Peter of Colechurch

Peter of Colechurch (fl. 1176 – d. 1205) was the chaplain of St. Mary Colechurch and the architect of the Old London Bridge.^[3]

OthernamesPeter of Colecherche,^[1]
Peter de Colechurch,
Petrus capellanus de Colechurch^[2]

Occupationsarchitect, chaplain

NotableworkOld London Bridge

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Peter of Colechurch
Seal of Peter of Colechurch, depicting Peter at an altar saying mass.[1]
Other names	Peter of Colecherche,[1] Peter de Colechurch, Petrus capellanus de Colechurch[2]
Occupations	architect, chaplain
Notable work	Old London Bridge

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Very little is known about Peter. He may have been a native of London,^[4] although he may have been from Colkirk.^[2] He is sometimes associated with the building of a bridge across the River Thames out of elm in 1163,^[3] although whether it was Peter of Colechurch or another architect is disputed.^[1]

Peter is definitively known to have participated in the construction of the first stone bridge across the River Thames as an architect and financier of the project.^[3] Specifically, he designed the arch structure and the Chapel of St Thomas on the Bridge, the latter of which was financed by Peter himself.^[4] By 1202, Peter was replaced with Isembert, a French monk, as architect of the bridge project. When Peter died in 1205, four years before the bridge's completion, he was interred in the chapel's crypt.^[3] Bones were found under the floor of the chapel when Old London Bridge was dismantled in 1832 which were presumed to be Peter's, but those bones have since been lost.^[3]