“An interval of several years now occurs before we meet with any farther proceedings concerning the erection of a New London Bridge; which I shall fill up with some notices of the engraved views of the present edifice, and a few memoranda of the other modern Bridges built over the Thames. The prospects of this part of London are extremely numerous; since it has not only frequently been delineated in separate prints, but is also to be found in almost every volume which treats of our metropolitan history. Perhaps some of the best representations are those drawn by Joseph Farrington, R. A., about the latter end of the last century, and engraven by F. C. Stadler to imitate the originals. One of these is a large folio, and the other will be found in Boydell’s ‘History of the River Thames,’ London, 1794, folio, volume ii., plate 16, page 226. A small neat print of London Bridge is also contained in Samuel Ireland’s ‘Picturesque Views of the River Thames,’ London, 1792, octavo, volume ii., plate 24, page 221: but etchings of an infinitely superior class, by William Bernard Cooke, are in his beautiful work of ‘The Thames,’ London, 1811, octavo, volume ii., plates 16 and 18. Two of the most recent views of this edifice were published in Charles Heath’s ‘Views of London,’ 1825, octavo, both taken on the Eastern side, by W. Westall and P. Dewint. A perspective elevation of the Bridge, shewing the obliquity of its arches, and a curious section of the River bed, also on the Eastern side, surveyed by Mr. Ralph Dodd, is inserted in the folio volume of ‘Plans, &c., belonging to the Third Report of the Port of London Committee,’ Plate vii.: and the same Engineer has likewise given a large and interesting print of the ‘South Pier of the Great Arch of London Bridge,’ exhibiting the two chasms in it, the iron clamps which hold it together, and a section of the water-way. See Plate vi. of the same volume, and the Report itself, ‘Appendix,’ B. 1, page 52.* A similar representation was furnished by Mr. Mylne, and is marked ‘Drawing, C.’ on Plate i. of the same illustrations: it consists of a profile through the middle of the Great Arch, taken at still low-water in 1767, and shows the excavations above and below Bridge, made by the rushing of the current. The remainder of this Plate is occupied by Tables of Soundings, Measurements, &c. at various points of the River near this place; and ‘A Section of the Locks and construction of the Piers of London Bridge as ascertained in taking up of the Pier under the Great Arch in 1762.’ See Drawing A. Of this I have already given several particulars, and in Mr. Mylne’s paper belonging to it, printed in the ‘Third Report,’ ‘Appendix,’ A. 1, page 26, he has a curious account of taking up the Piers, and its consequent effects. He was at that time occupied in erecting Blackfriars’ Bridge, and a lighterman, named Parsons, employed under him, having contracted for removing the Pier, consulted him as to the best means of doing so. Having examined the building, he advised his procuring some powerful screws, used in raising the heavy wheels of the Water-works, which were fastened to the heads of the soundest and securest piles. They first drew out a few from the outer row, and then some of the original in the interior, when all the stone-work which was worth preserving being removed, and the remainder thrown into the River, the cross-ties of timber and iron were loosened, and the whole Pier soon fell into ruins. It was immediately carried away by the impetuosity of the fall; for the other piles being removed, the middle of the work was borne off so suddenly as scarcely to allow of its construction being examined and measured. The Arch being thus opened, the danger at first anticipated by Mr. Mylne soon followed; for the accumulated volume of water drawn from all the other arches acted so violently upon the River bed, as greatly to increase the depth and force of the tide; whilst the corrosion spreading to the old Piers of the new Arch, attacked the stability of the Sterlings beneath them: these defences being only 6 feet broad under the haunches of the Arch, and so close to the Piers, that there was neither room to make any substantial repairs, nor sufficient space for a pile-engine to act. It was in this difficulty that Mr. Smeaton advised the City-Gates to be thrown into the River, for transferring the deep water to the lower side of the Bridge; an idea which he seems to have taken from Henri Gautier’s statement concerning the Bridge of St. Esprit. Mr. Mylne remarks, however, that the whole of this advice not being followed, a farther quantity of 2000 tons of rubble-stone was recommended for the construction of a new bed. And now, to come back to my starting-place, and conclude my notices of views of this edifice, let me remark that if you would see it in all its interest, with the water rushing through its Locks, and the building itself surmounted and bounded by the Monument and the Spire of St. Magnus’ Church, then the very spot for such a prospect is the Eastern Side of London Bridge.
