The "Old" London Bridge Story
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- Опубликовано: 24 дек 2019
- The history of the London bridge that had shops and houses all along its length. Built in 1209 and destroyed in 1831, it turned into a congested death-trap for those who tried to sail underneath it.
The script for this video comes from Wikipedia:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_...
If you find issues with the content, I encourage you to update the Wikipedia article, so everyone can benefit from your knowledge.
#LondonBridge
i bet it was something magnificent to walk through those buildings on a bridge back in the day
Yes!
A similar bridge which you can still experience today is the Ponte Vecchio in Florence, which retains its medieval buildings. It’s a cool experience!
It bet it wasn't. It probably stank, was dingy and would have been horribly congested from the number of carts and pedestrians passing over it or living there in dilapidated buildings.
I bet it smelled like shit.
@@spaguettoltd.7933 It is!
It's really cool that you have a small community (really a village) of people living on a BRIDGE! A bridge! Mark Twain mentioned in The Prince and the Pauper that that same community spoke bridgy speech, thought bridgy thoughts, and considered the banks of the river and great city of London as merely suburbs. I think that's amazing. it was a unique community that lasted for over 500 years, constantly living on the edge of disaster.
So the old bridge was clearly terrible but also at the same time magnificent. I wish I could see it in person.
That pretty much sums up my opinion!
Little Car It’s a shame that many of these old marvels and constructions didn’t last long enough to see the invention of photography. Even the ones that still exist as ruins are still very impressive.
you can get a feel for it if you visit Erfurt in Germany. it still got a Bridge with houses on.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kr%C3%A4merbr%C3%BCcke
@@catriona_drummond that's so cool. I had no idea this existed.
@@Matticitt Well it's not as glamorous as the Ponte Vecchio. :)
I can just imagine the estate agents of the day, "Nice little flat to let, great views of the Thames, and there hasn't been a collapse for a year now, so you're probably good for a while."
I see thats why "London bridge is falling down"
It’s burning down by my understanding
No, it’s always been “falling”.
I would have liked to visit the London Bridge when it had all those buildings.
the stench must have been unbearable.
Ponte Vecchio is similar and still around today.
Or check out Erfurt in Germany
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kr%C3%A4merbr%C3%BCcke
Truly fascinating.
I was born in England and have lived here for over 50 years and i didn't know any of this.
Thank you for this wonderful video.
You're welcome. I made the video because it fascinated me and I wanted to know more.
“London Bridge is falling down,
Falling down, falling down,
London Bridge is falling down,
My fair lady.”
Yet another classic nursery rhyme, ranking alongside others like the one that references smallpox.
Ring a ring a roses
A pocket full of posies
A tissue! A tissue!
We all fall down
(Or is that referencing bubonic plague?)
Bingo
Fyi, the bridge built in 1830 is the one that is now in Lake Havasu Arizona. (Actually its only the granite facade of the London bridge placed over a modern concrete bridge)
Thanks. I was so confused why Arizona wasn’t mentioned.
@@tedsowards No reason it should be mentioned, except in the context Ryan has, as it was never an iconic version of London Bridge, and is really just the façade, not the whole 1830 iteration transplanted to Arizona.
If they were ever to build another bridge across the Thames, they should build a full size replica of Old London Bridge !
With todays technology they could lessen the spans( starlings) to three and still erect an exact copy of the old gabled buildings (including the drawbridge) With shops & hotels incorporated & pedestrians only, could you imagine how beautiful this would look …especially with the windows illuminated at night ! Any investors in such a project would secure one of the top tourist attractions of the capital.
This would almost literally impossible sadly, the river is the only flight path for commercial/not authorities helicopters because they wont fly over buildings so they will never allow any kind of buildings across it.
Only if we included the heads of traitors on spikes.
There is a bridge exactly like that in Florence Italy called the "Ponte Vecchio."
I think we should build something like that here in the USA. I’d definitely take a trip to see it! 👍😎
@@BrianMoore-uk6js I googled to see pictures of it. It sure is fully covered with buildings. But when you cross the bridge it looks like you're just on a narrow street with buildings on both sides of you, and you cant see the water, so I imagine some people might not even realize they are on a bridge.
So London is highly flammable. That’s good to know.
Was* ;-)
What old cities (all made of wood) *weren't* flammable??
If you spark up a cigarette in London then expect to loose most of your hair, your eyebrows and a lot of the skin on your face because the explosion which shall surely follow. Gas from too many people farting , you see.
planning to start some fires ?
