Editing London Bridge (section)

===Roman bridges <span class="anchor" id="roman"></span><!-- * See talk section "anchors" * -->===
It is possible that [[Roman army|Roman military]] engineers built a [[pontoon bridge|pontoon type]] bridge at the site during the conquest period (AD{{nbsp}}43). A bridge of any kind would have given a rapid overland shortcut to [[Camulodunum]] from the southern and [[Cantiaci|Kentish]] ports, along the [[Roman roads in Britain|Roman roads]] of [[Stane Street (Chichester)|Stane Street]] and [[Watling Street]] (now the [[A2 road (Great Britain)|A2]]). The Roman roads leading to and from London were probably built around AD{{nbsp}}50, and the river-crossing was possibly served by a permanent timber bridge.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Engineering Timelines - Roman Bridge, London, site of |url=http://engineering-timelines.com/scripts/engineeringItem.asp?id=662 |access-date=25 August 2022 |website=engineering-timelines.com}}</ref> On the relatively high, dry ground at the northern end of the bridge, a small, opportunistic trading and shipping settlement took root and grew into the town of [[Londinium]].<ref>Margary, Ivan D., ''Roman Roads in Britain, Vol. 1, South of the Foss Way – Bristol Channel,'' Phoenix House Lts, London, 1955, pp. 46–48.</ref> 

A smaller settlement developed at the southern end of the bridge, in the area now known as [[Southwark]]. The bridge may have been destroyed along with the town in the [[Boudica]]n revolt (AD&nbsp;60), but Londinium was rebuilt and eventually, became the administrative and mercantile capital of Roman Britain. The bridge offered uninterrupted, mass movement of foot, horse, and wheeled traffic across the Thames, linking four major arterial road systems north of the Thames with four to the south. Just downstream of the bridge were substantial quays and depots, convenient to seagoing trade between Britain and the rest of the [[Roman Empire]].<ref>Jones, B., and Mattingly, D., ''An Atlas of Roman Britain'', Blackwell, 1990, pp. 168–172.</ref><ref>Merrifield, Ralph,  ''London, City of the Romans,'' University of California Press, 1983, p. 31.</ref>