Bricklayers Arms

Last updated

Bricklayers Arms
Bricklayers Arms flyover (2) - geograph.org.uk - 1766302.jpg
Bricklayers Arms
Location
Southwark, London
Coordinates 51°29′39″N0°05′08″W / 51.49425°N 0.08555°W / 51.49425; -0.08555 Coordinates: 51°29′39″N0°05′08″W / 51.49425°N 0.08555°W / 51.49425; -0.08555
Roads at
junction
Construction
Type Roundabout interchange
Maintained by Transport for London
Southwark London UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location in Southwark

Bricklayers Arms is the road intersection of the A2 and the London Inner Ring Road where Bermondsey [1] meets Walworth [2] and Elephant & Castle in south London. It is the junction of Tower Bridge Road, Old Kent Road, New Kent Road and Great Dover Street. It comprises a four-way green roundabout plus one-way flyover and one-way bypass lane.

Contents

The latter help traffic using any of the six road bridges west of London Bridge to access the arterial road to and from the south-east quadrant of the orbital motorway, Old Kent Road. Specifically, eastbound traffic from New Kent Road to Old Kent Road can use the flyover; the reverse flow can use the ground-level bypass lane.

The junction is named after a coaching inn that stood here, in turn related to the prowess of Kent in brickmaking. It is centred 500 metres north-west of Mandela Way which was at the heart of the main goods and locomotive sheds named the Bricklayers Arm depots and similar.

Coaching inn and brick carts

A succession of inns, the original name which may have been the documented Bricklayers Arms, served this junction for more than six hundred years. Excavations during the rebuilding of the inn in the 1890s came across very old foundations and a hidden hoard of ancient coins. [3]

After the mid-18th century building of Westminster Bridge (and associated New Kent Road) this was where the many mid- and east-Kent, such as Dover, Maidstone and Canterbury coaches using the Old Kent Road to or from the City of London set down or picked up passengers travelling to or from the West End. [4] The inn's landlord was always the City of London Corporation. Its sign was the coat of arms of the Worshipful Company of Tylers and Bricklayers. The road – and nearby yards – were busy with the supply of bricks to London. Major brickearth deposits, regionally, are in Kent, particularly on the North Downs dip slope and on the Hoo peninsula, sections of the Medway and Stour valleys. Its mineral content is critical to its applicability in brickmaking and requires precise proportions of chalk, clay, and iron. [5]

Roundabout with flyover

Layout of the junction, as the immediate forebear crossroads, in 1950. This also shows how the 1750s-built Great Dover Street - having re-assumed the exact course of the Old Kent Road (Tabard Street) - was for a few yards restored in its pre-1750 name of Old Kent Road. Site of Bricklayers Arms Junction, 1950.jpg
Layout of the junction, as the immediate forebear crossroads, in 1950.
This also shows how the 1750s-built Great Dover Street – having re-assumed the exact course of the Old Kent Road (Tabard Street) – was for a few yards restored in its pre-1750 name of Old Kent Road.

Approval of plans for construction of the roundabout and flyover to replace the junction of, and some buildings at, the Old Kent Road (A2), New Kent Road (A201) and Tower Bridge Road (A100) was given by the London County Council in December 1962 with an initial budget cost of £3,510,000 (equivalent to £75,000,000in 2019). Works were scheduled for 1967. [6] Such construction involved demolition of buildings in all three roads and surrounds as part of a larger regeneration programme. The north end of the Old Kent Road has since the 1750s been bifurcated into Great Dover Street and Tabard Street. These briefly re-combine north of this junction and have taken the greater street's name since the roundabout was built.

In the 1970s a plan of Greater London Council envisaged a road to link the roundabout and the north approach to the Blackwall Tunnel, crossing the Thames in two tunnels (one adjacent to Tower Bridge) and providing a link to London Docklands. [7]

Filling-in of subways

The work done made pedestrian underpasses from adjacent roads into the roundabout heart, as London Underground safeguarded a possible extension route of the Bakerloo line from its terminus at Elephant & Castle tube station. This could run along and under the main road under the route of tracks of the demolished station and branch, to join surface services at South Bermondsey station. The roundabout could host a station, akin to Old Street station. Neither remains in the budgeted Bakerloo line extension to Lewisham. The circuitous subways became ugly. In 2013 these were filled in and levelled, becoming wider pavements.

