109-556: Surrey Canal is an area in inner south east London, situated 2 miles south of Tower Bridge , which was formerly home to a section of the Grand Surrey Canal . It is formed by the meeting point of three districts: Bermondsey , Deptford and New Cross . The Grand Surrey Canal was used to transport timber from the Surrey Docks to Camberwell but it was closed in 1971 and subsequently filled in. The area surrounding this section of
218-454: A London Overground maintenance depot. A development proposal, which received planning consent in March 2012, was thoroughly investigated by The Guardian newspaper in 2016 and 2017. As a result of funding claims that were false and links between the developer and Lewisham council, the scheme was cancelled. The developer (Renewal) was found to have no experience of such a scheme and lacked funds. It
327-567: A byword for wider East London , before East London grew further still, east of the River Lea and into Essex . The contrast between the east and west ends was stark, in 1797 the Prussian writer and historian Archenholz wrote: (The east)...especially along the shores of the Thames, consists of old houses, the streets there are narrow, dark, and ill paved; inhabited by sailors and other workmen... and by
436-546: A byword for wider East London, before East London grew further still, east of the River Lea and into Essex . The area was notorious for its deep poverty, overcrowding and associated social problems. This led to the East End's history of intense political activism and association with some of the country's most influential social reformers. Another major theme of East End history has been migration, both inward and outward. The area had
545-584: A great part of the Jews. The contrast between this and the west is astonishing Writing of the period around 1800, Rev. Richardson commented on the estrangements between the east and west: The inhabitants of the extreme east of London knew nothing of the western localities and vice-versa. There was little communication or sympathy between the two ends of London. …and thus the householders of Westminster were as distinct from householders of Bishopsgate Without , Shoreditch and all those localities which stretch towards
654-532: A local landmark that remained until it was demolished to improve access for the London City Airport . The first railway (the " Commercial Railway ") to be built, in 1840, was a passenger service based on cable haulage by stationary steam engines that ran the 3.5 mi (5.6 km) from Minories to Blackwall on a pair of tracks. It required 14 mi (22.5 km) of hemp rope , and "dropped" carriages as it arrived at stations, which were reattached to
763-463: A major manufacturing town, with 30,000 houses built between 1871 and 1901. Soon afterwards, East Ham was built up to serve the new Gas Light and Coke Company and Bazalgette's grand sewage works at Beckton . The years 1885–1909 saw a series of transportation milestones achieved in Walthamstow. In 1885, John Kemp Starley designed the first modern bicycle, while in 1892 Frederick Bremer built
872-654: A major railway centre for the North London Railway , with marshalling yards and a maintenance depot serving both the City and the West India docks. Nearby Bow railway station opened in 1850 and was rebuilt in 1870 in a grand style, featuring a concert hall. The line and yards closed in 1944, after severe bomb damage, and never reopened, as goods became less significant, and cheaper facilities were concentrated in Essex. The River Lea
981-421: A more abiding and historic interest" than the opening of Tower Bridge in the history of the City of London, and it was a "semi-State" occasion. In addition to the official opening, the City of London Corporation gave an "entertainment", at a cost of £300, to 1,200 workmen and their wives. Edward Cruttwell, who had been in charge of the building of the bridge from the beginning, presided. After dinner, each workman
1090-609: A palace at Bethnal Green , King John is reputed to have established a palace at Bow and Henry VIII established a hunting lodge at Bromley Hall . The rural population of the area grew considerably in the Medieval period, despite reductions caused by the Norman Conquest and the Black Death. The pattern of agricultural settlement in south-east England was typically of dispersed farmhouses, rather than nucleated villages. However
1199-453: A persistent urban legend about an American purchasing the wrong bridge . By the late 19th century, the population and commercial development in the East End of London was increasing, leading to demand for a new river crossing downstream of London Bridge . A traditional fixed bridge at street level could not be built because it would cut off access by sailing ships to the port facilities in
SECTION 10
#17328558978321308-464: A series forming the basis for London Labour and the London Poor (1851), that the trades in the area included tailors, costermongers , shoemakers, dustmen, sawyers, carpenters, cabinet makers and silkweavers. He noted that in the area: roads were unmade, often mere alleys, houses small and without foundations, subdivided and often around unpaved courts. An almost total lack of drainage and sewerage
1417-417: A skeleton of steelwork, covered with a facing of granite and Portland stone, backed with brickwork on the inside faces." An octagonal steel column stands at each corner of each tower (119 feet 6 inches long). The smaller abutment towers were "generally similar...though on a smaller scale." "The total length of the bridge, including the abutments, is 940 feet, and the length of the approaches are 1,260 feet on
1526-505: A strong pull on the rural poor from other parts of England, and attracted waves of migration from further afield, notably Huguenot refugees, Irish weavers, Ashkenazi Jews , and, in the 20th century, Bengalis . The closure of the last of the Port of London's East End docks in 1980 created further challenges and led to attempts at regeneration, with Canary Wharf and the Olympic Park among
