1.
St Paul's Cathedral
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St Pauls Cathedral, London, is an Anglican cathedral, the seat of the Bishop of London and the mother church of the Diocese of London. It sits on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London and is a Grade 1 listed building and its dedication to Paul the Apostle dates back to the original church on this site, founded in AD604. The present church, dating from the late 17th century, was designed in the English Baroque style by Sir Christopher Wren and its construction, completed in Wrens lifetime, was part of a major rebuilding programme in the City after the Great Fire of London. The cathedral is one of the most famous and most recognisable sights of London and its dome, framed by the spires of Wrens City churches, dominated the skyline for 300 years. At 365 feet high, it was the tallest building in London from 1710 to 1967, the dome is among the highest in the world. St Pauls is the second-largest church building in area in the United Kingdom after Liverpool Cathedral, St Pauls Cathedral occupies a significant place in the national identity. It is the subject of much promotional material, as well as of images of the dome surrounded by the smoke. St Pauls Cathedral is a church with hourly prayer and daily services. The entry fee is £18 for adults, the location of Londiniums original cathedral is unknown. In 1995, however, a large and ornate 5th century building on Tower Hill was excavated, the Elizabethan antiquarian William Camden argued that a temple to the goddess Diana had stood during Roman times on the site occupied by the medieval St Pauls Cathedral. Wren reported that he had no trace of any such temple during the works to build the new cathedral after the Great Fire. Bede records that in AD604 St Augustine consecrated Mellitus as the first bishop to the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Saxons and their king, Sæberht. Sæberhts uncle and overlord, Æthelberht, king of Kent, built a dedicated to St Paul in London. It is assumed, although unproven, that this first Anglo-Saxon cathedral stood on the site as the later medieval. On the death of Sæberht in about 616, his sons expelled Mellitus from London. The fate of the first cathedral building is unknown and this building, or a successor, was destroyed by fire in 962, but rebuilt in the same year. King Æthelred the Unready was buried in the cathedral on his death in 1016, the cathedral was burnt, with much of the city, in a fire in 1087, as recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. The fourth St Pauls, generally referred to as Old St Pauls, was begun by the Normans after the 1087 fire, a further fire in 1136 disrupted the work, and the new cathedral was not consecrated until 1240
2.
River Thames
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The River Thames is a river that flows through southern England, most notably through London. At 215 miles, it is the longest river entirely in England and it also flows through Oxford, Reading, Henley-on-Thames and Windsor. The lower reaches of the river are called the Tideway, derived from its tidal reach up to Teddington Lock. It rises at Thames Head in Gloucestershire, and flows into the North Sea via the Thames Estuary, the Thames drains the whole of Greater London. Its tidal section, reaching up to Teddington Lock, includes most of its London stretch and has a rise, in Scotland, the Tay achieves more than double the average discharge from a drainage basin that is 60% smaller. Along its course are 45 navigation locks with accompanying weirs and its catchment area covers a large part of South Eastern and a small part of Western England and the river is fed by 38 named tributaries. The river contains over 80 islands, in 2010, the Thames won the largest environmental award in the world – the $350,000 International Riverprize. The Thames, from Middle English Temese, is derived from the Brittonic Celtic name for the river, Tamesas, recorded in Latin as Tamesis and yielding modern Welsh Tafwys Thames. It has also suggested that it is not of Celtic origin. A place by the river, rather than the river itself, indirect evidence for the antiquity of the name Thames is provided by a Roman potsherd found at Oxford, bearing the inscription Tamesubugus fecit. It is believed that Tamesubugus name was derived from that of the river, tamese was referred to as a place, not a river in the Ravenna Cosmography. The rivers name has always pronounced with a simple t /t/, the Middle English spelling was typically Temese. A similar spelling from 1210, Tamisiam, is found in the Magna Carta, the Thames through Oxford is sometimes called the Isis. Ordnance Survey maps still label the Thames as River Thames or Isis down to Dorchester, richard Coates suggests that while the river was as a whole called the Thames, part of it, where it was too wide to ford, was called *lowonida. An alternative, and simpler proposal, is that London may also be a Germanic word, for merchant seamen, the Thames has long been just the London River. Londoners often refer to it simply as the river in such as south of the river. Thames Valley Police is a body that takes its name from the river. The marks of human activity, in cases dating back to Pre-Roman Britain, are visible at various points along the river
3.