“I come next to perform my promise of giving some account of the other modern Bridges of London, and shall begin by reminding you that the proposal for those at Westminster and Blackfriars was met by a steady and violent opposition. This objection to new Bridges appears, however, to have existed so early as the year 1671, when it was first designed to build one over the Thames at Putney; upon the argument of loss to the Thames watermen, to the tolls of London Bridge, and to the City of London, as natural consequences. You will find all the particulars of this subject contained in the Hon. Anchitell Grey’s ‘Debates of the House of Commons, from the year 1667 to the year 1694,’ London 1763, octavo, volume i., pages 416-417: and it is singular, that in this discussion the very places at which Bridges are now erected, are mentioned as the most improper for such edifices. The kind of prophetic objection which runs through the whole debate has rendered it a very amusing article for modern reading; and an ingenious, but amplified, paraphrase of it was inserted in the ‘European Magazine,’ for September, 1825, New Series, page 20-27. But even in the notes to the Debates themselves, it is stated that ‘Experience has at length convinced us of the weakness and fallacy of the objections raised against another Bridge, though private interest, it may be presumed, was the principal motive: since, not to mention the many Bridges that have been raised higher up the River, this Metropolis now boasts,’—1763—‘without any of the inconveniences, not only a Bridge at Putney, but one at Westminster, where use and magnificence go hand in hand; to which is adding a third at Blackfriars.’ The first of these modern structures was the Vauxhall Bridge, which was remarkable for having had, in consequence of disputes, four Architects, Mr. Ralph Dodd, Sir Samuel Bentham, Mr. Rennie, and lastly, Mr. James Walker, who carried the design into effect. It consists of nine arches of cast-iron, of 78 feet span, and 26 above high-water at spring-tides; the first stone was laid by Lord Dundas, as proxy for the Prince Regent, about 3 o’clock, on Thursday, May 9th, 1811; it was opened in July, 1816; and its cost amounted to upwards of £300,000. The Strand, or Waterloo Bridge, was partly projected by Mr. George Dodd, but wholly brought to perfection by Mr. Rennie: it has 9 elliptical arches of 120 feet span, and 36 feet above high-water at spring-tides; the first stone was laid on the Surrey side of the River close to Cuper’s Bridge, by the Chairman, Henry Swann, Esq., and the Directors of the Company, about 4 o’clock in the afternoon, of Friday, October 11th, 1811; the building amounted to about £400,000; and it was opened with great splendour by a procession of the Prince Regent, and the Dukes of York and Wellington, about 3 o’clock on Wednesday, June 18th, 1817, the anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo, when it received its name. The last was the Southwark Bridge, of which the first stone was laid by the late Admiral Lord Keith, at 12 o’clock on Tuesday, May 23rd, 1815, the Bill for erecting it having passed May 6th, 1811. It consists of three immense Arches of cast-iron, the centre being 240 feet in span, and those at the sides 210, and about 42 feet above the highest spring-tides: the whole work was estimated at £400,000; the Architect was the late Mr. Rennie; and the edifice was opened by lamp-light on Wednesday, March 24th, 1819, as the clock of St. Paul’s Cathedral tolled midnight.
“I come now, Mr. Barbican, to speak of the last Fair held on the River Thames, by London Bridge, in the beginning of 1814. The Frost commenced with a thick fog, on the evening of the preceding December 27th, which lasted for several days; followed by heavier falls of snow than any within the memory of man, and continuing for almost two days, with very short intervals. During nearly four weeks’ frost, the wind blew, with little intermission, from the North and North-East; and the cold was intense. The River was covered with vast pieces of floating ice, bearing piles of snow, moving slowly with the tide, or collected into masses wherever their progress was obstructed. A thaw, which continued from January 26th to the 29th, floated so many of these down the River, that the space between London and Blackfriars’ Bridges was almost impassable; and the severe Frost, which recommenced the day following, and lasted to February 5th, speedily united the whole into one immoveable sheet of ice. Even on Sunday, the 30th, some persons ventured to walk over it at different parts; and on Tuesday, February 1st, the usual entries were formed by the unemployed watermen; particularly between Blackfriars’ Bridge and Three Cranes’ Wharf, notices being written against the streets leading to them, announcing a safe footway over the River, by the toll on which, many of them received £6 per day. The standing amusements of an English Frost Fair now commenced, and many cheerfully paid to see and partake of that upon the frozen Thames, which at any other time they would not have deigned to look upon. Beside the roughly-formed paths paved with ashes, leading from shore to shore, there was a street of tents, called the ‘City Road,’ in which gay flags, inviting signs, music, and dancing, evinced what excellent entertainment was to be found there. That ancient wonder, peculiar to the place, the roasting of a small sheep over a fire, was exhibited to many a sixpenny audience, whilst the provision itself, under the name of ‘Lapland Mutton,’ sold for one shilling a slice! Several Printing-Presses were also erected, to furnish memorials of the Frost, in old verse, and new prose; and as I have already given specimens of the ancient Thames’ printing, let us not pass over this last Great Frost without recording a few of its papers.
‘You that walk here, and do design to tell
Your children’s children what this year befell,
Come buy this print, and then it will be seen,
That such a year as this hath seldom been.’
‘Omnipotent Press! Tyrant Winter has enchained the noblest torrent that flows to the main; but Summer will return and set the captive free. So may tyranny for a time ‘freeze the genial current of the soul;’ but a Free Press, like the great source of light and heat, will, ere long, dissolve the tyranny of the mightiest. Greatest of Arts! what do we not owe to thee? The knowledge which directs industry; the liberty which encourages it; the security which protects it. And of Industry how precious are the fruits! Glowing and hardy temperaments which defy the vicissitudes of seasons, and comfortable homes which make you regret not the gloom that is abroad. But for Industry, but for Printing, you might now have been content, like the Russ and Laplander, to bury yourselves under that snow, over which you now tread with mirth and glee. Printed on the River Thames, and in commemoration of a Great Fair held upon it on the 31st of January, 1814, when it was completely frozen over, from shore to shore. The Frost commenced 27th December, 1813; was accompanied by a thick fog that lasted eight days; and after the fog came a heavy fall of snow, that prevented all communication with the Northern and Western parts of the country, for several days.’
“Another bill, on the same subject, ran thus:—
‘Friends! now is your time to support the freedom of the Press! Can the Press have greater liberty? Here you find it working in the middle of the Thames; and if you encourage us by buying our impressions, we will keep it going in the true spirit of liberty, during the Frost.’