RSS
Home
The ghosts of London Bridge
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
Flickr photo: Rob InH00d
Fall is a terrific time of year. The kids are back in school, summer’s heat and humidity have disappeared under bright, colorful foliage. Halloween approaches.
Whether it’s movies, costumes, home decorations, or just an over-enthusiastic candy binge, October 31 is prime time for happy chills and thrills from creative imaginations. But sometimes, it’s not just imagination scaring us.
Opened in 2008, The London Bridge Experience and the London Tombs have worked hard to transform 2,000 years of bridge history into a sufficiently scary experience for visitors.
And a bloodily violent history it has been.
Originally constructed at around 50 A.D., London Bridge rose from the torched ashes of Queen Boudicca’s rage in 60 A.D., only to be destroyed by a F4 rated tornado in 1091. Undeterred from such inconsequential issues as sparks and brimstone, the bridge was once again rebuilt, eventually surviving both the fiery 13th and rebellious 14th centuries.
For a time, London Bridge was also known for its décor.
Starting in 1305 and continuing for the next 350 years, the Stone Gateway was necklaced with a varied assortment of severed heads. William Wallace was the first, joined later by Thomas Moore, Guy Fawkes, Thomas Cromwell and many others.
But the fun wasn’t just for convicted traitors.
Medieval London Bridge was built with narrow arches and water wheels to drive pumps and nearby grain mills. This caused the river to produce unpredictably vicious rapids between the bridge piers. Many who attempted to navigate boats between these piers, or to ‘shoot the bridge’, drowned.
These are just some of the events incorporated into The London Bridge Experience. All in good fun for a healthy scare, right?
Perhaps not.
In 2007, prior to the venue’s opening, BBC News reported that construction workers were refusing to work alone on the site after two separate caches of skeletons were discovered. Some of the remains were found with holes in the skulls.
Disappearing power tools, continuously blown light bulbs that plunged the work area into darkness and a general feeling of being watched, pervaded the site. It was enough to convince even the hardiest construction veterans to work in pairs.
It was later reported that the site had once been used as a plague pit, possibly even as a site for Southwark Cathedral cemetery.
Enough to make anyone wonder, “What if…?”
Related Articles:
Comments