England
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England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west, the Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east, the country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain in its centre and south, and includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly, and the Isle of Wight. England became a state in the 10th century, and since the Age of Discovery. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the worlds first industrialised nation, Englands terrain mostly comprises low hills and plains, especially in central and southern England. However, there are uplands in the north and in the southwest, the capital is London, which is the largest metropolitan area in both the United Kingdom and the European Union. In 1801, Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland through another Act of Union to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922 the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom, leading to the latter being renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain, the name England is derived from the Old English name Englaland, which means land of the Angles. The Angles were one of the Germanic tribes that settled in Great Britain during the Early Middle Ages, the Angles came from the Angeln peninsula in the Bay of Kiel area of the Baltic Sea. The earliest recorded use of the term, as Engla londe, is in the ninth century translation into Old English of Bedes Ecclesiastical History of the English People. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, its spelling was first used in 1538. The earliest attested reference to the Angles occurs in the 1st-century work by Tacitus, Germania, the etymology of the tribal name itself is disputed by scholars, it has been suggested that it derives from the shape of the Angeln peninsula, an angular shape. An alternative name for England is Albion, the name Albion originally referred to the entire island of Great Britain. The nominally earliest record of the name appears in the Aristotelian Corpus, specifically the 4th century BC De Mundo, in it are two very large islands called Britannia, these are Albion and Ierne. But modern scholarly consensus ascribes De Mundo not to Aristotle but to Pseudo-Aristotle, the word Albion or insula Albionum has two possible origins. Albion is now applied to England in a poetic capacity. Another romantic name for England is Loegria, related to the Welsh word for England, Lloegr, the earliest known evidence of human presence in the area now known as England was that of Homo antecessor, dating to approximately 780,000 years ago. The oldest proto-human bones discovered in England date from 500,000 years ago, Modern humans are known to have inhabited the area during the Upper Paleolithic period, though permanent settlements were only established within the last 6,000 years
4.
City of London Corporation
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In 2006 the name was changed from Corporation of London to avoid confusion with the wider London local government, the Greater London Authority. The Corporation is probably the worlds oldest continuously-elected local government authority, the corporations structure includes the Lord Mayor, the Court of Aldermen, the Court of Common Council, and the Freemen and Livery of the City. In Anglo-Saxon times, consultation between the Citys rulers and its citizens took place at the Folkmoot, administration and judicial processes were conducted at the Court of Husting and the non-legal part of the courts work evolved into the Court of Aldermen. Numerous subsequent Royal Charters over the centuries confirmed and extended the citizens rights, around 1189, the City gained the right to have its own mayor, later being advanced to the degree and style of Lord Mayor of London. The individual commissioners were nominated by the Corporation, but it was a separate body. Local government legislation often makes special provision for the City to be treated as a London borough, the Chief Executive of the administrative side of the Corporation holds the ancient office of Town Clerk of London. The Chamberlain, the City Treasurer and Finance Officer, the City Remembrancer, who is responsible for protocol, ceremonial, security issues as well as legislative matters that may affect the Corporation and is legally qualified. The Comptroller and City Solicitor, legal officer. e, former Lord Mayors, and the junior Aldermen. The Common Serjeant, the senior judge at the Central Criminal Court Old Bailey. C) The Ward Beadles, responsible to a specific Ward from which they are elected, largely ceremonial support to their respective Aldermen, and also perform a formal role at Ward Motes. In 1801, the City had a population of about 130,000 and it has risen slightly to around 9,000 since, largely due to the development of the Barbican Estate. As it has not been affected by other municipal legislation over the period of time since then, therefore, the non-residential vote, abolished in the rest of the country in 1969, became an increasingly large part of the electorate. The non-residential vote system used disfavoured incorporated companies, the City of London Act 2002 greatly increased the business franchise, allowing many more businesses to be represented. In 2009, the vote was about 24,000. Each body or organisation, whether unincorporated or incorporated, whose premises are within the City of London may appoint a number of based on the number of workers it employs. Limited liability partnerships fall into this category, though workers count as part of a workforce regardless of nationality, only certain individuals may be appointed as voters. The City of London is divided into twenty-five Wards, each of which is a division, electing one Alderman. The numbers below reflect the changes caused by the City of London Act, there are over one hundred livery companies in London
5.