Crossings

Since 2009, pelican crossings exist across New Kent and Old Kent Roads, as pedestrians preferring to cross at-grade were causing accidents.

Citations

  1. ↑ Extent (parish) of Bermondsey (ST. MARY MAGDALENE WITH ST. OLAVE, ST. JOHN AND ST. LUKE)
  2. ↑ Extent (parish) of Walworth Saint John
  3. ↑ Arnold 1898, p. 283.
  4. ↑ Nock 1961, p. 26.
  5. ↑ Loessic Brickearth Map at Physical Properties and Behaviour of UK Rocks and Soils. British Geological Survey, National Environmental Research Council. Accessed April 2012
  6. ↑ "£3m Traffic Plan for Old Kent Road". The Times (55568): 7. 7 December 1962. Retrieved 18 March 2019.[ permanent dead link ]
  7. ↑ "The Pool of London Road". SE1 Community Newsletter. London: London SE1 Website. June 1979. Retrieved 13 May 2014.

Sources

Related Research Articles

Bermondsey Human settlement in England

Bermondsey is a district in South East London in the London Borough of Southwark, England, 2.5 miles (4.0 km) southeast of Charing Cross. To the west of Bermondsey lies Southwark, to the east Rotherhithe and Deptford, to the south Walworth and Peckham, and to the north is Wapping across the River Thames. It lies within the historic county boundaries of Surrey.

Newington, London Human settlement in England

Newington is a district of South London, just south of the River Thames, and part of the London Borough of Southwark. It was an ancient parish and the site of the early administration of the county of Surrey. It was the location of the County of London Sessions House from 1917, in a building now occupied by the Inner London Crown Court.

Walworth Human settlement in England

Walworth is a district of south London, England, within the London Borough of Southwark. It adjoins Camberwell to the south and Elephant and Castle to the north, and is 1.9 miles (3.1 km) south-east of Charing Cross.

London Inner Ring Road Major roads that encircle the centremost part of London

The London Inner Ring Road, or Ring Road as signposted, is a 12-mile (19 km) route with an average diameter of 2.75–5.5 miles (4.43–8.85 km) formed from a number of major roads that encircle Central London. The ring road forms the boundary of the London congestion charge zone, although the ring road itself is not part of the zone.

Elephant and Castle Area in London, England

The Elephant and Castle is an area around a major road junction in London, England, in the London Borough of Southwark. The name also informally refers to much of Walworth and Newington, due to the proximity of the London Underground station of the same name. The name is derived from a local coaching inn. In the first half of the 20th century, because of its vitality, the area was known as "the Piccadilly of South London". However, in more recent years is now viewed as a part of central London given its location in Zone 1 on the London Underground.

New Kent Road Road in Southwark, London, England

New Kent Road is a 1 kilometre (0.6 mi) road in the London Borough of Southwark. The road was created in 1751 when the Turnpike Trust upgraded a local footpath. This was done as part of the general road improvements associated with the creation of Westminster Bridge; in effect it was possible to travel from the West End/ Westminster to the south-east without having to go via the Borough of Southwark but could now cross St George's Fields to the junction of Newington Causeway and Newington Butts which is where New Kent Road starts at Elephant and Castle. The route runs eastward for a few hundred yards to the junction of Great Dover Street and Tower Bridge Road, known as Bricklayers Arms, where it joins the original route to the south-east Old Kent Road.

A2 road (England) Road in southern England

The A2 is a major road in south-east England, connecting London with the English Channel port of Dover in Kent. This route has always been of importance as a connection between London and sea trade routes to Continental Europe. It was originally known as the Dover Road.

A4 road (England) Major road in England

The A4 is a major road in England from Central London to Avonmouth via Heathrow Airport, Reading, Bath and Bristol. It is historically known as the Bath Road with newer sections including the Great West Road and Portway. The road was once the main route from London to Bath, Bristol and the west of England and formed, after the A40, the second main western artery from London.

Old Kent Road Road in South East London, England

Old Kent Road is a major thoroughfare in South East London, England, passing through the London Borough of Southwark. It was originally part of an ancient trackway that was paved by the Romans and used by the Anglo-Saxons who named it Wæcelinga Stræt. It is now part of the A2, a major road from London to Dover. The road was important in Roman times linking London to the coast at Richborough and Dover via Canterbury. It was a route for pilgrims in the Middle Ages as portrayed in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, when Old Kent Road was known as Kent Street. The route was used by soldiers returning from the Battle of Agincourt.