1635-461: A third engine was installed in case the existing ones were damaged by enemy action. It was a 150 hp horizontal cross-compound engine, built by Vickers Armstrong Ltd. at their Elswick works in Newcastle upon Tyne. It was fitted with a flywheel having a 9-foot (2.7 m) diameter and weighing 9 tons, and was governed to a speed of 30 rpm. The engine became redundant when the rest of the system
1744-462: A very heavy weight to maintain the desired pressure. The entire hydraulic system along with the gas lighting system was installed by William Sugg & Co Ltd . The gas lighting was initially by open-flame burners within the lanterns, but was soon updated to the later incandescent system. In 1974, the original operating mechanism was largely replaced by a new electro-hydraulic drive system, designed by BHA Cromwell House. The only remaining parts of
1853-477: Is 940 feet (290 m) in length including the abutments and consists of two 213-foot (65 m) bridge towers connected at the upper level by two horizontal walkways, and a central pair of bascules that can open to allow shipping. Originally hydraulically powered , the operating mechanism was converted to an electro-hydraulic system in 1972. The bridge is part of the London Inner Ring Road and thus
1962-649: Is a Grade I listed combined bascule , suspension , and, until 1960, cantilever bridge in London , built between 1886 and 1894, designed by Horace Jones and engineered by John Wolfe Barry with the help of Henry Marc Brunel . It crosses the River Thames close to the Tower of London and is one of five London bridges owned and maintained by the City Bridge Foundation , a charitable trust founded in 1282. The bridge
2071-523: Is regarded as the symbolic start of the East End. On the river, the Tower Dock inlet, just west of the Tower of London and Tower Bridge marks the beginning of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets and its older predecessors. Beyond these reference points, the East End has no official or generally accepted boundaries; views vary as to how much of wider East London lies within it. In extending from
2180-509: Is sometimes used as a synonym for the area. The East End began to emerge in the Middle Ages with initially slow urban growth outside the eastern walls, which later accelerated, especially in the 19th century, to absorb pre-existing settlements. The first known written record of the East End as a distinct entity, as opposed to its component parts, comes from John Strype 's 1720 Survey of London , which describes London as consisting of four parts:
2289-461: Is thought to pre-date that by centuries. These landholdings would become the basis of the Ancient Parishes and City Wards which, by occasional fission and mergers, developed into the administrative units of today. Five monastic institutions, centres of learning and charity, were established just outside the walls: Bedlam , Holywell Priory , The New Hospital of St Mary without Bishopsgate ,
SECTION 20
#17328558978322398-497: Is to add to Tower Hamlets the former parish and borough of Shoreditch (including Hoxton and Haggerston ), which is now the southern part of the modern London Borough of Hackney . Other commentators prefer a definition broader still, encompassing districts such as West Ham , East Ham , Leyton , Walthamstow , parts or all of Hackney (the district, rather than the larger modern borough) and Ilford . The wider East London area might be said to comprise, or approximate to,
2507-702: The Abbey of the Minoresses of St. Clare without Aldgate , Eastminster near the Tower, and St Katherine's on the Thames. Bromley was home to St Leonards Priory and Barking Abbey , important as a religious centre since Norman times was where William the Conqueror had first established his English court. Further east the Cistercian Stratford Langthorne Abbey became the court of Henry III in 1267 for
2616-518: The Essex side of the city, as they are from the inhabitants of Holland or Belgium. The East End has always contained some of London's poorest areas. The main reasons for this include: In medieval times trades were carried out in workshops in and around the owners' premises in the City. By the time of the Great Fire of London in 1666 these were becoming industries, and some were particularly noisome, such as
2725-634: The Great Fire of London , and Captain Cook moved from Shadwell to Stepney Green , where a school and assembly rooms had been established (commemorated by Assembly Passage , and a plaque on the site of Cook's house on the Mile End Road). Mile End Old Town also acquired some fine buildings, and the New Town began to be built. By 1882, Walter Besant was able to describe East London as a city in its own right, on account of its large size and social disengagement from
2834-615: The London Olympics , the west walkway was transformed into a 200-foot-long (61 m) Live Music Sculpture by the British composer Samuel Bordoli. 30 classical musicians were arranged along the length of the bridge 138 feet (42 m) above the Thames behind the Olympic rings. The sound travelled backward and forwards along the walkway, echoing the structure of the bridge. Following the Olympics,
2943-507: The Moorfields countryside. These boundaries remained consistent after urbanisation and so might be said to delineate east and north London. The boundary line, with very slight modifications, has also become the boundary between the modern London Boroughs of Hackney and Islington . Building accelerated in the late 16th century, and the area that would later become known as the East End began to take shape. Writing in 1603, John Stow described
3052-548: The Peabody Trust were formed to provide homes for the poor and to clear the slums generally. Expansion by the railway companies, such as the London and Blackwall Railway and Great Eastern Railway , caused large areas of slum housing to be demolished. The Housing of the Working Classes Act 1890 ( 53 & 54 Vict. c. 70), gave local authorities, notably London County Council , new powers and responsibilities and led to
