THE HISTORY BEHIND 400

  • 1209-1831

    Commissioned by King Henry II and dedicated to Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury. Construction began in 1176 and was finished in 1209. The first structure on the bridge was a chapel dedicated to Becket. The rent paid by houses on the bridge helped pay for the bridge itself.

  • The earliest document prefabricated building. It was constructed in the Netherlands, taken apart, shipped to London and reconstructed on London Bridge in 1579. It was four stories and spanned across the bridge. Nonsuch refers to "none such", meaning there was nothing like it anywhere else.

  • The bridge was roughly 926 feet long and 20-24 feet wide including the portion of the houses that sat on it. Only 12-15 feet was left for the road, making it congested with people, horses, carts and carriages. Originally the houses had only two stories and were about 10 to 11 feet wide. Over time the houses grew taller and joined together over the bridge, linking the structures on each side together.

  • The bridge mark is the symbol of the Bridge House Estates, a charitable trust that was set up in 1282 to maintain London Bridge.

  • Today there are still remnants of the old bridge in London. Alcoves from the bridge can be seen at Victoria Park and King's College, a section of balustrade at Giswell Park in Essex and the entrance to the bridge still stands at St Magnus the Martyr Cathedral.