Merchant shipping at the wharfside below Old London Bridge, with the Church of St. Magnus the Martyr and Wren's 'Monument'

Luny’s monumental canvas perfectly captures the commercial bustle of the Thames below London Bridge, and manages to convey something of the power of the river with its perilously fast currents. In the days before steam and motor power tamed the river, and when its course was still unregulated by either dredging or embankments, it was impossible to 'shoot the bridge' on a flood tide and dangerous to do so on an ebb tide; indeed, an old proverb of the time warned all river travellers that "London Bridge was made for wise men to go over and fools to go under."

Despite numerous calamities, the Old London Bridge, made famous by the mid-seventeenth century nursery rhyme, lasted for over six hundred years. One of the most picturesque sights of the City, its silhouette was radically altered in 1758-62 when not only were the two central arches replaced by a single navigation span but, more dramatically, the houses which had stood upon it for centuries were demolished. These alterations by Sir Robert Taylor and George Dance Senior prolonged the bridge's life until its successor was opened in 1831 just upstream from the original. Situated at the northern foot of the old bridge, and shown here in some detail, was the ancient church of St. Magnus the Martyr founded sometime before 1067 and rebuilt by Sir Christopher Wren in 1671-76 after its destruction in the Great Fire.