3161-608: The Pool of London between London Bridge and the Tower of London . A Special Bridge or Subway Committee chaired by Sir Albert Joseph Altman was formed in December 1875 to find a solution. On 7 December 1876, the Committee presented a report recommending a bridge or subway to the east of London Bridge should be constructed, funds permitting. More than fifty designs were submitted, including one from civil engineer Sir Joseph Bazalgette , which
3270-582: The Royal Victoria Dock (1855), able to berth vessels of up to 8000 tons; Royal Albert Dock (1880), up to 12,000 tons; and King George V Dock (1921), up to 30,000 tons, on the estuary marshes helped extend the continuous development of London across the Lea into Essex. The railways gave access to a passenger terminal at Gallions Reach and new suburbs created in West Ham , which quickly became
3379-463: The SS Great Eastern , designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel , was launched from the yard of Messrs Scott Russell & Co , of Millwall . The 692 ft (211 m) vessel was too long to fit across the river, and so the ship had to be launched sideways. Due to the technical difficulties of the launch, after this, shipbuilding on the Thames went into a long decline. Ships continued to be built at
Surrey Canal - Misplaced Pages Continue
3488-457: The Second World War , Tower Bridge was seen as a major transport link to the Port of London , and consequently was a target for enemy action. In 1940, the high-level span took a direct hit, severing the hydraulic mechanism and taking the bridge out of action. In April 1941, a parachute mine exploded close to the bridge, causing serious damage to the bascule, towers, and engine room. In 1942,
3597-479: The Tay Bridge Disaster . The system was designed and installed by Hamilton Owen Rendel while working for Armstrong, Mitchell and Company of Newcastle upon Tyne . Water at a pressure of 750 psi (5.2 MPa) was pumped into the accumulators by a pair of stationary steam engines . Each drove a force pump from its piston tail rod. The accumulators each comprise a 20-inch (51 cm) ram which sits
3706-546: The Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company at Blackwall and Canning Town until the yard closed in 1913, shortly after the launch of the Dreadnought Battleship HMS Thunderer (1911) . Heading eastward from the Tower of London lie six and a half mile of former docklands; the most central of the docks – just east of the Tower, is St Katharine Docks , built in 1828 to accommodate luxury goods. This
3815-686: The Tower Division , which had owed military service to the Constable of the Tower (in his ex-officio role as Lord Lieutenant of the Tower Hamlets ) for time immemorial, having its roots in the Bishop of London's historic Manor of Stepney . This made the Constable an influential figure in the civil and military affairs of the early East End. Later, as London grew further, the fully urbanised Tower Division became
3924-586: The West Indies was unloaded directly into quayside warehouses. Ships were limited to 6000 tons. The old Brunswick Dock, a shipyard at Blackwall became the basis for the East India Company 's East India Docks established there in 1806. The Millwall Docks were created in 1868, predominantly for the import of grain and timber. These docks housed the first purpose built granary for the Baltic grain market ,
4033-500: The foundation stone laid by the Prince of Wales on 21 June, and took eight years. The work was divided into eight contracts. Mr (later Sir) John Jackson won three of those contracts and was responsible for the northern approach to the bridge (which started in February 1887), the foundations of the piers and the abutments of the bridge (started February 1887), and the cast iron parapet for
4142-454: The Bishop of London's Manor of Stepney . The Manor's lands were the basis of a later unit called the Tower Division, or Tower Hamlets which extended as far north as Stamford Hill . It is thought that the manor was held by the Bishop of London , in compensation for his duties in maintaining and garrisoning the Tower of London . The oldest recorded reference to this obligation is from 1554, but it
4251-551: The Bridge Master. Some of the control mechanism for the signalling equipment has been preserved and is housed in the Tower Bridge's museum. During the first twelve months after the opening of the bridge, the average stoppage of road traffic at each bridge lift was six minutes. The average number of vehicles crossing the bridge daily was about 8,000. East End of London The East End of London , often referred to within
4360-404: The City of London, Westminster , Southwark , and "That Part beyond the Tower". The relevance of Strype's reference to the Tower was more than geographical. The East End was the urbanised part of an administrative area called the Tower Division , which had owed military service to the Tower of London since time immemorial. Later, as London grew further, the fully urbanised Tower Division became
4469-541: The Court of Common Council for a mechanical bridge built according to one of three models: Design A, a swing bridge ; Design B, a variation of that swing bridge; and Design C a bascule bridge . Design C was recommended and a bill was prepared to present to Parliament. The Act of Parliament authorising construction received royal assent on 14 August 1885 and is called the Corporation of London (Tower Bridge) Act 1885. The Act
Surrey Canal - Misplaced Pages Continue
4578-402: The East End as a distinct entity, rather than a collection of parishes, when he describes London as consisting of four parts: the City of London, Westminster , Southwark , and "That Part beyond the Tower" . The relevance of Strype's reference to the Tower was more than geographical. The East End (including the Tower and its Liberties ) was the urbanised part of an administrative area called
