the architect, says they were not only built for their evident accommodation of passengers, desiring or obliged to stop without interfering with the roadway, or for the relief they afforded to the eye in breaking so long a line, but for the additional security they gave to the bridge, by strengthening the parts between the arches, and thereby affording so much more weight to repel the lateral pressure.
Maitland, however, mentions a more serious purpose to which these recesses might have been put; he says they might have served for places of ambush for robbers and cut-throats, but for the establishment of a guard of twelve watchmen specially appointed for the security of the passage during the night. The writer of the account of Westminster, in the Beauties of England and Wales, mentions a peculiarity which these recesses possessed, somewhat analogous to the whispering gallery in St. Paul's Cathedral. He says, So just are their proportions, and so complete and uniform their symmetry, that, if a person whispers against the wall on the one side of the way, he may be plainly heard on the opposite side; and parties may converse without being prevented by the interruption of the street or the noise of carriages.
Tagged in this Tour: The Bridges That Made London
Nature
Architecture
Ranking This Month: 216/2768
Pages Hit This Month: 96
Link to This Page: http://www.shadyoldlady.com/location/802
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These 2 alcoves are from the London Bridge demolished in 1831 |
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London Bridge
The oldest and infamous bridge in London.
2007-02-02
Thames Flood Barrier», 4.1km
A River Runs Through It», 6.4km
Battersea Bridge», 7.4km
Albert Bridge's Trembling Lady», 7.2km
London Bridge», 3.4km
The SS Montgomery Wreck», 35.km
The York Watergate», 4.6km
Taggs 'Karsino' Island», 16.km
Mouth of the River Walbrook», 3.5km
Sandy Banks on the Thames», 4.1km
mapping London's most interesting and unusual places and history
