Peter of Colechurch
Peter of Colechurch | |
|---|---|
 Seal of Peter of Colechurch, depicting Peter at an altar saying mass.[1] | |
| Other names | Peter of Colecherche,[1] Peter de Colechurch, Petrus capellanus de Colechurch[2] |
| Occupations | architect, chaplain |
| Notable work | Old London Bridge |
Peter of Colechurch (fl. 1176 – d. 1205) was the chaplain of St. Mary Colechurch and the architect of the Old London Bridge.[3]
Very little is known about Peter. He may have been a native of London,[4] although he may have been from Colkirk.[2] He is sometimes associated with the building of a bridge across the River Thames out of elm in 1163,[3] although whether it was Peter of Colechurch or another architect is disputed.[1]
Peter is definitively known to have participated in the construction of the first stone bridge across the River Thames as an architect and financier of the project.[3] Specifically, he designed the arch structure and the Chapel of St Thomas on the Bridge, the latter of which was financed by Peter himself.[4] By 1202, Peter was replaced with Isembert, a French monk, as architect of the bridge project. When Peter died in 1205, four years before the bridge's completion, he was interred in the chapel's crypt.[3] Bones were found under the floor of the chapel when Old London Bridge was dismantled in 1832 which were presumed to be Peter's, but those bones have since been lost.[3]
References
- 1 2 3 Moore, Norman (1918). The History of St. Bartholomew's Hospital. Vol. 1. C. Arthur Pearson. pp. 207–209.
- 1 2 D J Keene, Vanessa Harding (2024) [Originally published 1987]. "St. Mary Colechurch 105/0: Parish church of St. Mary Colechurch". British History Online. Historical Gazetteer of London Before the Great Fire Cheapside; Parishes of All Hallows Honey Lane, St Martin Pomary, St Mary Le Bow, St Mary Colechurch and St Pancras Soper Lane. Retrieved 8 May 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Chancellor, Edwin Beresford (1909). The Lives of the British Architects from William of Wykeham to Sir William Chambers. Duckworth and Company. pp. 3–4.
- 1 2 Welch, Charles (1894). Numismata Londinensia. Blades, East and Blades. p. 3-4.