Long-time London resident and avid museum and theatre-goer. I started this blog in 2014, and got serious about it in 2020 when I realised how much I missed arts and culture during lockdowns. I go to a lot more events than anyone would think is sensible, and love sharing my thoughts in the forms of reviews, the occasional thought piece, and travel recommendations when I leave my London HQ.
A walk around the former precincts of Blackfriars Priory. There is very little left of what was once an important institution in London, but its mark on the city can still be seen today.
Thanks to John Wittich and Ron Phillips for another interesting walk today from Discovering Off-Beat Walks in London. Seen here in front of the only visible section of Blackfriars Priory remaining.
Blackfriars? What are we talking about here?
We have briefly visited the Blackfriars area, on this walk along the Thames. These days, Blackfriars is more or less a London neighbourhood, on the riverfront between St Pauls and Temple. There’s Blackfriars bridge, Blackfriars Station for trains and London Underground, and the Blackfriar pub. If you go back a few centuries, however, the friars were still really friars.
Blackfriars takes its name from the Blackfriars priory which once stood in this area. The Order of St Dominic (wearing black and white habits) first settled in London around Lincolns Inn in the early 13th Century. By 1276 they had prospered, and moved to the Thames-side location which today bears their name. They had a church, cloisters, and even their own quay. There are several royal connections – Edward I buried his wife Eleanor’s heart here (the rest of her went to Westminster Abbey); and Parliament met here three times, including once to clash with Henry VIII over his wish to divorce Catherine of Aragon.
In the end this religious disagreement contributed to the priory’s downfall. A few short years later, Henry was having monks executed over the same issue. And in 1538 the prior surrendered during the dissolution of the monasteries. The buildings themselves survived until the Great Fire of London in 1666.
What Can We Expect To See Today?
Today there is hardly any physical trace of the monastery of the Black Friars. There are several place names which recall their presence, a lump of wall in an out-of-the-way park, and that’s about it. What is interesting as part of this walk is to see how the area of Blackfriars even today has been shaped by its past. Where do today’s streets follow the layout of the priory? Which insitutions sprung up around the monastery? And who took over the space between the Reformation and the Great Fire? Questions we can attempt to answer today as we take a closer look.
You may remember that the book we are following, Discovering Off-Beat Walks in London by John Wittich and Ron Phillips, is a 1995 reprint of a 1969 original. So part of the fun is figuring out what is still there and how things have changed. The sights are mostly as described today. There were a couple of places that required imagination or where a plaque or pub name had changed, but overall I got a lot out of following this walk!
In The Steps Of The Black Friars – Blackfriars Bridge and Station
Want to take a guess at where we start today’s walk? Yes that’s correct, Blackfriars Bridge. Blackfriars Bridge was the third bridge across the Thames, and opened in 1769. Its original name was William Pitt Bridge after the Prime Minister, but ‘Blackfriars Bridge’ was generally adopted and later became official. The current bridge dates to 1869, and was opened by Queen Victoria. The designer was Joseph Cubitt, who also designed the predecessor to the current rail bridge – you can see the red supports in the third image above.Here we have old Queen Victoria herself, in the form of a talking statue! As I mentioned on this walk, these talking statues are a lot of fun – they bring historic figures to life with a simple bit of technology. You will want to bring some headphones though; this one is right at the end of Blackfriars Bridge so the traffic noise drowns her out a bit!I failed to take a picture of the outside of Blackfriars Station for some reason, but I did pop inside to see this great relic. Blackfriars Station was heavily remodelled in the 20th Century, but they kept this stonework from the earlier station’s doorways. It shows all the locations for which trains once departed right from this spot. Believe me, if I could jump on a train to St Petersburg, Naples or Lucerne, I would be off like a shot! It seems so convenient, and rather glamorous.
In The Steps Of The Black Friars – Baynard’s Castle to the College of Arms
We learned about Baynard’s Castle and the Mermaid Theatre in this previous walk. Baynard’s Castle was one of three castles which defended Norman London (the others being the Tower of London and Montfichet Castle). It was built by a henchman of William the Conqueror, and destroyed by King John after the then-owner fell out of favour. It was rebuilt and destroyed a couple more times until finally the Great Fire put an end to it. The Mermaid Theatre opened in 1959 in this complex – the first new theatre in the City of London for centuries. These days it’s a conference centre.The Faraday Building is next on our list. This was the international telephone exchange, dating to 1932. Due to its proximity to St Paul’s Cathedral, there was great outcry about the building’s height at the time. London has several protected views of St Paul’s Cathedral, that no modern buildings may interrupt.St Benet’s (short for Benedict) is a nice little church, but feels a bit stranded; it’s not quite at the level of the streets around it, and seems rather out of place in its surroundings. Wren rebuilt the church after the Great Fire, but chose a Dutch country style rather than any homage to its most famous burial – architect Inigo Jones. It suffered no Blitz damage and is thus the best-preserved of Wren’s London churches. It’s also home to the Welsh Anglican community.Across the street is the College of Arms, with St Paul’s just peeping over the top. They design coats of arms, check pedigrees, and other slightly odd royal activities. The building dates to 1671 so is a rare surviving non-religious building from the aftermath of the Great Fire.
