greyhairedgeekgirl:

“Nightingale’s Starling”

I cannot think this is a coincidence; Aaronovitch is too much of a history and architecture geek and has watched too many episodes of history documentaries not to have known this going in.

Those boat-shaped bulwarks around the piers of a bridge (seen above in the context of London Bridge itself):   Are called “Starlings.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starling_(structure)

“… a starling …is a defensive bulwark … surrounding the supports of a bridge.. Starlings are shaped to ease the flow of the water around the bridge, reducing the damage caused by erosion or collisions with flood-borne debris, and may also form an important part of the structure of the bridge, spreading the weight of the piers. 

SO:

The bridge itself does not rest on the starlings… but the starlings protect the fundamental structure of the bridge from being worn away, or from being hit by debris from floods.

Peter is not only the “herald of the dawn,” but can we say that as “Nightingale’s Starling” he also came in just in time to keep the foundation of the Folly from being worn away by time, or damaged by the flood of new magical dangers?