@@paulallen8109 well it is kinda surprising since modern cities also made of wood don't normally explode into flames
Thank you for this I’m American and had no idea, how fascinating
Before the bridge was shipped over to the USA, it was in Tilbury docks, as a big pile of stones, my uncle was working nearby. We somehow ended up with a lump of it! We kept it for years but sadly left it in a garage when we moved house in the 1980,s
And that's why the bridge in the States has a big hole in it! 😁
Little Car I always felt a little pang of guilt about that😀
Great story.. The bridge in lake havasu is only 30 mins from me here in Arizona and is a great tourist destination, although I think we have plenty of rocks here in the desert to replace the one you nicked 😁
At least one bit of her is still in Blighty then, somewhere :-) .
@@densealloy You must be from Parker. Half of my family is from Parker, Az.
I'm really glad you cleared that up. I was always told he thought he was buying the tower bridge.
an example of fake news from the 1960s. Why have real news when fake news is more interesting
This is in large part a verbatim reading of the wikipedia article.
Plagiarism?
Perfect amount of information and timing. Very well produced video, well done.
I recently found out there's one of the alcoves in a garden about half a mile from me. Put there in the 1830s and still there when the estate was turned into apartments.
Loving the variety of this channel.
What a fantastic video! Really enjoyed that!
Just how do "accidental" fires emerge on both sides of the city?
usually this happens after a planing application is turned down by the Council.
@@davidsirett5560 good one
People accidentally turning traitors!
The league of shadows done it
Very enjoyable and interesting. I'm a big fan of anything London related - so much to see and so much to discover but obviously not able to visit right now so this was good to watch.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Been across the bridge in Arizona, a very different climate there to London
I'm sure it is!
I hear from some Arizonans that said state is best summed up as "oh god everything is on fire!".
If so our Bridge shouldn't feel too out of place.
Different London bridge
There are beautifully made flying buttresses still lying on the ground carved for this bridge at King Tor quarry
On Dartmoor . They strange to find still at the quarry.
Not the dame bridge, a later version with no real claim to cultural fame.
FANTASTIC--I've always been fascinated by images of this Bridge, and it has always puzzled me, why it had never been given more than an odd , breif mention, in 'History of London'' TV documentaries. Thank's very much for the historic info, and marvelous illustrations, I'll watch it often.
Really interesting video. excellent pictures. Well done!
Fascinating... Isn't History just amazing. Thanks so much for this, so informative.
Glad you enjoyed it Linda!
Stunning! Throughout this video I was hoping that the demolishing of the bridge would be as late as possible so that we might see some photos. It's a surprise that the London Bridge Act wasn't enacted earlier. Imagine living on the bridge!!
I concur, these videos are very interesting and You shure know how to pick interesting stuff to make them about
Thanks! It's just stuff I find interesting and want to know more about.
Fascinating! Amazed how you manage to create all these videos.
Thanks Jan! The ones based on Wikipedia articles are quicker, as normally it takes a long time to research them. The person who wrote the London Bridge article did a great job.
@@LittleCar I must check for books on London bridge. It certainly had an amazing design history inspiring some great paintings.
First like!, great video, really interesting, keep up the good work!
Thanks Robert!
I'd love to walk across that old bridge, the chaos of all those houses and shops hanging over it, I wonder what sort of characters hung around there?
Probably entirely African immigrants that built it?
Very informative. Thank you.
Great topic - more please !
Fascinating thanks
And this ladies and gentlemen, is why we have building regulations.
Yes, indeed!
Yea,...... Never any problems if you follow the "regulations.....much.
The modern buildings are steel boxes with no grace what so ever building regulations 🙄
Ya think?
oh wow..never knew..just as beautiful as the Firenze bridge.
I would love to live on a bridge like that in medieval times. Not too happy about the sanitary situation, though.
In other words, living on the bridge would've been shit but at least it looked good.
@@paistinlasta1805 and probably it is somehow explained why Thames has this awful colour... 😋
London bridge was the Kenny of bridges.
Sooo amusing, you're a great story teller!
Glad you enjoyed it! But the script for this video is all Wikipedia.
I really enjoyed this video - excellent work and research - very engaging : more please!
To give credit where it's due, the vast majority of the video is word-for-word from the Wiki article on London Bridge, with the research having already been done (and referenced in said article). The video is really just a visual retelling of the wiki article.
Thanks for this history.
amazing video
A very informative video...📚🔝🙂👍
I love learning about things like this! I grew up knowing that London Bridge had retired and moved to Lake Havasu City out in Arizona, and a friend of mine went out there and saw it. It's good to know that it was NOT the Tower Bridge that was thought to have been bought, as an English friend has ribbed me from time to time on this. It's kind of a shame that a modern bridge can't be built with shops and homes, but it would probably constitute a major fire hazard, or at least annoy certain elements of American and British society. Fun episode!
