Blackfriars
Blackfriars Location withinGreater London
Sui generis	City of London
Administrative area	Greater London
Region	London
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	LONDON
Postcode district	EC4
Dialling code	020
Police	City of London
Fire	London
Ambulance	London
UK Parliament	Cities of London and Westminster
London Assembly	City and East
List of places UK England London 51°30′43″N0°06′14″W / 51.512°N 0.104°W /51.512; -0.104

Blackfriars is incentral London, specifically the south-west corner of theCity of London.

The name first occurs in records of 1317 inmany orthographies. Friar evolved fromLatin:frater asFrench:frère has, meaning 'brother'. Black refers to the blackcappa worn byDominican Friars. They moved their 1220s-foundedpriory from just west of Holborn bridge at the top of Shoe Lane (modern Holborn Circus) a few hundred metres south to be between thetidal Thames and the west ofLudgate Hill, a modest rise, but the highest in the city proper, in about 1276.Edward I gave permission to rebuild London's city wall, against theFleet brook and Ludgate Hill, north and west of their precinct.^[1] The site hosted great occasions of state, including meetings ofParliament and thePrivy Council, state visits, such as ofEmperor Charles V in 1522, then, seven years later, a divorce hearing ofCatherine of Aragon andHenry VIII. The priory was by legal process dissolved in 1538 under Henry'sdissolution of the monasteries.Katherine Parr, Henry's sixth and final wife, was born in an associated parish.

Until the early 20th century the local wharves were linked to the main street by the formerly narrow street Puddle Dock. These stood by an often dredged up to, pier- and mooring post-lined, substantial mudbank of the City – in the south-east of modern Blackfriars. Among these were Wheatsheaf Wharf. Paul's Stairs is east of the modern floating pier, leading to the much narrowed, wholly tidal foreshore (meaning immersed for much of the tidal phases).^[2]

Some of the buildings were later leased to a group of entrepreneurs who created theBlackfriars Theatre on the site, nearShakespeare'sGlobe Theatre which stood almost directly across the river. In 1632, theSociety of Apothecaries (alivery company), acquired the late medieval guesthouse which they converted as their base. This was destroyed in theGreat Fire of London of 1666 but the Society rebuilt it, becoming today'sApothecaries' Hall due north of the station.

At the very centre of the zone, in typical London equidistance from stations post-pariochial terms, isBlackfriars station on a large wholly built-up roundabout. Southwest of this isBlackfriars Bridge and south, therailway bridge. A notably long road,Blackfriars Road, inBankside,Southwark – a main approach to the road bridge – hosts near its northern extreme skyscraperOne Blackfriars. For a short arc north-west of the small gyratory around the large station complex (with Bridge House, office and retail buildings) stretches back the Crowne Plaza London – The City hotel, a conversion from Spicers Brothers papermakers headquarters, of 1916 facing a few mature trees on a hardscaped small "square" or piazza. Southeast of this circle isBlackfriars Millennium Pier, a stop for river-bus services onLondon River Services.

TheVictoria Embankment stretches along the north bank of the river west from Blackfriars toWestminster Bridge. Notable buildings include the largeArt DecoUnilever House, and also facing the station's gyratory, the Art NouveauBlack Friar pub. Further clockwise, facing, are the Bank of New York/Mellon building and theMermaid Theatre, now a conference centre.

The forerunner station stood south of the river,Blackfriars Bridge railway station, no major trace of which remains. It was closed to passengers in 1885 when the current station opened, as "St Pauls" for some decades.

One or two elaborate streets of Blackfriars were well repaired after the City was heavily bombed inthe Blitz (1940 to 1945). These, of genuineVictorian orcity Georgian architecture, are frequently sets for film and television series. These includeSherlock Holmes andDavid Copperfield.^[3]

• Elizabeth de Badlesmere, Countess of Northampton
• Edward Hastings, 2nd Baron Hastings
• Robert St. Lawrence 3rd Baron Howth^[4]
• Hubert de Burgh, 1st Earl of Kent
• John Cornwall, 1st Baron Fanhope

• North bank, clockwise:
  • Temple
  • Fleet Street
  • Ludgate Hill/City Thameslink
  • St Paul's
    • Mansion House (south-east of above)
• South bank:
  • Bankside

• 
  Ground plan of Blackfriars Monastery as it appeared before theDissolution of the Monasteries. The Buttery becameFarrant's; the Frater,Burbage's playhouse.
• 
  Apothecaries' Hall in Blackfriars, 1831
• 
  Blackfriars is home to manyinvestment banks andfinancial services companies

List of monastic houses in London

• Walter Gumbley, G.,On the name Blackfriars, Spirituality Today, (1986)
• Nick Holder,The Friaries of Medieval London: From Foundation to DissolutionArchived 20 June 2018 at theWayback Machine (2017); chapter 2, pages 27–56

• Blackfriars, London
• Areas of London
• Districts of the City of London
• Districts of London on the River Thames
• 1276 establishments in England

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