Listed building
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A listed building or listed structure, in the United Kingdom, is one that has been placed on the Statutory List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest. The statutory bodies maintaining the list are Historic England in England, Cadw in Wales, Historic Scotland in Scotland, however, the preferred term in Ireland is protected structure. In England and Wales, an amenity society must be notified of any work to a listed building which involves any element of demolition. Owners of listed buildings are, in circumstances, compelled to repair and maintain them. When alterations are permitted, or when listed buildings are repaired or maintained, slightly different systems operate in each area of the United Kingdom, though the basic principles of the listing remain the same. It was the damage to caused by German bombing during World War II that prompted the first listing of buildings that were deemed to be of particular architectural merit. The listings were used as a means of determining whether a building should be rebuilt if it was damaged by bombing. Listing was first introduced into Northern Ireland under the Planning Order 1972, the listing process has since developed slightly differently in each part of the UK. In the UK, the process of protecting the historic environment is called ‘designation’. A heritage asset is a part of the environment that is valued because of its historic. Only some of these are judged to be important enough to have legal protection through designation. However, buildings that are not formally listed but still judged as being of heritage interest are still regarded as being a consideration in the planning process. Almost anything can be listed – it does not have to be a building, Buildings and structures of special historic interest come in a wide variety of forms and types, ranging from telephone boxes and road signs, to castles. Historic England has created twenty broad categories of structures, and published selection guides for each one to aid with assessing buildings and these include historical overviews and describe the special considerations for listing each category. Both Historic Scotland and Cadw produce guidance for owners, in England, to have a building considered for listing or delisting, the process is to apply to the secretary of state, this can be done by submitting an application form online to Historic England. The applicant does not need to be the owner of the building to apply for it to be listed, full information including application form guidance notes are on the Historic England website. Historic England assesses buildings put forward for listing or delisting and provides advice to the Secretary of State on the architectural, the Secretary of State, who may seek additional advice from others, then decides whether or not to list or delist the building. In England and Wales the authority for listing is granted to the Secretary of State by the Planning Act 1990, Listed buildings in danger of decay are listed on the Historic England Heritage at Risk Register
6.
Millennium Bridge, London
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The Millennium Bridge, officially known as the London Millennium Footbridge, is a steel suspension bridge for pedestrians crossing the River Thames in London, linking Bankside with the City of London. It is located between Southwark Bridge and Blackfriars Railway Bridge and it is owned and maintained by Bridge House Estates, a charitable trust overseen by the City of London Corporation. Construction began in 1998, and it opened in June 2000. Londoners nicknamed the bridge the Wobbly Bridge after pedestrians felt unexpected swaying motion, the bridge was closed later on opening day, and after two days of limited access, it was closed for almost two years while modifications were made to eliminate the motion. The southern end of the bridge is near the Globe theatre, the Bankside Gallery, the bridge alignment is such that a clear view of St Pauls south façade is presented from across the river, framed by the bridge supports. The design of the bridge was the subject of a competition organised in 1996 by Southwark council, the winning entry was an innovative blade of light effort from Arup Group, Foster and Partners, and Sir Anthony Caro. Due to height restrictions, and to improve the view, the suspension design had the supporting cables below the deck level. The bridge has two piers and is made of three main sections of 81 m,144 m, and 108 m with a total structure length of 325 m. The eight suspension cables are tensioned to pull with a force of 2,000 tons against the set into each bank – enough to support a working load of 5,000 people on the bridge at one time. Ordinarily, bridges across the River Thames require an Act of Parliament, for this bridge, that was avoided by the Port of London Authority granting a licence for the structure obtaining planning permissions from the City of London and London Borough of Southwark. Construction began in late 1998 and the works were started on 28 April 1999 by Monberg & Thorsen. The bridge was completed at a cost of £18. 2M, primarily paid for by the Millennium Commission and it opened on 10 June 2000. Unexpected lateral vibration caused the bridge to be closed on 12 June 2000 for modifications, attempts were made to limit the number of people crossing the bridge. This led to long queues but was ineffective to dampen the vibrations, the tendency of a suspension bridge to sway when troops march over it in step was well known, which is why troops are required to break step when crossing such a bridge. The bridge was closed on 18 January 2007, during the Kyrill storm due to strong winds. The bridges movements were caused by a positive feedback phenomenon, known as synchronous lateral excitation, on the day of opening, the bridge was crossed by 90,000 people, with up to 2,000 on the bridge at any one time. Resonant vibrational modes due to vertical loads and wind loads are well understood in bridge design, the crucial point is that when the bridge lurches to one side, the pedestrians must adjust to keep from falling over, and they all do this at exactly the same time. Hence, the situation is similar to marching in lockstep
7.