In Florence, Italy they still have a bridge with buildings on. But it's not a major thoroughfare now.
@@LittleCar Just jewellery shops, it seemed
Shouldn't be too bad as long as you can find a water source for putting out any fires. Any ideas on that?
EXCELLENT. THANK YOU.
Brilliant!
Wish I had that DeLorean so I could go back and see it myself..... Great video......
Wow awesome video!
Thanks James!
How is this the first time im hearing about this, very interesting
I know right same
What a fantastic video
Thank you very much!
Starting fires is clearly England's solution for everything since the dawn of times . #Pyromania
If it works, it works. No need to go and reinvent the wheel if we can burn it
oliver punter ... You guys should try it to stop corona... Just burn the sick lol
@@brainey001
"BRING OUT YER DEAD! *clang* BRING OUT YER DEAD!"
"UGH I'm not dead"
"he says he's not dead"
"Well, he will be very soon, he is very ill"
That was good! I like a nice history lesson. Suggestion : the oft overlooked free cities and republics of Renaissance Europe, and the modern misconception that "democracy" is a product of the American and French revolutions.
I wonder how many died making those structures. Nice research and story telling as well.
I enjoyed the video very much, so I went to read more at Wikipedia. I was rather distressed to see how much of the narration was taken word-for-word from the Wikipedia article. Maybe this is common practice for RUclips videos?
With my "Big Car" videos it takes me about 7 days to make a video. Little Car is an attempt to get videos out faster, so I use Wikipedia articles as the script. I'm not sure if it's common practice. I do link to the articles in the description. Maybe I should make it more obvious that I'm using the article as a script.
Little Car Thanks for the reply and your explanation. Perhaps a quick nod to Wikipedia at the end of your video to set viewers’ expectations regarding the source. I enjoy and appreciate Big Car and now Little Car - keep up the good work!
@@LittleCar Oh, so we're not to believe a single word you say in these videos :( ;)
There is a fascinating book available " Old London Bridge" by Patricia Pierce. A must buy.
How don’t you have more subscribers ? This is lit
Love this first my 22nd great grandfather King John ii. Then my fore grandfathers from 1700 till 1900 were watermen by Tower of London so this is special to my heart.
The time has surely come to rebuild this bridge , in all its glory . With modern building methods . As regards the 1831 bridge , i have crossed it many times , before its demolition . Happy days .
very interesting
Amazing it stood for so many centuries and kept evolving to meet the demands of time. Definitely it would have been a wonder to people of those times..
What is more flammable?
A.) London
B.) A matchstick
What is the name of the image at 5:03? I like it. :) Almost looks like a flaming angel rising up from the bridge.
That was great
I really wish to see both this structure and Old S Paul's cathedral in their heyday. VR is a beautiful thing.
3:40 The fire made a good strategic play there.
How did the fire start at both ends of the bridge simultaneously?
Just that lucky.
Pultney Bridge in Bath is well worth a look for anyone interested in this sort of thing
Buildings, bridges were so beautiful make then... unlike today
I had no idea that awful mess actually lasted so long, in fact I'm astonished it could even survive the great fire, it was only around the corner.
Fascinating! I think it would interesting to live in a home on a bridge today. Modern construction standards and techniques would allow residents to feel safe while enjoying the luxury of living on the water.
Isn't there a bridge on Lake Las Vegas with homes or hotel rooms?
to live over a river - this would be my choice: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C3%A2teau_de_Chenonceau
Wish I could travel back in time and see what is was like.
Boss: Why are you over an hour late to work?
Me: Uhh the Big Car guy has a new channel and I had to watch all of the videos duhh.
Can’t believe how interesting that was
You can thank the person who made the Wikipedia article. It was very good.
St Magnus lies on the original alignment of London Bridge between the City and Southwark It can give you some flavour of the medieval bridge - thankfully without the stench.
I wonder if there is anything else like it somewhere in the world. A bridge with houses build on top of it like that, it just looks awesome
Pultney bridge in Bath has shops both sides.
Ah, and then some billionaire decided to buy this historical monument and had is shipped to Arizona.
with a tag like yours---you have to be joking. But, in case you aren't , it was a replacement bridge , built in the 1830's. that was sold 45 yrs ago today.8/7/ 20. and is in Arizona.
At least it is preserved instead of it being demolished
The stone is a bit bleached from the sun, but in the Arizona desert is is well-preserved. Lake Havasu City
He didn't have to be a billionaire. I think it was up for about only £500,000 including storage & shipping. (My 1-bed flat in North London sold for more that that !) . I believe, in the end, it sold for about £2.5 million & it cost him a further £5 million to reconstruct it.
