Tower Bridge is used by over 40,000 people and nearly 21,000 vehicles everyday. But, I wonder how many people have spotted this little oddity on its north approach.
At first glance it appears to be one of the many lampposts that line the approach to the bridge, but without its lamp.
But it isn't.
It is, in fact, a chimney.
But why is the chimney here, on the northern approach road?
To find out more we need to travel back to 1894, when the bridge opened.
Below the road there were rooms, one of which was used by the Royal Fusiliers. The room had a coal fire, so that guards could warm themselves while on guard duty, necessitating the installation of a cast-iron chimney to remove the smoke.
Following the passing of the Clean Air Act of 1956, where only smokeless fuels could be burned in certain, central areas, the chimney went unused.
If you walk below the bridge you can still see where these rooms were.
If you go down to Tower Wharf and look up you can still see the chimney, which is now above a restaurant.
Tower Wharf was constructed by the clerk of the King's Works, who, between 1839-1891, was Geoffrey Chaucer. The restaurant that currently sits beside Tower Bridge, by the chimney, is called 'Perkin Reveller', a character in 'The Cook's Tale' from Geoffrey Chaucer's 'Canterbury Tales'.
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