Cannon Street station
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Cannon Street Railway Bridge is a bridge in central London, crossing the River Thames. Downstream, the bridge is London Bridge, and upstream Southwark Bridge. It carries trains over the river to Cannon Street station on the north bank and it was originally named Alexandra Bridge after Alexandra of Denmark who was the wife of the future King Edward VII. The bridge was designed by John Hawkshaw and John Wolfe-Barry for the South Eastern Railway and it was opened in 1866 after three years of construction. In its original form, it carried the railway over the Thames on five spans standing on cast-iron Doric pillars and it was the scene of the Marchioness disaster in 1989. Where Thames Smooth Waters Glide Cannon Street Railway Bridge at Structurae
8.
Arch bridge
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An arch bridge is a bridge with abutments at each end shaped as a curved arch. Arch bridges work by transferring the weight of the bridge and its loads partially into a horizontal thrust restrained by the abutments at either side, a viaduct may be made from a series of arches, although other more economical structures are typically used today. Possibly the oldest existing bridge is the Mycenaean Arkadiko bridge in Greece from about 1300 BC. The stone corbel arch bridge is used by the local populace. The well-preserved Hellenistic Eleutherna Bridge has a corbel arch. The 4th century BC Rhodes Footbridge rests on an early voussoir arch, a more complete survey by the Italian scholar Vittorio Galliazzo found 931 Roman bridges, mostly of stone, in as many as 26 different countries. Roman arch bridges were usually semicircular, although a number were segmental arch bridges, generally, Roman bridges featured wedge-shaped primary arch stones of the same in size and shape. The Romans built both single spans and lengthy multiple arch aqueducts, such as the Pont du Gard and Segovia Aqueduct. Their bridges featured from an early time onwards flood openings in the piers, e. g. in the Pons Fabricius in Rome, Roman engineers were the first and until the industrial revolution the only ones to construct bridges with concrete, which they called Opus caementicium. The outside was covered with brick or ashlar, as in the Alcántara bridge. The Romans also introduced segmental arch bridges into bridge construction, trajans bridge over the Danube featured open-spandrel segmental arches made of wood. This was to be the longest arch bridge for a thousand years both in terms of overall and individual span length, while the longest extant Roman bridge is the 790 m long Puente Romano at Mérida. The late Roman Karamagara Bridge in Cappadocia may represent the earliest surviving bridge featuring a pointed arch, in medieval Europe, bridge builders improved on the Roman structures by using narrower piers, thinner arch barrels and lower span-rise ratios on bridges. Gothic pointed arches were introduced, reducing lateral thrust. The 14th century in particular saw bridge building reaching new heights, the bridge at Trezzo sullAdda, destroyed in the 15th century, even featured a span length of 72 m, not matched until 1796. Constructions such as the acclaimed Florentine segmental arch bridge Ponte Vecchio combined sound engineering with aesthetical appeal, the three elegant arches of the Renaissance Ponte Santa Trinita constitute the oldest elliptic arch bridge worldwide. In China, the oldest existing bridge is the Zhaozhou Bridge of 605 AD. The Zhaozhou Bridge, with a length of 167 feet and span of 123 feet, is the worlds first wholly stone open-spandrel segmental arch bridge, Bridges with perforated spandrels can be found worldwide, such as in China
9.
City of London
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The City of London is a city and county within London. It constituted most of London from its settlement by the Romans in the 1st century AD to the Middle Ages, the City is now only a tiny part of the metropolis of London, though it remains a notable part of central London. Administratively, it one of the 33 local authority districts of Greater London, however, the City of London is not a London borough. The City of London is widely referred to simply as the City and is colloquially known as the Square Mile. Both of these terms are often used as metonyms for the United Kingdoms trading and financial services industries. The name London is now used for a far wider area than just the City. London most often denotes the sprawling London metropolis, or the 32 London boroughs and this wider usage of London is documented as far back as 1888, when the County of London was created. The local authority for the City, namely the City of London Corporation, is unique in the UK and has some unusual responsibilities for a local council and it is also unusual in having responsibilities and ownerships beyond its boundaries. The Corporation is headed by the Lord Mayor of the City of London, the current Lord Mayor, as of November 2016, is Andrew Parmley. The City is a business and financial centre. Throughout the 19th century, the City was the primary business centre. London came top in the Worldwide Centres of Commerce Index, published in 2008, the insurance industry is focused around the eastern side of the City, around Lloyds building. A secondary financial district exists outside of the City, at Canary Wharf,2.5 miles to the east, the City has a resident population of about 7,000 but over 300,000 people commute to and work there, mainly in the financial services sector. It used to be held that Londinium was first established by merchants as a trading port on the tidal Thames in around 47 AD. However, this date is only supposition, many historians now believe London was founded some time before the Roman conquest of Britain in 43 AD. They base this notion on evidence provided by both archaeology and Welsh literary legend, archaeologists have claimed that as much as half of the best British Iron Age art and metalwork discovered in Britain has been found in the London area. One of the most prominent examples is the famously horned Waterloo Helmet dredged from the Thames in the early 1860s and now exhibited at the British Museum. Also, according to an ancient Welsh legend, a king named Lud son of Heli substantially enlarged and improved a pre-existing settlement at London which afterwards came to be renamed after him, the same tradition relates how this Lud son of Heli was later buried at Ludgate
10.