4687-568: The East End rather than in the crowded streets of the City. In 1817 the Lower Moorfields was built on and the gap with Finsbury was fully closed, and in the late 19th century development across the Lea in West Ham began in earnest. As time went on, large estates began to be split up, ending the constraining effect of short-term copyhold. Estates of fine houses for captains, merchants and owners of manufacturers began to be built. Samuel Pepys moved his family and goods to Bethnal Green during
4796-668: The London area simply as the East End , is the historic core of wider East London , east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames . It does not have universally accepted boundaries on its north and east sides, though the River Lea is sometimes seen as the eastern boundary. Parts of it may be regarded as lying within Central London (though that term too has no precise definition). The term "East of Aldgate Pump "
4905-526: The Tower Bridge Exhibition opened, housed in the bridge's twin towers, the long-closed high-level walkways, and the Victorian engine rooms. The latter still houses the original steam engines and some of the original hydraulic machinery . The bridge closed for a month in 2000 to repair the bascules and perform other maintenance. A computer system was installed to control the raising and lowering of
5014-568: The Tower [of London]...shall at all times have...the right to occupy the Tower Bridge." The extent of the maritime trade conducted at this time between the site of Tower Bridge and London Bridge (a distance of approximately 0.5 miles) is demonstrated in Schedule B of the Act which lists 11 active docks , quays and wharfs operating on the north side of the Thames, and 20 wharfs operating on the south side. Two further Acts of Parliament were required to extend
5123-448: The bascules remotely. However, the system proved unreliable, resulting in the bridge being stuck in the open or closed positions on several occasions during 2005 until its sensors were replaced. In April 2008, authorities announced that the bridge would undergo a £4 million refurbishment that would take four years to complete. The work entailed stripping existing paint down to bare metal and repainting in blue and white. Before this,
5232-482: The boundary of the London congestion charge zone, and remains an important traffic route with 40,000 crossings every day. The bridge deck is freely accessible to both vehicles and pedestrians, whereas the bridge's twin towers, high-level walkways, and Victorian engine rooms form part of the Tower Bridge Exhibition. Tower Bridge has become a recognisable London landmark. It is sometimes confused with London Bridge , about 0.5 miles (800 m) upstream, which has led to
5341-458: The bridge piers. At night, coloured lights were used, in either direction, on both of the piers: two red lights to show that the bridge was closed, and two green to show that it was open. In foggy weather, a gong was sounded as well. Vessels passing through the bridge were required to display signals. By day, a black ball at least 2 feet (0.61 m) in diameter was mounted high up where it could be seen. Night passage called for two red lights in
5450-541: The bridge was opened, the Tower Subway – 0.25 mi (400 m) to the west – was the shortest way to cross the river from Tower Hill to Tooley Street in Southwark . Opened in 1870, Tower Subway was among the world's earliest underground ("tube") railways, but it closed after just three months and was reopened as a tolled pedestrian foot tunnel. Once Tower Bridge was open, the majority of foot traffic transferred to using
5559-532: The bridge's colour scheme dated from 1977, when it was painted red, white, and blue for Queen Elizabeth II 's Silver Jubilee . Its colours were subsequently restored to blue and white. Each section was enshrouded in scaffolding and plastic sheeting to prevent the old paint falling into the Thames and causing pollution. Starting in mid-2008, contractors worked on a quarter of the bridge at a time to minimise disruption, but some road closures were inevitable. The completed work should stand for 25 years. The renovation of
SECTION 50
#17328558978325668-420: The bridge, as there was no toll to cross. Having lost most of its income, the tunnel was closed in 1898. The high-level open-air walkways between the towers gained a reputation for prostitutes and pickpockets . Since they were only accessible by stairs, the walkways were seldom used by regular pedestrians and were closed in 1910. The walkway reopened in 1982 as part of the Tower Bridge Exhibition. During
5777-810: The building of new philanthropic housing such as Blackwall Buildings and Great Eastern Buildings. By 1890, official slum clearance programmes had begun. These included the creation of the world's first council housing, the LCC Boundary Estate , which replaced the neglected and crowded streets of Friars Mount, better known as The Old Nichol Street Rookery. Between 1918 and 1939 the LCC continued replacing East End housing with five- or six-storey flats, despite residents preferring houses with gardens and opposition from shopkeepers who were forced to relocate to new, more expensive premises. The Second World War brought an end to further slum clearance. Industries associated with
5886-399: The cable for the return journey, the train "reassembling" itself at the terminus. The line was converted to standard gauge in 1859, and steam locomotives adopted. The building of London termini at Fenchurch Street (1841), and Bishopsgate (1840) provided access to new suburbs across the River Lea , again resulting in the destruction of housing and increased overcrowding in the slums. After
