The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1891-07-31
!. ;v0f;DisFUL v v00l;DEisFUL STRUCTURE
rHE STORY OF THE GREAT LONDON
BRIDGE.
It's Original Erection Buried In tho
Hifsts or Antiquity-No Other
Bridge Like % Anywhere.

nm the feast OF ST. Edmund the Arch,
bishop, at the hour OF six, dreaaiu
wb;r,wipd from the southeast, coming
from A(rica-thus do all authors In al
ooes seize upon the opportunity o. py
rsdipo their Neutrality-suspicious. AFRICA
al that wayi-blew upon the city ana
oyerthrcw upward OF 600 houses an"
several churches, greatly damaged inc
Tower. and tore away the roof ana part
of the wall or st. Mary le Bow, in Cheap
,;dc During the same storm the water
In the Thames rose with such rapinity
and increased so violently that Lonooh
BRIDGE was entirely swept away.
Tie bridge was rebuilt. Two years
efterward it narrowly escaped dcstruc-
tion when n great part of the city was
DESTROYED by fire. Forty years ago IL
did meet this fate in the still greater
Arc of 1135. 1t was immediately re-
built, but suppose hurriediy, because
-,birtv ,e,rs later it had to be constructed
living one Peter, chaplain of small
church in the Poultry--wherc Thomas
Beckett was baptized d-cullcd Cole
church. The man was, above all others,
skilled in the craft and mystery OF
bridge building, He was perhaps mcm
Der of the fraternity called the Pontific
Cor bridge. buildin") Brothers, who about
this time bullt the famous bridges Mt
Avignor, Pont st. Esprit, Cahors, Santcs
and Rochelle. lie proposed to build
stone bridge over the river. In order to-
raise money for this great enterprise,
offerings were asked aud contributed by
King, citizens, and even tho country ut
l..t
written out on n table for postcrity, aud
preserved in the Bridge Chapel.
This bridge, which was to last for SIX
hundred and nifty years, took ~ long to
build as King Solomon's Temple, namely,
three and thirty years. Before it was
finished the architect lny i'll his grave.
When it was completed the bridge was
926 feet long and forty feet wide Stow
says thirty feet; IT stood SIXTY 'crr "'''r.
high. water; it contained n drawbridgc
and ninety pointed arches, with massive
piers varying from twenty-five to thirty
four feet in solidity, raised upon strong
elm piles covered with thick panks. The
bridge was CuriOusly irregular; there was
no uniformity in the breadth of the nrchcs;
they varied from ten feet tn thirty two
feet. Over the tenth and longest pier
was erected chapel dedicated to tn"
Youngest saint in the calendar, st.
Thomas Of Canterbury The erection of
u chapel on Il bridge was by no means
uncommon. Everybody, Tor instance,
who has been in the south Of France re-
members the chapel on the broken bridge
at Avignon. Again, chapel wa' built
on the bridge at Drotwich, in Cheshire,
and one on the bridge Mt Wakefield, in
Yorkshire Like the chapel mt Avignon,
that Of London Bridge contained M up.
nmrnA me WiGr Wit" tstaIfs, tis making It
accessible irom the river. The bridge
gate at the southern end was fortified by
II double tower, and there was also n
tower ut the northern end. The wall or
pnrapct of the bridge followed the line
Of the piers, so rs To give at every pier
additional room. The same arrange.
mcnt used to be seen on the old bridge
at Putncv.
The citizens have always regarded
Loudon Bridge with peculiar pride aud
affection. There was no other bridge
Ike it in the whole country, nor any
which could compare with it for strength
or Tor size. think, indeed. that there
was not in the whole of Europe any
bridge tha, could compare with it; for
IT was built not only over Il broad river,
but II ulal river, in which the nobl
rose and cbbcd with great vchcmcncc
twice dav. Later on they built house,
on either side, hut at first sttutdhSwTav utdhSwT VITA
broad d--l~sc's; certain monks, called
Brethren pf ST. Thomas on the Bridge,
were charged with the services in the
chapel, and with administering the rev
cnucs for the maintenance Of the fabric.
The children made songs about 1t.
One Of their songs, to which they
danced, taking hands, has been pre-
served. 1t is modcrniHcd. and one
knows not how old 1t is. The author of
CroniricS Of Tendon Briiys gives it ut
full length. with the music. Here are
two " three verses:
iruriun l,rld sc is broken down,
Dance over my LAZY Ice:
London BridS" is broken down,
With gay lt lee.
How shall we build il up again?
Dancr over my la lv lie;
How SHALL we build il ~ again
With n Gry lnl"".
Bull il up with stone SO strong,
~ D,ncs over my Lriy Ice,
llul1l! twill last for ages long,
With u gay ndee.