I've had a strut across the bridge in Havasu. They're all rich and impressed by the English there, even had our dinner bill paid for in the pub beside it! They actually didn't have a wide enough channel cut when they reconstructed it and ended up shortening the original span, so there's a bit left over in the back of someone's shed there somewhere!
I'm pretty sure one of the original arches people walked under to enter the bridge is still in London. Just imagine the thousands of people who walked under it! I would loved to have walked the bridge in the tudor era, see what the shops were like, the kind of people who rented housing there, imagine living on a bridge?!
You can hear the narrator almost chuckle at 4:17 just due to the obscurity, rediculusness and the fact that dangers like this kept understandably occuring. I could'nt believe when he said 1/3 of the Houses were destroyed by fire because the wooden wáter wheels caught fire preventing the pumping system working...
Credit to the Roman empire for building the first recorded bridge in Londinium using what would have been tens of thousands of trees
My great x alot grandfather was Hugh de Morville. One of Thomas Beckett's.. accidental assassins.
If I remember correctly, he fled to Knaresborough Castle after the murder.
That's my favourite town in the UK.
Sounds like it would have looked amazing, amazing engineering for the day but unstable.
Makes sense, more so on a congested bridge, for a population, 9 out of 10 right handed, to keep oncoming carts, people, horses or whatever, passing on their right side should some attention, avoidance, or interaction become necessary.
Anyway, driving a buggy, carriage or wagon, with a whip in your right hand, hence your passenger/co-driver at your left, you keep the oncoming traffic on your side.
Reminds me of Kaldwin's bridge from Dishonored
shame they wouldnt keep it , it would have been an icon for the city
I know this is an older video, but the reason why they drive on the left side is because most people are right handed and in medieval times you would draw your sword with the right hand that was placed on your left hip. The reason for right hand driving is because Napoleon was left handed lol.
Church of Saint Magnus-the-Martyr nearby has a detailed model of the bridge about 1400
So there was an old old bridge that was replaced with the old bridge that had houses and shops, this had constant repairs and while it was being demolished there was the old old wooden bridge and that burned so they used the old bridge and while they made an old wooden bridge. They eventually made the old new London Bridge and demolished the old London Bridge but that was sold and the tower bridge was made
One suspects the original bridge is a structure they aquired from the previous society... who were building arched viaducts & similar all around Europe, Mid-East, south-Americas. There are no indications the folk in 1176 had the building technology/machinery to tackle such a task. Further the recurrance of '33' is no surprise 🙂
Oops... '1176' equates to 1113 => 3+3 => 33. Certain conquerors historians pick their numbers wisely
Given what I know from the history of the period, it would make sense that it would be a Roman bridge that they improved.
I can understand the idea of selling development space to recoup the cost of the bridge (a toll would have made much more sense) but what was the incentive to actually build there, as opposed to somewhere else in the city?
That's a pretty goddamn good question.
Maybe there was nowhere else to build or maybe it was cheaper to build there.
We have been dumbed down somehow in building materials and architecture
Couldn't agree more.
@@Gambit771 it is a shame we have the technology to build like that and the wealth but still we fund some modern art shitty bland paper. A true shame.
Could you do a video about Ben Nevis please.
It was bought for about half a million pounds about 20 years ago.
Thanks.
The origin of driving on the left in Britain goes back to being able to defend yourself with your sword hand when passing eachother on horseback.
I think it's depicted in a movie A Knight's Tale, starred by the late Heath Ledger. Can anyone confirm this?
Oh so that's where inspiration for Novigrad in Witcher 3 was from.
The only two ways to experience this type of bridge is by playing Dishonored or watching an episode of game of thrones that had this.
Watching this video made me want to play Dishonored again. Getting Sokolov is one of the better levels in the game.
33 years to do, amazing, most leaders now couldn't see that far ahead, or even bother about that far ahead, cos there all about themselves.
Do we know were the homes on the bridge expensive? I mean were they considered as a place for upper class to live or were they just ramshackle types of homes? I would think the view, the cool air coming off of moving water etc would make them desirable but I’ll defer to those better read on the subject
You drive on the left in England because you welded a lance or sword in your right hand. :O
So, is the old bridge just under the water in ruins?
Arguably the worst major medieval bridge in Europe. The wide piers and small arches doomed it from the moment it was built, it is a miracle it survived this long.
Come on folks start subscribing to this channel!
People were living on this bridge for 500years??? That's an insane amout of time. 500 years ago from today, the Europeans were barely in the New World.