5995-491: The canal has a history of residential development before it became a public park, Senegal Fields, in 1972. Since 1993 the former Senegal Fields site has been home to Millwall FC . Surrey Canal's boundaries as a district are roughly equal to the length of Surrey Canal Road, which runs along the perimeter of three postal code districts: SE16 , SE14 and SE8 . The remaining land use is predominantly industrial, including waste and recycling processing facilities on Landmann Way and
6104-484: The construction. The first caisson was started in September 1886 and it was not until January 1890 that both piers were complete. The reason for the long duration of the foundation works was the need to defer excavation of the second pier until the staging for the first pier had been removed to allow 160 feet of clear water-way for shipping. More than 11,000 long tons (12,320 short tons; 11,177 t) of steel were used in
6213-452: The defence of Aldgate and the nearby walls. The land inside and outside Bishopsgate seems to have been the responsibility of the Bishop of London (the Bishop of the East Saxons ), who was promoting building in the underdeveloped eastern side of the walled area, and who may also have had a role in defending Bishopsgate itself. Apart from parts of Shoreditch, the rest of the area was part of
6322-463: The district, the abundance of cheap labour was turned to boot, furniture and clothing manufacture. Globe Town continued its expansion into the 1860s, long after the silk industry's decline. During the 19th century, building on an ad hoc basis could not keep up with the expanding population's needs. Henry Mayhew visited Bethnal Green in 1850 and wrote for the Morning Chronicle , as a part of
6431-454: The face of each pier. The bascules, weighing about 1,070 tons each including ballast and paving, are counterbalanced to minimise the force required and allow raising in five minutes and have an arc of rotation of 82° with the centre of the arc, or pivot point, being 13 feet 3 inches inside the face of each pier and 5 feet 7 inches beneath the surface of the roadway. The two side spans are suspension bridges, each 270 feet (82 m) long, with
6540-490: The first British motorcar in a workshop in his garden. The London General Omnibus Company built the first mass-produced buses there, the B-type from 1908 onwards and in 1909, A V Roe successfully tested the first all-British aeroplane on Walthamstow Marshes . The East End has historically suffered from poor housing stock and infrastructure. From the 1950s, the area was a microcosm of the structural and social changes affecting
6649-458: The framework for the towers and walkways, which were then clad in Cornish granite and Portland stone to protect the underlying steelwork, and achieve the stipulation that the bridge should fit architecturally with the Tower of London. Jones died in 1887, and Barry took over as architect. Barry later summarised the contributions to the construction of Tower Bridge: "Mr Fyson, who undertook much of
SECTION 60
#17328558978326758-436: The judges). Jones and Barry designed a bridge with two bridge towers built on piers. The central span was split into two equal bascules or leaves, which could be raised to allow river traffic to pass. The two side spans were suspension bridges, with rods anchored both at the abutments and through rods contained in the bridge's upper walkways. Construction - overseen by Edward Cruttwell - started on 22 April 1886, with
6867-510: The line of the former walls, the area is taken to include the small ancient extramural City wards of Bishopsgate Without and the Portsoken (as established until 21st century boundary reviews). The various channels of the River Lea are sometimes viewed as the eastern boundary. Beyond the small eastern extramural wards, the narrowest definition restricts the East End to the modern London Borough of Tower Hamlets . A more common preference
6976-452: The longstanding presence of that open space separating the emerging East End from the western and small northern suburb must have helped shape the different economic character of the areas and perceptions of their distinct identity (see map below). Shoreditch's boundary with the parish of St Luke's (which, like its predecessor St Giles-without-Cripplegate served the Finsbury area ) ran through
7085-448: The marshy area of Pimlico . These docks imported tobacco, wine, wool and other goods into guarded warehouses within high walls (some of which still remain). They were able to berth over 300 sailing vessels simultaneously, but by 1971 they closed, no longer able to accommodate modern shipping. The West India Docks were established in 1803, providing berths for larger ships and a model for future London dock building. Imported produce from
7194-419: The masonry superstructure (May 1889), and paving and lighting (May 1892) for a total accepted tender of £179,455. The total accepted tender for the eight contracts was £830,005. On average 432 people worked on the site, although at least 1,200 worked on its construction overall and received invitations to the entertainment provided for the workmen at its opening. Cruttwell was the resident engineer throughout
7303-550: The most successful examples. Paradoxically, while some parts of the East End are undergoing rapid change and are amongst the areas with the highest mean salary in the UK, it also continues to contain some of the worst poverty in Great Britain. The East End lies east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames . Aldgate Pump on the edge of the City
7412-477: The navy is recorded at Ratcliff in 1354, with shipfitting and repair carried out in Blackwall by 1485 and a major fishing port developed downstream at Barking to provide fish for the City. These and other factors meant that industries relating to construction, repair, and victualling of naval and merchant ships flourished in the area but the City of London retained its right to land the goods, until 1799. Growth
