People are only just realising what the ‘real’ London Bridge looks like

People were left shocked after a history buff shared a lesson detailing the significance of London’s most important bridge – as many had been mistaking it for a different bridge

If you’ve never been to London before, it’s easy to understand why you might not know what London Bridge looks like. But it turns out lots of visitors don’t either. A history buff has left anglophiles amazed after sharing the history behind London Bridge – and it turns out lots of people have been mixing it up with Tower Bridge.

One is a grand feat of architecture, often admired for its striking Neo-Gothic style. The other is easy to miss – a dull, grey structure, lacking the towers and ornate details of its counterpart. Both carry great historical significance, but one is far more popular with tourists – even if many regularly miscaption their pictures of Tower Bridge as London Bridge on Instagram.

Thankfully, @absolutehistory has helped to set the record straight – and explained the fascinating history behind London Bridge, which once looked very different to the bridge that shares its name today.

Posting to TikTok, one of the team behind the educational account revealed: “This is the real entrance to London Bridge,” while filming St Magnus the Martyr.

The expert explained: “Most people pass by every day and have no idea that this is all that remains of London’s most important landmark. London Bridge is the reason London exists. The Romans picked this very spot to start their new city.”

The narrator added that the medieval London Bridge homed houses, shops, and a church “in the middle of the river”, before explaining why London Bridge looks so different today.

She claimed: “By the 18th century, these dark narrow passageways under decaying medieval buildings just became too much of a hassle and the foundations were crumbling beneath them – and that’s where we got the song London Bridge is falling down.

“So, it was time to rebuild and the last trace of the old London Bridge is right here, a pedestrian entrance built into the tower of St Magnus the Martyr’s church. Thousands would have passed underneath this arch and its glorious clock every single day. They even have leftovers from the medieval stone bridge and the Roman’s wooden bridge right here.

“When building the new bridge to ease the strain of traffic, they built the new bridge slightly to the left of the old one.” She continued: “Right beside it, a new London Bridge was opened in 1831 and then again in the 1960s.”

However, she went on to share her dislike of the bridge’s “bland architecture.”

“London Bridge is now the worst bridge in London,” claimed the narrator, who thought “that’s why tourists think that the grand, decorative Tower Bridge is London Bridge.”

In response, people were quick to share their shock – and the video racked up over two million views and thousands of comments.

One stunned viewer said: “We needed to be educated on this, all this time I thought the tower bridge was the London bridge.”

Another replied: “I was this many days old when I learned that that other bridge isn’t the London bridge.”

Someone else wrote: “HUH whaddya mean the funny bridge with the towers is NOT *the* London Bridge?!?!? I’ve been lied to!”

Meanwhile, a different commenter posted: “I’ve lived in London and I thought that the pretty bridge was London bridge…”

And a fourth person added: “Lmao my friend asked me to meet him on London bridge and I 100% went to Tower bridge by accident.”

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