![]() ![]() The gates are closed, the portcullises lowered for added protection, and we have men standing guard on both ends of the bridge.” “The bridge has been completely evacuated. He began his report as soon as he was within earshot. But it was not men fighting the fire who had cut down the drawbridge and thrown its broken remnants into the mostly frozen Thames, nor was it men who cast the misshapen shadow now moving amongst the fire’s wreckage.ĭavid Bourne, the junior bridgemaister, picked his way through the wreckage to John’s side. At least the southern end of the bridge had survived, being separated from the northern end by a wooden drawbridge meant to allow the passage of ships. An ominous red glow warned that the fire still burned on in vaults and cellars it wouldn’t take much wind to lick those flames up to full strength again. ![]() ![]() The entire north end of the bridge had been scoured down to stone, the timber-framed houses that formerly lined both sides now reduced to ashes. ![]() Not so for the inhabitants of London Bridge. The fire had spread from the bridge to the riverside, reducing almost a hundred houses there to smoking ruins, but at least that had been the end of it for those who lived on solid land. “Blood and nails,” Senior Bridgemaister John Potter swore, as he inspected the smoldering bridge from the relative safety of Thames Street. ![]()
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