streets which lie at a lower level, and then as Newgate Street
and Cheapside. The southern highway enters Hammersmith,
crosses the centre of Kensington as Kensington Road and High
Street, borders Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park as Kensington
Gore and Knightsbridge, with terraces of fine residences,
and merges into Piccadilly. This beautiful street, with its
northward branches, Park Lane, from which splendid houses
overlook Hyde Park, and Bond Street, lined with handsome
shops, may be said to focus the fashionable life of London.
The direct line of the thoroughfare is interrupted after Piccadilly
Circus (the term “circus” is frequently applied to the open
space—not necessarily round—at the junction of several roads),
but is practically resumed in the Strand, with its hotels, shops and
numerous theatres, and continued through the City in Fleet
Street, the centre of the newspaper world, and Ludgate Hill,
at the head of which is St Paul’s Cathedral. Thence it runs by
commercial Cannon Street to the junction with Cheapside and
several other busy streets. At this junction stand the Royal
Exchange, the Mansion House (the official residence of the Lord
Mayor of London) and the Bank of England, from which this
important point in the communications of London is commonly
known as “Bank.” From the east two main roads similarly
converge upon the City, which they enter by Aldgate (the
suffix in this and other names indicating the former existence
of one of the City gates). The southern of these highways,
approaching through the eastern suburbs as Barking Road,
becomes East India Docks Road in Poplar and Commercial
Road East in Stepney. The continuous thoroughfare of 12 m.
between Hammersmith and the East India Docks illustrates
successively every phase of London life. The northern road
enters from Stratford and is called Bow Road, Mile End Road,
Whitechapel Road and High Street, Whitechapel. From the
north of England two roads preserve communication-lines from
the earliest times. The Old North Road, entering London from
the Lea valley through Hackney and Shoreditch as Stamford
Hill, Stoke Newington Road and Kingsland Road, reaches the
City by Bishopsgate. The straight highway from the north-west
which as Edgware Road joins Oxford Street at the Marble
Arch (the north-eastern entrance to Hyde Park) is coincident
with the Roman Watling Street. The Holyhead and Great North
Roads, uniting at Barnet, enter London by branches through
Hampstead and through Highgate, between the Old North and
Edgware roads. South of the Thames the thoroughfares crossing
the river between Lambeth and Bermondsey converge upon two
circuses, St George’s and the Elephant and Castle. At the second
of these points the majority of the chief roads from the southern
suburbs and the south of England are collected. Among them,
the Old Kent Road continues the southern section of Watling
Street, from Dover and the south-east, through Woolwich and
across Blackheath. The road through Streatham, Brixton and
Kennington, taking name from these districts successively, is
the principal southern highway. The Portsmouth Road from
the south-west is well marked as far as Lambeth, under the names
of Wandsworth, High Street, St John’s Hill, Lavender Hill and
Wandsworth Road.
Thames Embankments.—The Thames follows a devious course through London, and the fine embankments on its north side, nowhere continuing uninterruptedly for more than 2 m., do not form important thoroughfares, with the exception of the Victoria Embankment. Mostly they serve rather as beautiful promenades. One of them begins over against Battersea Bridge. Its finest portion is the Chelsea Embankment, fronting Battersea Park across the river, shaded by a pleasant avenue and lined with handsome houses. It continues, with some interruptions, nearly as far as the Houses of Parliament. Below these the grandest of the embankments extends to the City at Blackfriars. It was formed in 1864–1870, and is named the Victoria Embankment, though its popular title is “The Embankment” simply. Open gardens fringe it in part on the landward side, and it is lined with fine public and private buildings. The bold sweep of the Thames, here some 300 yds. wide, the towers of Westminster on the one hand and the dome of St Paul’s on the other, make up a fine prospect. Below London Bridge the river is embanked for a short distance in front of the Tower of London, and above Westminster Bridge the Albert Embankment extends for nearly 1 m. along the south bank.
Bridges.—Fourteen road-bridges cross the Thames within the county of London. Of these London Bridge, connecting the City with Southwark and Bermondsey, stands first in historical interest and in importance as a modern highway. The old bridge, famous for many generations, bearing its rows of houses and its chapel in the centre, was completed early in the 13th century. It was 308 yds. long and had twenty narrow arches, through which the tides formed dangerous rapids. It stood just below the existing bridge, which was built of granite by John Rennie and his son Sir John Rennie, and completed in 1831. A widening to accommodate the growth of traffic, after being frequently discussed for many years, was completed in 1904, by means of corbels projecting on either side, without arresting traffic during the work. There was no bridge over the Thames below London Bridge until 1894, when the Tower Bridge was opened. This is a suspension bridge with a central portion, between two lofty and massive stone towers, consisting of bascules which can be raised by hydraulic machinery to admit the passage of vessels. The bridge is both a remarkable engineering work, and architecturally one of the finest modern structures in London. The bridges in order above London Bridge are as follows, railway-bridges being bracketed—Southwark, (Cannon Street), (Blackfriars), Blackfriars, Waterloo, (Hungerford—with a footway), Westminster, Lambeth, Vauxhall, (Grosvenor), Victoria, Albert, Battersea, (Battersea), Wandsworth, (Putney), Putney and Hammersmith. Waterloo Bridge, the oldest now standing within London, is the work of John Rennie, and was opened in 1817. It is a massive stone structure of nine arches, carrying a level roadway, and is considered one of the finest bridges of its kind in the world. The present Westminster Bridge, of iron on granite piers, was opened in 1862, but another preceded it, dating from 1750; the view from which was appreciated by Wordsworth in his sonnet beginning “Earth has not anything to show more fair.” The complete reconstruction of Vauxhall Bridge was undertaken in 1902, and the new bridge was opened in 1906. Some of the bridges were built by companies, and tolls were levied at their crossing until modern times; thus Southwark Bridge was made toll-free in 1866, and Waterloo Bridge only in 1878, on being acquired by the City Corporation and the Metropolitan Board of Works respectively. The road-bridges mentioned (except the City bridges) are maintained by the London County Council, who expended for this purpose a sum of £9149 in 1907–1908. The following table shows the capital expenditure on the more important bridges and their cost of maintenance in 1907–1908:—
| Net Capital Expenditure. | Cost of Maintenance 1907–1908. | |
| Albert Bridge | £120,774 | £1296 |
| Battersea Bridge | 312,193 | 512 |
| Hammersmith Bridge | 204,250 | 421 |
| Lambeth Bridge | 47,555 | 496 |
| Putney Bridge | 430,052 | 653 |
| Vauxhall Bridge (temporary) | 270,749 | 73 |
| Vauxhall Bridge (new) | 457,108 | 1109 |
| Wandsworth Bridge | 65,661 | 410 |
| Waterloo Bridge | 552,867 | 1102 |
| Westminster Bridge | 393,189 | 1491 |
The properties entrusted to the Corporation for the upkeep of London Bridge are managed by the Bridge House Estates Committee, the revenues from which are also used in the maintenance of the other three City bridges, £26,989 being thus expended in 1907, the Tower bridge absorbing £17,735 of this amount.
Thames Tunnels.—Some of the metropolitan railway lines cross the river in tunnels beneath its bed. There are also several tunnels under the river below London Bridge, namely: Tower Subway, constructed in 1870 for foot-passengers, but no longer used, Greenwich Tunnel (1902) for foot-passengers, Blackwall Tunnel (1897), constructed by the County Council between Greenwich and Poplar, and Woolwich Tunnel, begun
