University of Leicester - No 'lived in' feel for bridge

The mismanagement and financial problems that caused the downfall of London's last "living bridge" have been outlined in a new study. The University of Leicester research examines the history of London Bridge, and coincides with the 800th anniversary of the opening of the bridge. The paper, written by Mark Latham, a doctoral research student at Leicester's Centre for Urban Studies, is due to be published in The London Journal. It says that houses built on the old London Bridge to attract the gentry did not prove to have the pulling power expected. This, combined with an economic slump, meant that the vision of an inhabited bridge across the River Thames was not sustainable.