London Bridge: An Area History

How a city was built

People have long used rivers to help build prosperous villages and towns, but history shows that bridges are often the catalyst that turns these early trading posts into bustling cities that diversify and grow. This was certainly the case when the first bridge across the tidal Thames was built by Romans circa 43AD, marking the very beginnings of the vibrant, historical area at London Bridge that we enjoy today.  

Model of Old London Bridge from the Museum in Docklands

The many times repaired wooden London Bridge was finally replaced with a stone structure in 1176, incorporating houses and shops and creating the enduring images that are associated with Dickensian London. Nearly 100 years before this, in the early 1080s, William the Conqueror had begun to build a massive stone tower at the centre of his London fortress. Through the centuries that followed, successive monarchs added to the fortifications, establishing the Tower of London as we see it today. 

With the Roman walled city, London’s only bridge and the monarch’s citadel all in place the area thrived, and as the world evolved ships started to bring back cargoes of food, spices and precious goods from the far reaches of the globe. The waters of the Pool of London became the capital’s docks, with towering wharfs and new communities of dockers, shipwrights, carpenters and the like emerging along the river bank.


Butlers Wharf circa 1950

Not content with being the site of the capital’s first bridge, London Bridge station was another first for the city when it opened in 1836, allowing imported goods to be transported at ease and bringing a new form of trade into the area - tourism. People came from far and wide to see the mêlée of activity, making the Pool of London an attraction in its own right, while steamers started bringing in people from Kent and Essex. Today London Bridge station serves over 42 million people every year.  

London Bridge Station 1950
 

In addition to the river steamers, another early attraction was Tower Beach, created in 1934 on the mud flats beneath the Tower of London. Between 1934 and 1939 over half a million people used the beach. For the many visitors who came from the East End of London, Tower Beach was their only taste of the seaside as they could not afford to go on holiday to the coast.

Decline

During the 1960s the Pool of London started to lose its importance as an international port.  Many reasons have been given for the decline of the docks such as the disbanding of the Empire and labour disputes, but the main reason was the arrival modern ferries and container ships that demanded deeper water berths. 

Ship owners began choosing more convenient ports such as Tilbury, Dover, Southampton, Harwich, Felixstowe or ports in continental Europe such as Rotterdam and so the  warehouses and port buildings that had not been destroyed in the Blitz, fell into disrepair.  The once bustling quayside stood silent and the narrow back streets that used to be filled with busy chattering people turned into a virtual ghost town.

Regeneration – change begins

The 1980s saw a property boom.  Developers had the foresight to see that central London – which had essentially shrunk in concept to include only the West End and City – needed more room to grow and evolve.  Developers started buying up tracts of land around the Pool of London and further downstream in Docklands.

In London Bridge, St Martins Property Group developed what is now known as London Bridge City at the heart of which lies the renovated Hay’s Wharf, now encompassing offices and retail outlets.  Eastwards past Tower Bridge, The Conran Group acquired the seventeen Grade II-listed buildings of the Butlers Wharf site and renovated them into high-priced desirable apartments, offices and restaurants.  Directly across the river, Taylor Woodrow Plc bought the old St Katharine Docks and warehouses that had housed luxury goods and turned it into a luxury marina with apartments and retail outlets.

The tide had started to turn, but a more collective vision was needed to return the area to its former glory as a prime business and leisure district. In 1996, the Pool of London Partnership (PLP) was formed to help bring the district into the new millennium, encouraging a strategic approach to development and realising a multitude of successes. These included introducing new transport links, bringing the GLA to its current location, once again establishing the Pool of London as a visitor destination, and generally making the area an attractive and enjoyable place for residents and workers alike. After 10 years, the PLP wound down in March 2007, leaving the London Bridge BID Company as one of their many legacies.

For more details of the PLP and their work please click here.  

To find out more about the history of London Bridge visit www.oldlondonbridge.com