Lady of the Lake

 

The first London bridge was built by the Romans in 43 A.D. They needed a way to cross the Thames and connect the capital city of Londinium with the rest of Roman Britain. Theirs was a pontoon bridge, made of planks laid across anchored boats. That bridge was rebuilt by Anglo-Saxons, and then again by Henry II, as part of his penance for the assassination of Thomas Becket. Houses and shops were built on the bridge – at one point up to five stories tall – with any rents contributing to the bridge’s upkeep. The old London bridge was the only crossing point of the River Thames until 1729. Amazingly, the bridge survived the Great Fire of London in 1666 because a previous fire had destroyed some of the buildings atop the bridge, leaving a fire break. In 1968, an American tycoon bought the London Bridge – all 10,000 tons of it – and had it rebuilt stone by stone in Lake Havasu, Arizona.