Fragments of Old London Bridge

This is the link to a short article on surviving stone alcoves from Old London Bridge which were dispersed when the bridge was demolished in 1831. It was written for the May 2024 Journal of the London Topographical Society.

Like the relics of a medieval saint further fragments of Old London Bridge were scattered far and wide. A coat of arms over the entrance to the Kings Arms pub in Southwark once adorned one of the gatehouses. A section of balustrade resides in Gilwell Park in Essex. There are stones from the bridge outside Wren’s church of St Magnus the Martyr, in Kew Gardens, in a garden wall on the west side of Wandsworth Common, and incorporated into Ingress Abbey in Greenhithe. There are several other reported survivals. As with the provenance of saintly relics some of the stories seem apocryphal, in particular the claim that two balustrade stones were repurposed as a memorial to William Wallace in Wallacestone near Falkirk (Wallace’s head having notoriously been displayed on the bridge in 1305).

A similar fate befell Rennie’s New London Bridge which itself was removed to Lake Havasu City, Arizona in 1968.