7521-637: The nearby Tower of London. The total cost of construction was £1,184,000 (equivalent to £170 million in 2023). Tower Bridge was officially opened on 30 June 1894 by the Prince and Princess of Wales . The opening ceremony was attended by the Lord Chamberlain , the Lord Carrington and the Home Secretary , H. H. Asquith . It was reported that "few [pageants] have been more brilliant or will have
7630-442: The north side, and 780 feet on the south side. The width of the bridge and approaches between the parapets is 60 feet, except across the opening span where it is 49 feet. The steepest gradients are 1 in 60 on the north side, and 1 in 40 on the south side." The central span of 200 feet (61 m) between the towers is split into two equal bascules, or leaves, which project 100 feet out each and extend backwards 62 feet 6 inches within
7739-501: The northern approach (December 1887) at a total accepted tender cost of £189,732; Sir W. G. Armstrong, Mitchell, and Co. Ltd , was awarded the hydraulics contract for which they tendered £85,232 (December 1887); Mr William Webster was responsible for the southern approach at £38,383 (July 1888); Sir William Arrol & Co. had the contract for the metalwork of the superstructure at £337,113 (May 1889), which amounted to about 12,100 tons; Messrs Perry & Co won two contracts covering
7848-413: The old system are the final pinions, which fit into the racks on the bascules and were driven by hydraulic motors and gearing. Oil is now used in place of water as the new hydraulic fluid . Originally, river traffic passing beneath the bridge was required to follow several rules and signals. Daytime control was provided by red semaphore signals , mounted on small control cabins on either end of both of
7957-467: The opening of Liverpool Street station (1874), Bishopsgate railway station became a goods yard, in 1881, to bring imports from Eastern ports. With the introduction of containerisation, the station declined, suffered a fire in 1964 that destroyed the station buildings, and it was finally demolished in 2004 for the extension of the East London Line . In the 19th century, the area north of Bow Road became
8066-408: The period of construction (and remained associated with the bridge until his death in 1933). He noted that there were "only" ten fatal accidents during the construction: four in sinking the foundations, one on the approaches, and the remaining five on the superstructure. Two piers, containing over 70,000 long tons (78,400 short tons; 71,123 t) of concrete, were sunk into the riverbed to support
8175-468: The preparation of the detailed drawings; Mr Stevenson, who had been his assistant with the architectural work; and...most of all...Mr Cruttwell, the Resident Engineer, and Mr Homfray, who superintended the machinery." Stevenson replaced Jones's original brick façade with the more ornate Victorian Gothic style, which made the bridge a distinctive landmark and was intended to harmonise the bridge with
8284-470: The presence of the city and maritime trades as a market for goods and services led to a thriving mixed economy in the countryside of the Manor of Stepney. This led to large settlements, inhabited mostly by tradesmen (rather than farmers) to develop along the major roads forming hamlets such as Mile End and Bow. These settlements would expand and merge with the development radiating out from London itself. Geography
8393-455: The processing of urine for the tanning industry, or required large amounts of space, such as drying clothes after process and dying in fields known as tentergrounds . Some were dangerous, such as the manufacture of gunpowder or the proving of guns. These activities came to be performed outside the City walls in the near suburbs of the East End. Later, when lead-making and bone-processing for soap and china came to be established, they too located in
8502-539: The rest of the capital. As the area became built up and more crowded, the wealthy sold their plots for subdivision and moved further afield. Into the 18th and 19th centuries, there were still attempts to build fine houses, for example Tredegar Square (1830), and the open fields around Mile End New Town were used for the construction of estates of workers' cottages in 1820. This was designed in 1817 in Birmingham by Anthony Hughes and finally constructed in 1820. Globe Town
8611-464: The rings were removed from Tower Bridge and replaced by the emblem of the Paralympic Games for the 2012 Summer Paralympics . In 2016, Tower Bridge was closed to all road traffic from 1 October to 30 December. This was to allow structural maintenance work to take place on the timber decking, lifting mechanism and waterproofing the brick arches on the bridge's approaches. During this, the bridge
8720-454: The same position. Foggy weather required repeated blasts from the ship's steam whistle . If a black ball was suspended from the middle of each walkway (or a red light at night) this indicated that the bridge could not be opened. These signals were repeated about 1,000 yards (910 m) downstream, at Cherry Garden Pier , where boats needing to pass through the bridge had to hoist their signals/lights and sound their horn, as appropriate, to alert
8829-471: The sea developed throughout the East End, including rope making and shipbuilding. The former location of roperies can still be identified from their long straight, narrow profile in the modern streets, for instance Ropery Street near Mile End . Shipbuilding for the navy is recorded at Ratcliff in 1354, with shipfitting and repair carried out in Blackwall by 1485. On 31 January 1858, the largest ship of that time,
8938-422: The squalid riverside development, extending nearly as far as Ratcliff , which had developed mostly within his lifetime. The polluted nature of the area was noted by Sir William Petty in 1676, at a time when unpleasant smells were considered a vector of disease. He called for London's centre of gravity to move further west from the City towards Westminster , upwind what he called "the fumes steams and stinks of