John Rennie the Elder
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John Rennie FRSE FRS was a Scottish civil engineer who designed many bridges, canals, and docks. His older brother George remained to assist in the agricultural business. He seems to have employed his vacations in working as a millwright, at this early date the originality of his mind was exhibited by the introduction of cast iron pinions instead of wooden trundles. In 1784 he took a journey south for the purpose of enlarging his knowledge, visiting James Watt at Soho, the machinery was all designed by Rennie, a distinguishing feature being the use of iron instead of wood for the shafting and framing. About 1791 he started in business as an engineer on his own account in Holland Street, Blackfriars, whence he. In 1791, he moved to London and set up his own engineering business, having by then begun to expand into civil engineering, the Kennet and Avon Canal including the Dundas Aqueduct, Caen Hill Locks and Crofton Pumping Station occupied him between 1794 and 1810. In 1802 he revised the plans for the Royal Canal of Ireland from Dublin to the Shannon near Longford, for many years he was engaged in extensive drainage operations in the Lincolnshire and Norfolk fens, and in the improvement of the River Witham. The Eau Brink Cut, a new channel for the River Ouse, was completed just before his death and his later efforts in this line also show that he was a skilful architect, endowed with a keen sense of beauty of design. Waterloo Bridge was considered his masterpiece and was the most prestigious bridge project in England, the Italian sculptor Canova called it ‘the noblest bridge in the world’ and said that ‘it is worth going to England solely to see Rennie’s bridge. Southwark Bridge was built as three cast-iron spans over the river and he also designed the Old Vauxhall Bridge. He devoted much time to the preparation of plans for a government dockyard at Northfleet, Rennies last project was London Bridge, still under construction when he died in 1821 but completed by his son, also John Rennie. Dunleary harbour of Asylum was a difficult and important project. Rennie was responsible for the construction of Howth Harbour on the North side of Dublin bay a decade earlier and this was originally planned as the landing for the Holyhead packets, but it silted up to such an extent that it became unfit for purpose. An Act of Parliament of 1816 authorised the building of Dunleary harbour and he was correct as the sand has built up behind the west pier. The harbour once built was renamed The Royal Harbour of Kingstown in 1821 on the occasion of the visit of George IV, the material for the harbour is Dalkey Hill granite. The granite was provided by Richard Toucher at no cost to the construction team, the foundations of the piers are 300-0 wide and 24-0 below low water level. Many options were considered for the width of the space between the two pier heads, Rennie wrote to the Harbour Commissioners that the opening should be 430-0 wide with the pier heads turned into the harbour to control swells within the harbour. His demands were never met and the opening was built at 1
11.
