Life across the water: exploring London Bridge and its houses

the-past.com

69 points·DeWilde··8 comments

I found this part fascinating:

> In 1282, the administration passed to two bridge wardens, chosen from the citizens of London, who headed an organisation called Bridge House. Its rent books, accounts, and leases are the main sources for our understanding of the history of the bridge. Bridge House still exists, and its investments are today used for the support not only of London Bridge, but also Southwark Bridge, Blackfriars Bridge, Tower Bridge, and the Millennium Bridge.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridge_House_Estates

Apparently the organisation today has an endowment of £1.5bn! And is still responsible - 741 years later - for maintaining the Thames bridges.

Awesome read. I don’t know why the idea of houses on a bridge captures my imagination so much but it absolutely does.

There is something strong and subconscious about crossing rivers. House is safety, river is risk?

I remember the same feeling in Witcher 3, exploring the buildings and markets on the big bridges in Novigrad.

On a similar note - If you’ve not seen it, the galata bridge in Istanbul has a boardwalk full of shops on its underside. Very cool.

We still have at least one bridge in the UK with buildings - Pulteney Bridge in Bath - https://goo.gl/maps/5DGDvhwEotkz6Kk47

And just one house in Ambleside - https://goo.gl/maps/ray39NX87SPNcPU19

>> John Rennie’s New London Bridge of 1831 was relocated to Arizona in 1973 and replaced by today’s three-span version.

And they all lived happily ever after...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Bridge_(Lake_Havasu_Cit...

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