Bridge and Bridge Without is a small

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

in the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

and is named from its closeness to

London Bridge The name "London Bridge" refers to several historic crossings that have spanned the River Thames between the City of London and Southwark in central London since Roman Britain, Roman times. The current crossing, which opened to traffic in 197 ...

. Since boundary changes in 2003, Bridge is bounded by the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...

to the south, Swan Lane and Gracechurch Street to the west,

Fenchurch Street Fenchurch Street is a street in London, England, linking Aldgate at its eastern end with Lombard Street and Gracechurch Street in the west. It is a well-known thoroughfare in the City of London financial district and is the site of many cor ...

to the north, and Rood Lane and Lovat Lane to the east. The ward includes Fishmongers' Hall, St. Magnus-the-Martyr church, the

Monument to the Great Fire of London The Monument to the Great Fire of London, more commonly known simply as the Monument, is a fluted Doric column in London, England, situated near the northern end of London Bridge. Commemorating the Great Fire of London, it stands at the junct ...

, and the full span of London Bridge.

Bridge Within and Bridge Without

The present day ward of Bridge was historically (15501978) known as Bridge Within — a separate ward called

Bridge Without Bridge Without was a historical ward of the City of London situated to the south of the River Thames, which existed between 1550 and 1899. The area of the Bridge Without ward today forms part of the London Borough of Southwark. It was so-called t ...

existed south of the Thames in

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

with its own

Alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

between 1550 and 1978. In 1550 the new ward of Bridge Without was created to cover the city's area of control of three manors in Southwark (the newly acquired King's Manor and Great Liberty added to the

Guildable Manor Guildable Manor is a Court Leet in Southwark under the authority of the City of London, along with the King's Manor, Southwark, and the Great Liberty. The name of 'Guildable', first recorded in 1377, refers to the collection of taxes there and ...

which it had controlled since 1327), the Court of Aldermen appointing its alderman; there were never any members of the Court of Common Council elected there as the three Courts Leet of the Manors fulfilled that representative role. The ward on the bridge and just to its north became Bridge Within. However, the city's administrative responsibility for the Without ward had in practice disappeared by the mid-

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed the ...

as various aspects of metropolitan government were extended into the neighbouring areas. Despite the fact that the area of Bridge Without had been removed completely from the city's boundaries in 1899, the ward continued to ''

de jure In law and government, ''de jure'' (; ; ) describes practices that are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms, regardless of whether the practice exists in reality. The phrase is often used in contrast with '' de facto'' ('from fa ...

'' exist and the Court of Aldermen continued to appoint an alderman for the ward by

co-option Co-option, also known as co-optation and sometimes spelt cooption or cooptation, is a term with three common meanings. It may refer to: 1) The process of adding members to an elite Social group, group at the discretion of members of the body, us ...

, usually the senior emeritus Lord Mayor (or father of the city) until as late as 1978 — Bridge Without was then merged with Bridge Within, to become the present day Bridge ward. This is, in a sense, a return to the situation prior to 1550. However the ward is still officially referred to as "Bridge and Bridge Without" as a result of the 1978 amalgamation. This had no practical effect in terms of representation on the Court of Common Council because Without had never had Councilmen. "Without" and "Within" denote whether a ward, or a division of one, fell outside or within the

London Wall The London Wall is a defensive wall first built by the Ancient Rome, Romans around the strategically important port town of Londinium in AD 200, as well as the name of a #modern, modern street in the City of London, England. Roman London was ...

— this is still the case for the wards of Farringdon Within and

Farringdon Without __NOTOC__ Farringdon Without is the most westerly Wards of the City of London, ward of the City of London, England. Its suffix ''Without'' reflects its origin as lying beyond the London Wall, City's former defensive walls. It was first establis ...

— though in this instance Bridge Without fell beyond the gates on London Bridge, rather than London Wall itself. The full span of London Bridge was for many centuries lined with buildings, including many houses, and they formed part of the ward of Bridge Within. Indeed, so numerous were the dwellings on the bridge that at one time it constituted three of the 14 precincts (a former sub-division of the wards) of Bridge Within.''A Topographical Dictionary of England'', Samuel Lewis, 1831, p 134 The area of the former Bridge Without ward today forms part of the

London Borough of Southwark The London Borough of Southwark ( ) in South London forms part of Inner London and is connected by bridges across the River Thames to the City of London and the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It was created in 1965 when three smaller council ...

Politics

Bridge is one of 25

s in the

, each electing an

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

to the

Court of Aldermen The Court of Aldermen forms part of the senior governance of the City of London Corporation. It comprises twenty-five Aldermen of the City of London, presided over by the Lord Mayor (becoming senior Alderman during his or her year of office). ...

and commoners (the City equivalent of a

councillor A councillor, alternatively councilman, councilwoman, councilperson, or council member, is someone who sits on, votes in, or is a member of, a council. This is typically an elected representative of an electoral district in a municipal or re ...

) to the

Court of Common Council The Court of Common Council is the primary decision-making body of the City of London Corporation. It meets nine times per year. Most of its work is carried out by committees. City of London Corporation elections , Elections are held at least eve ...

of the

City of London Corporation The City of London Corporation, officially and legally the Mayor and Commonalty and Citizens of the City of London, is the local authority of the City of London, the historic centre of London and the location of much of the United Kingdom's f ...

. Only electors who are Freemen of the City of London are eligible to stand. Bridge and Bridge Without currently elect two commoners to the Court of Common Council.

External links

Ward Club Ward Newsletter
- Historical Map and Encyclopedia of Shakespeare's London (Scholarly)

- Historical Map and Encyclopedia of Shakespeare's London (Scholarly)
Corporation of London
Present Day Bridge Ward Boundaries
Bridge Ward Club

References

{{City of London Wards of the City of London