Nancy’s Steps

Since 43 AD, there has been a river crossing at the site of the current London Bridge. There have been several bridges in this location over the years, including the one that is now in America. However, whenever you walk beneath the bridge on Tooley Street, on the west side of London Bridge, together with an arch supporting the southern end of it, you are passing the surviving remains of the London Bridge designed by John Rennie, and built by his son, Sir John Rennie, in 1831. 

This small step of steps is known as ‘Nancy’s steps’. According to the plaque, these steps are where Nancy was murdered by Bill Sykes in ‘Olive Twist’, the novel by Charles Dickens.

However, anyone familiar with the novel knows that Skyes actually killed Nancy in their rooms.

The murderer staggering backward to the wall, and shutting out the sight with his hand, seized a heavy club and struck her down.

It is in the musical ‘Oliver!’ that the brutal murder is committed on the steps of London Bridge.

The steps are, however, where Nancy meets Rose Maylie and Mr Brownlow to tell them about Oliver and is overheard by Noah Claypole, listening from the shadows, an image brilliantly captured by George Cruikshank, the illustrator. Dickens describes these steps in some detail, explaining they consist of three flights, allowing Claypole to hide around the corner. Today’s steps do not fit this description, indicating that Dickens was describing a previous set of steps. Perhaps not the most accurate Literary Location, but it shows just how powerful Dickens’ writing is!