It is remarkable, that the master mason of this great work erected at his own expence a chapel on the east side of the ninth pier from the north end, and endowed it for two priests, four clerks, &c. This chapel, which was dedicated to St. Thomas, was a beautiful arched Gothic structure, sixty-five feet long, twenty feet and a half broad, and fourteen in height. Great part of this edifice lately remained very perfect; it was paved with black and white marble, and in the middle was a sepulchral monument in which was probably interred Peter, curate of Colechurch, the architect, or master mason, who began the work, but died before it was completed. Clusters of small pillars arise at equal distances on the sides, and bending over the roof, meet in the center of the arch, where they are bound together by large flowers cut in the same stone: between these pillars were the windows, which afforded a view of the Thames on each side, and were arched, and far from being unhandsome: but these have long been closed up with brick-work. It had an entrance from the river as well as the street, from which last there was a descent to it by a winding pair of stone steps twisting round a pillar. These stairs opened into a short passage, on the right hand of which was a cavity in the wall for holding the bason of holy water. On the 30th of September 1758, when we had the pleasure of seeing it, this edifice existed in the above form, only a part of the arch was obliged to make way for a shop floor, and some of the body was divided into an upper and lower story for the convenience of warehouse room, it then belonging to an eminent stationer. But notwithstanding all this art and expence in building the bridge with stone, it was soon in great want of repairs: for about four years after it was finished, a fire broke out in Southwark, which taking hold of the church of our Lady of the Canons, or St. Mary Overy’s, a south wind communicated the flames to the houses on the north side of the bridge, which interrupted the passage, and stopped the return of a multitude of people who had run from London to help to extinguish the fire in Southwark: and while the amazed croud were endeavouring to force a passage back to the city through the flames on the north end of the bridge, the fire broke out at the south end also; so that being inclosed between two great fires, above three thousand people perished in the flames, or were drowned by overloading the vessels that ventured to come to their assistance.