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land supposes, that, at the time of its
erection, it was twenty-two feet in height,
and that of the towers about forty feet.
See LONDON WALL.
During the Saxon heptarchy, London
was the metropolis of the kingdom of
the East Saxons, and was then, as we are
told by Bede, a princely mart-town, go-
verned by a magistrate call a Portreve,
that is, a governor or guardian of a port.
We find this city then first called London-
Byrig, which they soon after changed in-
to Lunden-Ceaster, Lunden-Wye, Lun-
denne, Lunden-Berk, or Lunden-Burgh.
At length Augustine the Monk, having
introduced christianity into England, in
the year 400, he was made Archbishop
of Canterbury, when he ordained Melli-
tus bishop of the East Saxons, who had a
church erected for him in this city by
Ethelbert, King of Kent. Thus London
first became the seat of a bishop; but
this prelate was afterwards expelled, and
paganism again for some time publicly
established.
The history of the heptarchy is so very
defective, that no mention is made of this
city from the year 616, to that of 764.
After this last period we find that London
frequently suffered by fires, and was twice
plundered by the Danes; the last time
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they transported an army in 350 ships
up the Thames, and landing near Lon-
don, soon reduced and plundered it;
when looking upon it as a convenient
fortress, whence they might at pleasure
invade the kingdom of Wessex, made it
a place of arms, and left in it a consider-
able garrison; but the wise and brave
Alfred recovered the city, drove out the
invaders, and then not only repaired the
wall and towers, but embellished the city
with additional buildings. But we have no
account of the nature of the buildings or
the edifices erected, only that in the year
961, there were but few houses within
the city walls, and those irregularly dis-
persed; most of them being without
Ludgate, so that Canterbury, York, and
other places, contained more houses than
London. The city having no bridge,
the citizens cross'd the Thames by means
of ferries.
But between the years 993, and 1016,
a wooden bridge was erected. This great
work was performed in the reign of E-
thelred, and in the last mentioned year,
Canute King of Denmark sailing up the
river, in order to plunder the city, and
finding that he could not pass the bridge
with his ships, caused a canal to be cut
through the marshes on the south side of
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