In The Steps Of The Black Friars – Knightrider Street to Carter Lane
Yes that’s right, Knightrider Street! Great name, isn’t it? It likely derives from the path knights took from the Tower of London to a jousting ground at Smithfield. But nobody will stop us thinking fondly of David Hasselhoff’s talking car while we’re here.We came to Knightrider Street to see the Centre Page, formerly the Horn Tavern (it still was in our 1995 guidebook). I have no idea why you would change the name of your famous and historic pub, but there you have it. As the Horn, Charles Dickens featured it in The Pickwick Papers. Ever a lover of old pubs was Charles, like the George & Vulture which we saw here.Our first proper look at St Paul’s on this walk as we head for our next stop.Our book tells us we should see a plaque about William Shakespeare along here, but from the look of the buildings this is all recent redevelopment. Let’s carry on.In Dean’s Court is a lovely old building – the former Deanery for St Paul’s. This is another Wren building, dating to 1670. When Wittich and Phillips were writing a bank was based here, but it has since been taken back by the Church with offices and a bishop’s residence.Another building which wears its religious heart on its sleeve is the former St Paul’s Choir School. It looks more Italian than English with its highly decorated style. It’s now a youth hostel.
In The Steps Of The Black Friars – What’s This About A Wardrobe?
This is another of those rather odd London place names which make sense once you find out the history. Wardrobe Place was the site of the King’s Wardrobe, established by Edward III to keep his ceremonial robes of state. It was sort of like a museum in that the public could pay money to visit, and it also dispensed cloth. Including to one William Shakespeare. This enabled him to attend the entry of James I into London in 1604. It burned down in the Great Fire and was not rebuilt – Wardrobe Place is the former garden of the official Wardrobe building. I included the faded sign for an Account Book Manufacturer because I love ghost signs like that.We couldn’t find that plaque about Shakespeare before in Carter Lane, but luckily here’s another one! There was a playhouse around here (more on that soon) so it makes sense for Shakespeare to have lived in this area.And here is the church of St Andrew-by-the-Wardrobe. Seems a bit less bizarre as a name now we know what the ‘wardrobe’ is referring to! From that Shakespearean plaque we admire the elegant 18th Century rectory, pass around the church, and cross the road to get a good look from the other side. We’re actually back on Queen Victoria Street now, close to Baynard’s Castle. This is another Wren church, but one which did suffer WWII damage.And as we walk back past St Andrew-by-the-Wardrobe we can see some of that restoration work to put the church back together.We are nearing the end of our walk now, but have just come across our first (and the only visible) remnant of Blackfriars Priory itself. This was once part of the monks’ dortoir, or dormatory. It’s now in this little yard lined with old headstones.
In The Steps Of The Black Friars – Back To Blackfriars Itself
This is a bit of a London oddity. St Ann’s was once the parish church for those who lived around Blackfriars. This little garden off Church Entry (which was itself once the division between the nave and choir of the church of Blackfriars) is all that remains. It was locked when we were here previously. Despite the fact that St Ann’s has not existed since the Great Fire, this vestry hall dates to 1905. Even if it is a vestry hall without a church, the Edwardian Baroque style by Banister Fletcher is nice enough.We also saw Playhouse Yard on our previous walk. The Blackfriars Theatre opened in 1577 as London’s second official playhouse. It was popular as it was indoors so suitable for the winter season; Shakespeare’s company among others performed here. The Puritans gained control of the area by 1642 and ordered the Blackfriars Theatre to close down; the building survived until 1655.We are never far from a reminder of the area’s history.The Worshipful Society of Apothecaries have their home on Black Friars Lane. This was one of few Company halls not to suffer damage in the Blitz, and dates to 1670. The Apothecaries were grouped with greengrocers until 1617 as they both sold herbs and suchlike. Their coat of arms bears a rhinoceros and unicorns as they prized the horns of both creatures for their medicinal properties. Sadly this is a belief which still drives rhino poaching today. The unicorns seem to have got away with it.And finally, we are back at the Blackfriar Pub, just across the street from Blackfriars Station. We have seen this Arts and Crafts gem before, but it is a nice place to end on. The various friendly monks on the building’s exterior (and interior) remind us that Blackfriars isn’t just a name, but is a long history which has shaped this part of London. Cheers to that!
Sign up below for our weekly newsletter and never miss an installment:
Travelers' Map is loading... If you see this after your page is loaded completely, leafletJS files are missing.
4 thoughts on “Blackfriars In Depth”