A52 road Major road in the East Midlands of England

The A52 is a major road in the East Midlands, England. It runs east from a junction with the A53 at Newcastle-under-Lyme near Stoke-on-Trent via Ashbourne, Derby, Stapleford, Nottingham, West Bridgford, Bingham, Grantham, Boston and Skegness to the east Lincolnshire coast at Mablethorpe. It is approximately 147 miles (237 km) long.

South Eastern Railway (England)

The South Eastern Railway (SER) was a railway company in south-eastern England from 1836 until 1922. The company was formed to construct a route from London to Dover. Branch lines were later opened to Tunbridge Wells, Hastings, Canterbury and other places in Kent. The SER absorbed or leased other railways, some older than itself, including the London and Greenwich Railway and the Canterbury and Whitstable Railway. Most of the company's routes were in Kent, eastern Sussex and the London suburbs, with a long cross-country route from Redhill in Surrey to Reading, Berkshire.

Great Dover Street

Great Dover Street is a road in Southwark, south London, England. At the northwest end it joins Marshalsea Road and Borough High Street and there is a junction with Long Lane; Borough Underground station is at this location. At the southeast end is the Bricklayers Arms roundabout and flyover. The road is part of the A2 and this continues south-east as the Old Kent Road.

A201 road

The A201 is an A road in London running from Kings Cross to Bricklayer's Arms.

Old Kent Road railway station

Old Kent Road was a railway station on the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway line in south London which took its name from the Old Kent Road on which it was located. The station opened on 13 August 1866 on a viaduct and bridge crossing the road at a junction with a line to London Bridge station and what became Surrey Quays station on the East London Line and Queens Road Peckham station on the South London Line. The station was renamed in 1870 to Old Kent Road and Hatcham. The passenger train service to East London was withdrawn on 1 June 1911 and the track was removed in 1912. The station closed temporarily on 1 January 1917 during the First World War as an economy measure, but was never reopened after the end of the war.

Bakerloo line extension Proposed southern extension of the London Underground

The Bakerloo line extension is a proposed extension of the London Underground Bakerloo line in South London from its current terminus at Elephant & Castle to Lewisham station.

A40 road in London

The A40 is a major trunk road connecting London to Fishguard, Wales. The A40 in London passes through seven London Boroughs: the City of London, Camden, Westminster, Kensington & Chelsea, Hammersmith & Fulham, Ealing and Hillingdon, to meet the M40 motorway junction 1 at Denham, Buckinghamshire.

Long Lane (Southwark)

Long Lane is a main east-west road in Southwark, south London, England.

London Bridge – Greenwich Railway Viaduct

The London Bridge – Greenwich Railway Viaduct consists of a series of nineteen brick railway viaducts linked by road bridges between London Bridge railway station and Deptford Creek, which together make a single structure 3.45 miles (5.55 km) in length. The structure carries the former London and Greenwich Railway line and consists of 851 semi-circular arches and 27 skew arches or road bridges. It is the longest run of arches in Britain, It is also one of the oldest railway viaducts in the world, and the earliest example of an entirely elevated railway line. It was built between 1834 and 1836. The original viaduct had been widened for 1.95 miles (3.14 km) of its length between Corbett's Lane and London Bridge on the south side to accommodate the trains of the London and Croydon Railway and London and Brighton Railway, in 1842 and also for 2.65 miles (4.26 km) on the north side to accommodate the South Eastern Railway main line in 1850. It is a Grade II listed structure.

Bricklayers Arms railway station

Bricklayers Arms was a railway station in Southwark opened by the London and Croydon Railway and the South Eastern Railway in 1844 as an alternative to the London and Greenwich Railway's terminus at London Bridge. The station was at the end of a short branch line from the main line to London Bridge and served as a passenger terminus for a few years before being converted to a goods station and engineering facility. The goods station closed in 1981.

Bermondsey dive-under

The Bermondsey dive-under is a significant piece of rail infrastructure to the south of London Bridge Station in Bermondsey, London. A dive-under is where one set of rail lines tunnel under another set instead of crossing them on the level, this allows for independent running and increases the capacity of both tracks. For historical reasons, Bermondsey was a point of congestion where tracks from Kent heading to Charing Cross station had to cross the tracks coming from Sussex and running north to terminate at London Bridge or through to Blackfriars.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.