Rotherham
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Iron Age and Roman settlements dot the area covered by the district, including a small Roman fort to the south-west in the upper flood meadow of the Don. Rotherham was founded in the very early Middle Ages and its name is from Old English hām homestead, estate, meaning homestead on the Rother. The river name was carried into Old English from Brittonic branch of Celtic words, ro- over, chief and duβr water, thus main river and it established itself as a Saxon market town, on a Roman road near a forded part of the River Don. By the late Saxon period, Rotherham was at the centre of a parish on the Dons banks. Following the Norman Conquest an absentee lord held the most inhabited manor, the manors other resources were a church, four loosely called acres of meadow, and seven of woodland. Rotherham had a mill valued at a half of one pound sterling. His successors, the De Vesci family, rarely visited the town and did not build a castle but maintained a Friday market and a fair. In the mid 13th century, John de Vesci and Ralph de Tili gave all their possessions in Rotherham to Rufford Abbey, the monks collected tithes from the town and gained rights to an extra market day on Monday and to extend the annual fair from two to three days. The townsmen of Rotherham formed the Greaves of Our Ladys Light and it was suppressed in 1547 but revived in 1584 as the feoffees of the common lands of Rotherham, and remains in existence. In the 1480s the Rotherham-born Archbishop of York, Thomas Rotherham, instigated the building of a College of Jesus or Jesus College, Rotherham to rival the colleges of Cambridge and Oxford. It was the first brick building in what is now South Yorkshire and taught theology, religious chant and hymns, grammar, the College and new parish church of All Saints made Rotherham an enviable and modern town at the turn of the 16th century. The college was dissolved in 1547 in the reign of Edward VI, very little remains of the original building in College Street. Walls of part of the College of Jesus are encased within number 23 and Nos 2 and its fragments of walls are the earliest surviving brick structure in South Yorkshire and are remains of the key institution to Rotherhams growth into a town of regional significance. Sixty years after the Colleges dissolution Rotherham was described by a visitor as falling from a fashionable college town to having admitted gambling. The history of Thomas Rotherham and education in the town are remembered in the name of Thomas Rotherham College, the region had been exploited for iron since Roman times, but it was coal that first brought the Industrial Revolution to Rotherham. In the early Industrial Revolution major uses of iron demanded good local ore and established processing skills for iron strength, qualities found in Rotherhams smelting plants, Iron, and later steel, became the principal industry in Rotherham, surviving into the 20th century. Rotherhams cast iron industry expanded rapidly in the early 19th century, perrot, W. H. Micklethwait and John and Richard Corker of the Ferham Works. The Parkgate Ironworks was established in 1823 by Sanderson and Watson, in 1854, Samuel Beal & Co produced wrought iron plates for Isambard Kingdom Brunels famous steamship the SS Great Eastern
12.
Blackfriars Bridge
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Blackfriars Bridge is a road and foot traffic bridge over the River Thames in London, between Waterloo Bridge and Blackfriars Railway Bridge, carrying the A201 road. The north end is near the Inns of Court and Temple Church, the south end is near the Tate Modern art gallery and the Oxo Tower. The first fixed crossing at Blackfriars was a 995 feet long toll bridge designed in an Italianate style by Robert Mylne, beating designs by John Gwynn and George Dance, it took nine years to build, opening to the public in 1769. It was the bridge across the Thames in the then built-up area of London, supplementing the ancient London Bridge, which dated from several centuries earlier. It was later made toll free, the Fleet can be seen discharging into the Thames at its north side. This created the junction at St Georges Circus between Westminster Bridge Road, Borough Road and the later named Blackfriars Road which crossed the largely open parish of Christchurch Surrey, the continuation to the south at the major junction at Elephant and Castle is therefore named London Road. Although it was built of Portland stone the workmanship was very faulty and this is the present bridge which in 1869 was opened by Queen Victoria. The present bridge is 923 feet long, consisting of five wrought iron arches built to a design by Joseph Cubitt, Cubitt also designed the adjacent rail bridge and it was a condition that the spans and piers of the two bridges be aligned. It was built by P. A. Thom & Co, like its predecessor it is owned and maintained by the Bridge House Estates, a charitable trust overseen by the City of London Corporation. Like London Bridge the full length and its end is within the Citys borders. Due to the volume of traffic over the bridge, it was widened between 1907–10, from 70 feet to its present 105 feet. In 2005, five suspected members of the Mafia were tried in a Rome court for Calvis murder, on the piers of the bridge are stone carvings of water birds by sculptor John Birnie Philip. On the East side, the carvings show marine life and seabirds, on the north side of the bridge is a statue of Queen Victoria, to whom the bridge was dedicated. The ends of the bridge are shaped like a pulpit in a reference to Black Friars, Blackfriars Bridge station continued as a goods stop until 1964 when it was completely demolished, and much of it redeveloped into offices. The River Fleet empties into the Thames under the end of Blackfriars Bridge. The structure was given Grade II listed status in 1972, in 1774 the new bridge was mentioned in a popular song in Charles Dibdins opera The Waterman, referring to the boatmen who used to carry fashionable folks to Vauxhall Gardens and Ranelagh Gardens. And did you not hear of the jolly young waterman, Who at Blackfriars Bridge used for to ply, and he feathered his oars with such skill and dexterity, Winning each heart and delighting each eye. The name was given to one of the Bailey Bridges over the Rhine River in 1945, in Neil Gaimans Neverwhere, Blackfriars Bridge was named as the home of an unknown order of monks who held the key to an angelic prison
