The impact of London Bridge - The London Bridge Museum & Educational Trust (original) (raw)

The bridge’s mere existence helped shape Britain and led the economic growth of London, encouraging it to become the thriving metropolis it is today, inspiring the creativity of great minds.

Piped water

In 1582, a man named Peter Morris built huge waterwheels within the arches of London Bridge, which were turned by the raging torrents of water that occurred at high and low tides. This rushing water was a side effect from the design of the bridge at the time and it was completely unplanned. Despite this being extremely dangerous for those passing under the bridge, Morris put it to good use. It was his water wheels connected to pumps that supplied Londoners with their first ever piped Thames water, which travelled to houses in the city via a network of pipes and he charged people for the service.

His machinery was mostly destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666 but his grandson set about replacing it and this system remained under the bridge until the early 19th century.

These large integrated networks put Britain on the map in Europe, with around 85% of houses piped with water by 1820 and other countries soon followed suit. By the early 19th century the supply was so impressive, European countries were attempting to replicate the exact water supply model London had.

Sewerage systems

London Bridge connected what is now known as the City of London and Southwark, which in turn helped London flourish, attracting more dwellers. In AD 100, the population of ‘Londinium’ was around 60,000, but by 1850 the population grew to around three million.

With all those people came more and more waste and whilst the need for a sewerage system within London had long been a hot topic, it wasn’t until flush toilets were being used by wealthy households at the end of the 18th century that the seriousness took hold.

Before flush toilets, waste was left in cesspools next to or underneath houses and hired men would collect it during the night and take it away to be used as fertiliser. But once people started flushing their waste away, it was flowing directly into the River Thames – the same river their piped water was coming from.

This caused two major issues. The first was cholera, of which there was a global outbreak in 1831 that went onto kill 6000 people in London. But people had no clue it was from their faeces-infected water, they assumed it was from the stench of the waste contaminating the air.

This smell was particularly bad in the mid 1800s, and in the summer of 1858 there were two weeks of such hot weather it caused what became known as ‘the great stench’. This smell infiltrated the walls of the new parliament buildings overlooking the Thames, a building which had cost millions.

Soon parliament was forced into action for fear of having to relocate and hired Joseph Bazalgette as chief engineer. He made grand plans to create intercepting sewer pipes as he wanted all sewerage transported further down the Thames away from the metropolis.

Economy

The building of London Bridge in the Roman era, meant the area became a major road connection and port and later a bustling hub as people began to set up shops and build houses on top.

Whilst the upkeep of London Bridge brought settlers to London, who in turn put money back into the city, this greater amount of dwellers also forced the government to invest into sewerage and transport systems. This developed the area and kept London one step ahead of European cities, helping it to prosper.