9047-414: The suspension rods anchored both at the abutments and through rods contained within the bridge's upper walkways. The pedestrian walkways are 143 feet (44 m) above the river at high tide and accessed by lifts and staircases. These walkways were designed as cantilever bridges for a distance from each tower of 55 feet, with girders bridging the 120 feet between the ends of the cantilevers. The structure
9156-459: The time allowed to complete the works. On 12 August 1889 the Corporation of London (Tower Bridge) Act 1889 received royal assent to extend the time allowed for construction by a further four years to 1893 and make various adjustments to neighbouring streets that had proved necessary. The work was not yet complete after those four years, and on 29 June 1893 the Corporation of London (Tower Bridge) Extension of Time Act 1893 received royal assent extending
9265-517: The time by a further year. Construction was funded by the City Bridge Foundation , a charity established in 1282 for maintenance of London Bridge that subsequently expanded to cover Tower Bridge, Blackfriars Bridge , Southwark Bridge and the Millennium Bridge . Sir John Wolfe Barry was appointed engineer and Sir Horace Jones the architect (who, as the City Architect, was also one of
9374-429: The two eastern wards of the City, the former Tower Division and those parts of London east of the Lea. The East End developed along the Thames, and beyond Bishopsgate and Aldgate , the gates in the city wall that lay east of the little Walbrook river. These gates, first built with the wall in the late second or early third centuries, secured the entrance of pre-existing roads (the modern A10 and A11/A12 ) into
9483-473: The two main towers were converted from being cantilever bridges , projecting horizontally out into space, to suspension bridges when suspension cables were added. This was to reinforce the strength of the walkways. In 1974, the original operating mechanism was largely replaced by a new electro-hydraulic drive system, designed by Geoffrey Beresford Hartwell, of BHA Cromwell House, with the original final pinions driven by modern hydraulic motors . In 1982,
9592-549: The visitation of the Papal legates , and it was here that he made peace with the barons under the terms of the Dictum of Kenilworth . It became the fifth largest Abbey in the country, visited by monarchs and providing a retreat (and a final resting place) for the nobility. Edward I held his parliament at Stepney in 1299. The lands east of the City have sometimes been used as hunting grounds for bishops and royalty. The Bishop of London had
9701-423: The walkway interior was completed in mid-2009. The renovation of the four suspension chains was completed in March 2010 using a state-of-the-art coating system requiring up to six different layers of paint. A lighting system based on RGB LED luminaires was installed, concealed within the bridge superstructure, and attached without drilling holes, owing to the bridge's Grade I listing. On 8 July 2012, as part of
9810-618: The walled area. The walls were such a constraint to growth, that the position of the gates has been fundamental to the shaping of the capital, especially in the then suburbs outside the wall. The walled City was built on two hills separated by the Walbrook , Ludgate Hill to the west and Cornhill (of which Tower Hill is a shoulder), to the east. During the Anglo-Saxon period the two sides were under separate administration and had distinct economies, character, customs and regulations. Even beyond
9919-500: The walls, the Walbrook separated landholdings, with the Soke of Cripplegate to the west and the Soke of Bishopsgate to the east. The western side was more populous and prosperous, it had the cathedral, the royal palace (which later moved to Westminster) and its large market, Westcheap, was focussed on land-based trade. The east was poorer and more sparsely settled; its smaller market, Eastcheap,
10028-561: The whole easterly pyle" . In 1703 Joel Gascoyne published his map of the parish of St Dunstan Stepney, which occupied much of the East End area. He was commissioned to do so by the Vestry (local government) of the parish, who needed such a map for administrative purposes. The map shows Stepney divided into Hamlets , these were territorial sub-divisions, rather than small villages, and later became independent daughter parishes in their own right. In 1720 John Strype gives us our first record of
10137-569: Was a constraint to eastward expansion, but the Metropolitan Building Act of 1844 led to growth over that river into West Ham . The Act restricted the operation of dangerous and noxious industries from in the metropolitan area, the eastern boundary of which was the Lea . Consequently, many of these activities were relocated to the banks of the river. The building of the Royal Docks consisting of
10246-399: Was a major factor influencing the character of the developing East End; prevailing winds flow, like the river, west to east. The flow of the river led to the maritime trades concentrating in the east and the prevailing wind encouraged the most polluting industries to concentrate eastwards. Metal working industries are recorded between Aldgate and Bishopsgate in the 1300s and ship building for
10355-519: Was at this point in 1885 that John Wolfe Barry partnered with Jones and developed the concept of the "level soffit for the upper bridge" which allowed the design to proceed as it stands today. Unusually, Tower Bridge was designed to include three types of bridge: the two spans from the shore to the piers are a suspension bridge; the central, opening span is a bascule bridge; and the high level walkways were cantilever bridges until converted to suspension bridges in 1960. The main towers "consist of
10464-469: Was built by clearing the slums that lay in the area of the former Hospital of St Katharine . They were not successful commercially, as they were unable to accommodate the largest ships, and in 1864, management of the docks was amalgamated with that of the London Docks. The London Docks were built in 1805, and the waste soil and rubble from the construction was carried by barge to west London, to build up
