The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1891-09-19
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49, WI land sna Y
20. Sang enl.4.A
L. Tbc original building OF the bridge
c8Nnpb be- discovered. writes Walter
Be5aht m Hafper's Magazine. Aslong
las wo-know- anything of London the
bridge was there, For a long time 1t
was a bridge. OF timber provided with
a fortified gate--one iof the gates Of
the city. II In the year s109l. the
chronicler- relates that .onsthe feast of
ST. Edmund the Archbishop. al the
hour of six. adreadful whirlwfud1 from
the southeast coming from Africa
thus do authors in all ages seize upon
the opportunity Of parading their
knowledge.-'.fr from Africa!y all that
way !1Ablew upon the city and over
threw Upward Of GOO houses and sew
eral churches, greatly damaged the
Tower. and tore away the roof and
part of the wall OF st. Mary ie Bow. in
I'Gheapside. During the same storm
the water In the Thames rose with such
rapidity and increased so violently that
london Bridge was entirely swept
away. d''i
The bridge was rebuilt. Two years
afterward It narrowly, escaped de-
structioh when great part of the city
Was destroyed by fire. Forty years
later it did~meet this fate in the still
lIgreater. fire of 1885, 1T was imme-
diately rebuilt, but suppose hurriedly,
because thirty years later it had to be
constructed anew. - - - go;
Among the. clergy OF London. was
then living one Peter, chaplain OF a
small church in the Poultfy-where
Thomas a. Beckett was baptized -
called Colechurch. This man was
above all others skilled in the craft
and mystery of bridge-building. He
was perhaps member Of the fratemi-
ty called the Pontific Cor bridge-buil
Ingr Brothers. who about this time
built the famous bridges at Avignon,
Pont, st. Esprit, Cahors, Saintes, and
La Rochelle. He proposed to build a
stone bridge over the river. In order
to raise money for this great enter
prise, offerings were asked and con-
tributed by King, citizens. and even
the country at large, The list OF CON
tributors was written out on u table
for posterity, and preserved in the
Bridge Chapel ~ = ~.
This bridge which was to last for
six hundred and fifty years took as
long to build as King Solomon's temple,
namely, three and-thirty years. Before
twas finished the architect lazy in his
grave. When, it was completed the
bridge was 926 feet long and 40 feet
wide---Stow says 80 feet: 1T stood 60 4
feet above high water; it contained. a
drawbridge and 10 pointed arches,
with massive piers varying from 20 to !
84 feet id sOlidity, raised upon strong
elm piles covered with thick planks.
The bridge was curiously irregular:
there was no uniformity in the breadth
of the arches, they varied from 10 feet
to 32 feet. Over the tenth and long
est pier. was erected chapel dedicated 1
to the youngest saint in the calendar,
Sc. Thomas of Canterbury The erec-
ton of a chapel on bridge was by no
means uncommon. . Everybody, for
instance, who has been in the south OF
France remembers the chapel on the
broken bridge at Avignon. Again, "a
chapel was built on the bridge at
Droitwich, in Cheshire, and one on the
bridge at Wakefield. in Yorkshire.
Like the chapel at Avignon, that OF
London Bridge contained IN upper and I
"a lower chapel; the latter was built in
the piers With stairs, making it accessi-
BILE from the river. q The bridge gate |
at the southern end was fortified by q
double tower, and there was also a |
tower at the northern end. The wall
or parapet Of the bridge followed the
line Of the piers SO as to give at every
Fpier additional room! The same ar
Management used TO be seen on the old
bridge at Putney. i.a4a h.i8..
The citizens have always regarded
Lopdon Bridge with peculiar pride and
affection. There was no other bridge
like IL In the whole country, nor any
which could compare with it for
strength or for size. think. indeed, 4
that there was not in the. whole Of
Europe any bridge that could compare |
WITH It; for 1t was built not only over
broad river, but a tidal river, in which
the flood arose and ebbed with great
yehemencei twice a sday Il Later on
they built houses on, either side.s but at
the. first the way was clear. The
bridge was endowed with broad lands;
certain monks; called Brethren of St !
Thomas en- the Bridge, were charged
with the services of the chapel. and
with. administering, the, revenues for
the maintenance Of the fabric. III
The children made songs about it.
One of their songs. to which they
dancedg taking. hands. has been pre-
served, 1t is modcrnized, and no one
knows not how old, it is. n The author