Tower Bridge, close to the Tower of London, is one of the best-known and most recognizable bridges in the world. Opened on 30 June 1894, this combined suspension and bascule bridge was designed by architect Sir Horace Jones and engineer Sir John Wolfe Barry.This new book, published to mark the 125th anniversary of its opening, will explore the history of the bridge, set it into the context of the River Thames and its crossings, and will, above all, focus on its design and construction. Highly illustrated with old and new images, from material held in the London Metropolitan Archives to specially commissioned photographs, Tower Bridge: History * Engineering * Design is a major new illustrated study of a remarkable piece of architecture and engineering.
The London Stone at Staines marks the ancient western boundary of the jurisdiction of the City of London. The Lord Mayor and Corporation’s conservancy of the Thames extended east from there as far as Yantlet in Kent. This is the stretch of the river documented in 'Liquid History'. Drawing on the resources of English Heritage’s unrivalled photographic archives, the book records a journey along the length of the tidal river and over almost 150 years. We see the rural Thames as it approaches London, riverside towns, the civic and commercial development of the riverbanks, the working docks and warehouses, the development of the web of bridges that now links north and south, barges, sailing ships and warships, the great flood defences and a tiny beach that flourished briefly at the Tower of London. Featuring the work of pioneers of photography and some of the great topographical photographers of the 20th century, and with a fascinating commentary by Stephen Croad, 'Liquid History' chronicles the ebb and flow of the life of the river.
London Bridge lined with houses from end to end was one of the most extraordinary structures ever seen in London. It was home to over 500 people, perched above the rushing waters of the Thames, and was one of the city’s main shopping streets. It is among the most familiar images of London in the past, but little has previously been known about the houses and the people who lived and worked in them. This book uses plentiful newly-discovered evidence, including detailed descriptions of nearly every house, to tell the story of the bridge and its houses and inhabitants. With the new information it is possible to reconstruct the plan of the bridge and houses in the seventeenth century, to trace the history of each house back through rentals and a survey to 1358, revealing the original layout, to date most of the houses which appear in later views, and to show how the houses and their occupants changed during five and half centuries. The book describes what stopped the houses falling into the river, how the houses were gradually enlarged, what their layout was inside, what goods were sold on the bridge and how these changed over time, the extensive rebuilding in 1477-1548 and 1683-96, and the removal of the houses around 1760. There are many new discoveries - about the structure of the bridge, the width of the roadway, the original layout of the houses, how the houses were supported, the size and internal planning of the houses, the quality of their architecture, and the trades practised on the bridge. The book includes five newly-commissioned reconstruction drawings showing what we now know about the bridge and its houses.
Tower Bridge is one of the most famous bridges in the world. Designed by Sir Horace Jones (1819-1887) and engineer Sir John Wolfe Barry (1836-1918) over a period of eight years, it was the largest and most advanced bascule bridge ever completed when it opened in 1894, requiring 11,000 tons of steel and involving more than 400 construction workers. This impressive feat of engineering helped sustain the growing commercial activity at the docks and warehouses in East London, and the sudden influx of daily commuters brought in from the newly built London Bridge station. Still in full use today, the bridge is lifted an average of 850 times a year. This Victorian masterpiece remains a highly important crossing on the River Thames, as well as being one of London's defining landmarks. This compelling album of photographs by Harry Cory Wright allows us to experience the awe-inspiring structure of Tower Bridge in exquisite detail, from the intricate machinery and original mechanisms inside the control rooms and secret corridors, to the great cavernous space within the bascule chamber. It includes an interview with Senior Technical Officer Glen Ellis, who shares his own daily experience of lifting the bridge, evoking an incredibly vivid sense of 'being there'.
