First stone London Bridge begun

1176

Henry II commissioned the priest-architect Peter of Colechurch to replace the Saxon wooden bridge across the Thames with a stone one. The new bridge would take thirty-three years to complete, carry houses and a chapel, and stand for six centuries. Its nineteen pointed arches constricted the river's flow so dramatically that shooting the rapids beneath them became a rite of passage for London boatmen, some of whom drowned in the attempt.