DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1213#0183
138 TALLIs's ILLUSTRATED LONDON ;
irig some of its finest edifices, may be gained. It was
this bridge -which Canova declared to be " worth a visit
from the remotest corner of the earth." The effect of the
bridge is enhanced by the beautiful river front of Somer-
set House, one of the most elegant edifices on the banks
of the Thames. "What stream is crowned with three such
structures of surpassing magnificence, as the Thames front
of Somerset House, the Houses of Parliament, and Green-
wich Hospital ? Any one of these fabrics would confer
fame upon the locality which it adorned. Two minutes
bring us to the Temple steam-boat pier, where the Chinese
Junk, a huge specimen of the maritime architecture of
the Celestial Empire, provided with a mandarin and a
crew, and furnished with curiosities from the remote
Cathay, is moored. The Temple Gardens, with their
bright green sward, next gratify the eye, appearing like
an oasis amid the desert of metropolitan brick, and yet
some few centuries back "Fleet-street and the Strand pre-
sented gardens equally fair and of greater length along
their entire line. "We approach Blackfriars' Bridge, and
now, on either side of the river, nothing more attractive
than wharfs, quays, and warehouses appear.
Immediately beyond Queenhithe is that beautiful and
massive structure,
SOUTHWARK BRIDGE,
which has not, like the bridges under which we have pre-
viously sailed, been noticed. This bridge, which is of
iron, extends from the bottom of Queen-street, Cheapside,
to Bankside, Southwark, and thence by a road upon
arches, stretches to Union-street, from which the Kent
and Surrey Roads are reached. Mr. Rennie was the
architect employed, and the bridge was commenced in
September, 1814, and opened in March, 1819, the cost of
its construction amounting to £800,000. It consists of
three arches of cast-iron upon piers and abutments of
stone; the span of the centre one is 240 feet; that of
each of the side ones 210 feet. The weight of the iron
irig some of its finest edifices, may be gained. It was
this bridge -which Canova declared to be " worth a visit
from the remotest corner of the earth." The effect of the
bridge is enhanced by the beautiful river front of Somer-
set House, one of the most elegant edifices on the banks
of the Thames. "What stream is crowned with three such
structures of surpassing magnificence, as the Thames front
of Somerset House, the Houses of Parliament, and Green-
wich Hospital ? Any one of these fabrics would confer
fame upon the locality which it adorned. Two minutes
bring us to the Temple steam-boat pier, where the Chinese
Junk, a huge specimen of the maritime architecture of
the Celestial Empire, provided with a mandarin and a
crew, and furnished with curiosities from the remote
Cathay, is moored. The Temple Gardens, with their
bright green sward, next gratify the eye, appearing like
an oasis amid the desert of metropolitan brick, and yet
some few centuries back "Fleet-street and the Strand pre-
sented gardens equally fair and of greater length along
their entire line. "We approach Blackfriars' Bridge, and
now, on either side of the river, nothing more attractive
than wharfs, quays, and warehouses appear.
Immediately beyond Queenhithe is that beautiful and
massive structure,
SOUTHWARK BRIDGE,
which has not, like the bridges under which we have pre-
viously sailed, been noticed. This bridge, which is of
iron, extends from the bottom of Queen-street, Cheapside,
to Bankside, Southwark, and thence by a road upon
arches, stretches to Union-street, from which the Kent
and Surrey Roads are reached. Mr. Rennie was the
architect employed, and the bridge was commenced in
September, 1814, and opened in March, 1819, the cost of
its construction amounting to £800,000. It consists of
three arches of cast-iron upon piers and abutments of
stone; the span of the centre one is 240 feet; that of
each of the side ones 210 feet. The weight of the iron