Chronicles of London Bridge. Richard Thompson
could never be increased—‘yearly 11s. 4d.; and of the customs of things there sold, 16s. and one halfpenny, till fourteen years ago, in the time of King Henry III., when the Mayor and City of London appropriated it to the City:—the King to be consulted. Also they present that the Keeper of London Bridge holds a messuage which formerly belonged to Reginald de Colemille, who then held the same in Chief,’ immediately from the King, ‘by the rent of one penny farthing: and that Milo le Mareschall holds in Chief of the King two messuages which were formerly the property of Godefride de Marberer, and Henry le Mareschall, and pays yearly two pence halfpenny.’ The ‘Assize Pleadings,’ or Rolls, containing these particulars, were written in consequence of inquisitions into the damages and alienations of the King’s property, during the reign of King Henry III., as I have already remarked with regard to the Hundred Rolls: the original pleadings are preserved in the Tower of London, and in the Court of the Receipt of the Exchequer, in the Chapter House at Westminster. Such were the ancient rents of the houses on London Bridge; to which I may add, that a Fruiterer’s Shop, two yards and a half and one thumb in length, and three yards and two thumbs in depth, was let on a lease from the Bridge-master, at a rental of twelve pence.
“We well know, Mr. Barbican, that in the olden time, Bridges were applied to many purposes which now seem altogether foreign to such edifices. The celebrated Du Cange, you will recollect, in his ‘Glossarium ad Scriptores Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis,’ Paris, 1733–36, folio, volume ii. page 67, tells us, that Philip the Fair, King of France, ordained in 1304, that the public Exchange, or Bankers’ Money Table for Paris, should be held upon the Great Bridge there, between the Church of St. Leufred and the Great Arch, as it was anciently accustomed to be. You may remember, also, that Bridges were once considered as Funeral Monuments, for Olaus Wormius, in his ‘Monumentum Danicorum,’ Hafnia, 1643, folio, page 523, when speaking of the Island of Foesoe, observes, that there was erected a Bridge at the costs of two or three persons, as well to preserve their own names to posterity, as to commemorate that of Jotheimnt who converted them to Christianity. He adds also, that the word Bru, which is unquestionably the most ancient etymon of the term Bridge, signifies that coronal of stone with which the large burial-places, or tumuli, in fields, were encircled. With what great propriety then, did the blessed Peter of Colechurch confide his fame to, and rest his most excellent bones, in London Bridge!
“Such, then, being the purposes to which Bridges were once appropriated, we are not to wonder that a Market formerly existed upon that of London; although the circumstance is marked only by the order for its removal, which we find mentioned by Maitland in his ‘History,’ volume i. page 104, in the following terms. ‘In the fifth year of this King’s reign,’ that is to say Edward I. 1276—‘it was ordained, that there should not be kept a Market on London Bridge, nor in any other place, except those appointed for that purpose: also that no person should go out of the City to Southwark to buy cattle, or any wares which might be bought in the City, under the penalty of the forfeiture of the thing bought. This is the first Ordinance of the Common Council we find on record, concerning the regulation and appointment of Markets in this City.’ The margin of Maitland’s work states that he derived this information from the book entitled ‘Liber Albus,’ preserved in the Record Chamber of the City of London, folio, 130 a. Now this same White Book, which I imagine to have been so called from its having once had a cover of cream-coloured calf, was a most curious and elaborate work, compiled, as it is supposed by Strype, by one J. Carpenter, who was Town Clerk in the reign of Henry V., and a great benefactor to the City. It is dated November 5th, 1419, in the Mayoralty of Master Richard Whyttington, and the 7th year of the Reign of Henry V. and ‘it contains laudable customs not written, wont to be observed in the City, and other notable things worthy of remembrance here and there scatteringly, not in any order written.’ Some of these memoranda, as the Latin Prologue to the volume sets forth, are short indexes to the contents of other City Books, Rolls, and Charters, which are cited by their names, or marks; and in the 4th Book, folio 70 a, there is a reference to another record marked A, page cxxx., concerning the market on London Bridge, which was probably the occasion of Maitland’s marginal note, as the ‘Liber Albus Transcriptum,’ itself, has not in any part of it a page numbered 130. The volume then, in which this very ancient order of the Common Council is really contained, is a small folio of a moderate thickness, cased in boards, covered with white leather, having a coating of rough calf over it. The outside is garnished with bosses and clasps, now black with age; and in the centre, a metal border holds down a piece of parchment, on which is written in Latin the title of the volume, in a clear black letter, guarded by a plate of horn: informing us that it was begun in the 4th year of the reign of Edward I. 1275, and finished in his 22nd year, 1293. The leaves are of parchment, with the contents written in a small Court-hand in Latin; and on folio 130 a, is this entry. ‘Also that no Market place shall be kept upon London Bridge, nor in any other place excepting the appointed stations.’ On the preceding folio, namely 129 b, there is also this farther order concerning the Bridge: ‘Item, that no regraters,’—that is to say those who both bought and sold in the same market or fair—‘shall come from below London Bridge, for the buying and preparing of bread in the City; because the Bakers of Southwark are not permitted by the statutes of our City, to come from without the City.’ Before I quit these venerable records of London, I must observe to you that they contain an almost infinite number of very curious memoranda concerning London Bridge, which would occupy no trivial time, either to collect or relate; since in the same ‘Liber Albus’ are numerous references to such particulars, see ‘for a taste now,’ as Touchstone saith, the articles entitled ‘Of the Customs of the Bridge, Part I. folio xii. a;’—‘of the Fees’—of Fish—‘of the Bridge Bailiff, folio xii. b;’—‘concerning the keeping, rent, and course, of the water under the wall,’—Wall-brook;—‘of the cleansing of Fleet-ditch, and of the Bridge of London, and the roads about London,’ book iv. page 16 a; ‘That the Quays and house of St. Botolph be built and repaired by the keepers of the Bridge, volume E. folio cxxv.;’ and ‘Writ for the keepers of the Bridge against the Parson of Wolchurchaw, concerning the stalls on the same. Volume G. folio clviii.’ Such are a few of the very many historical notices relating to London Bridge, preserved in the Civic Records; ‘Books,’ says Strype, in the interesting Preface to his first edition of Stow’s Survey, London, 1720, never afterwards reprinted—‘Books, that contain such a treasure, as, notwithstanding what Mr. Stow, as well as others, have extracted thence, and published, many other things in vast variety still remain there unprinted,’ and, we may almost add, unknown. Alas! my good Sir, can we wonder at the paucity of historical narrative, when we reflect how often its very sources are undiscovered? Too many of our topographers, ‘content to dwell in decencies for ever!’ flatter each other, and copy each other’s errors; but how seldom do we see one, who, diving deeply into the broad stream of Antiquarian lore, brings up——”
“Mr. Postern,” said I, with some warmth, “this is actually intolerable; there is really nothing but what serves you for a Jack o’lanthorn to go astray by. Whether it be a book, or a bit of musty morality, which has nothing at all to do with the matter, away go you over hedges and ditches, and through a thousand thickets and sloughs, rather than keep the straight road; and dragging me along with you, over the boots in mire. I think, on the whole, indeed, that my estate is gracious that you have not all the Bridge Records at command, for then should I be overwhelmed, and you be ten times more wearisome. Come back then, my good Sir; do pray come back again, and finish the reign of Edward I., as it was connected with the history of London Bridge.”
“I own,” answered Mr. Postern, in his usual undisturbed manner, “that your patience is somewhat tried by these details; but ever remember, Mr. Barbican, I pray you, that our ancient Charters, with all their barbarisms and tautology, our old Latin Chronicles, with all their monkish fables and rudeness, our brief Patent Rolls, with all their dryness and seeming want of interest—ever remember that these are the sure foundations on which all History is built. Simple truth was, in general, the only aim of the first Chroniclers, to which later ages have added grace of style, vividness of description, and interest of narrative, to adorn their antique fidelity and plainness.
“But to proceed.—We are not made acquainted, Sir, with any particulars of the repairs which followed these inquisitions concerning London Bridge; but in the 9th year of King Edward I.—1280—there