10573-415: Was constructed to connect the 39 per cent of London's population that lived east of London Bridge, equivalent to the populations of "Manchester on the one side, and Liverpool on the other", while allowing shipping to access the Pool of London between the Tower of London and London Bridge . The bridge was opened by Edward, Prince of Wales , and Alexandra, Princess of Wales , on 30 June 1894. The bridge
10682-464: Was designed to withstand wind pressures of 56 lb per square foot ( 2.7 kPa), a design constraint introduced following the Tay Bridge disaster which had occurred just 15 years before the opening of Tower Bridge. There is a chimney on the bridge that is painted to look like a lamppost. It was connected to a fireplace in a guardroom located in one of the bridge piers. The original raising mechanism
10791-452: Was established from 1800 to provide for the expanding population of weavers around Bethnal Green, attracted by improving prospects in silk weaving. Bethnal Green's population trebled between 1801 and 1831, with 20,000 looms being operated in people's own homes. By 1824, with restrictions on importation of French silks relaxed, up to half these looms had become idle, and prices were driven down. With many importing warehouses already established in
10900-633: Was made worse by the ponds formed by the excavation of brickearth. Pigs and cows in back yards, noxious trades like boiling tripe, melting tallow, or preparing cat's meat, and slaughter houses, dustheaps, and 'lakes of putrefying night soil ' added to the filth A movement began to clear the slums. Burdett-Coutts built Columbia Market in 1869 and the Artisans' and Labourers' Dwellings Improvement Act 1875 passed in 1876 to provide powers to seize slums from landlords and to provide access to public funds to build new housing. Philanthropic housing associations such as
11009-490: Was modernised in 1974 and was donated to the Forncett Industrial Steam Museum by the City of London Corporation . The southern section of the bridge, in the London Borough of Southwark , was Grade I listed on 6 December 1949. The remainder of the bridge, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets , was listed on 27 September 1973. In 1960, the upper bridges of the two pedestrian walkways that connected
11118-417: Was much slower in the east, than in the large western suburb , with the modest eastern suburb separated from the much smaller northern extension by Moorfields adjacent to the wall on the north side. Moorfields was an open area with a marshy chararacter due to London's Wall acting as a dam, impeding the flow of the Walbrook and restricting development in that direction. Moorfields remained open until 1817, and
11227-512: Was powered by pressurised water stored in six hydraulic accumulators . There were then two pairs of engines on each pier. Each pair consisted of a larger engine 8 ½ inches in diameter and a smaller one at 7 ½ inches. All eight engines had three cylinders. The reason for two pairs of engines on each pier was to build in redundancy. The machinery was "equal to twice the requirements of the Board of Trade", already very rigorous standards established following
11336-480: Was presented with a commemorative pipe and packet of tobacco, and each workman's wife with a box of sweetmeats. An Act of Parliament stipulated that a tug boat should be on station to assist vessels in danger when crossing the bridge, a requirement that remained in place until the 1960s. The bridge connected Iron Gate, on the north bank of the river, with Horselydown Lane, on the south – now known as Tower Bridge Approach and Tower Bridge Road , respectively. Until
11445-399: Was registered in overseas tax havens. Followers of Millwall, local residents, former players, football commentators and supporters of clubs across the world expressed their concern about the scheme because it endangered a club with very close community links. It is hoped that the club's own proposals will be adopted in due course (this at 8th Feb, 2017.) Tower Bridge Tower Bridge
11554-482: Was rejected because of a lack of sufficient headroom. None of the designs gained support and it was not until 24 July 1884 that the Bridge House Estates Committee brought forward a report that proposed "a low level bridge, with mechanical opening or openings" be built. Following a deputation from the Committee visiting Belgium, Holland, and Newcastle Bridge, a proposal was presented on 28 October 1884 to
11663-489: Was sited near the river to allow it to specialise in seaborne trade. These intramural distinctions would persist, if less markedly, and influence the development that subsequently occurred beyond the walls. Beyond the wall, the landholdings which would ultimately shape modern administrative divisions were in place before Domesday. The land outside Aldgate was held by the Cnichtengild , a fighting organisation responsible for
11772-437: Was specific about the design of what it (and contemporary media) named "The Tower Bridge", rather than just "Tower Bridge". Key stipulations were: Barry later noted that "at one time it was intended that the new works should be made suitable for the mounting of guns and for military occupation." But that "The latter idea was afterwards to a great extent discarded." However, the Act provided for "the senior officer commanding in
11881-431: Was still open to waterborne traffic. It was open to pedestrians for all but three weekends when a free ferry service was in operation. The structure was originally designed by Horace Jones but his design had an arch instead of the current high-level footways. Concerns about ships' masts and rigging hitting the arch meant that his design faced objections and Jones "began to think that the arched form must be given up". It
#831168