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Description: | An evocative view of Rennie's London Bridge by William Wyllie. The view is from the north west corner of the bridge, looking south towards Southwark Cathedral. A rowing boat and a lighter negotiate their way under the bridge. The work is signed ?W L Wyllie?, lower left margin.
John Rennie?s elegant structure replaced the medieval bridge, which had stood since its completion at the beginning of the 13th century. It was built 100 feet west of the original site and was completed by Rennie?s son (also John) in 1831. After being widened in 1902-04 to cope with an increasing volume of traffic, it was discovered that the foundations were sinking and it was eventually replaced by a new bridge which was opened in 1973. An interesting fate befell Rennie?s bridge: it was sold to the American entrepreneur Robert P. McCulloch in 1968 and shipped piece by piece to Lake Havasu City, Arizona where it was rebuilt and exists to this day as a tourist attraction.
Box Title: Wyllie: Etchings with cards and photographs.
caption: London Bridge and Southwark Cathedral | Publisher: | "http://collections.rmg.co.uk/" | Rights holder: | "Royal Museums Greenwich" | Subjects: | prints | Source: | Royal Museums Greenwich | Identifier: | http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections... | Go to resource |
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