Blackfriars is in

central London Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local government. Its characteris ...

, specifically the south-west corner of the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...

Blackfriars Priory

The_city_of_London_in_the_late_middle_ages

The name is first visible today in records of 1317 in many orthographies. Friar evolved from la, frater as french: frère has, meaning 'brother'. Black refers to the black cappa worn by Dominican Friars. They moved their 1220s-founded

priory A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or nuns (such as the Dominicans, Augustinians, Franciscans, and Carmelites), or monasteries of ...

from just west of Holborn bridge at the top of Shoe Lane (modern Holborn Circus) a few hundred metres south to be between the tidal Thames and the west of Ludgate Hill, a modest rise, but the highest in the city proper, in about 1276.

Edward I Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he ruled the duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony as a vas ...

gave permission to rebuild London's city wall, against the Fleet brook and Ludgate Hill, north and west of their precinct. The site hosted great occasions of state, including meetings of

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

and the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mo ...

, state visits, such as of

Emperor Charles V Charles V, french: Charles Quint, it, Carlo V, nl, Karel V, ca, Carles V, la, Carolus V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain ( Castile and Aragon) fr ...

in 1522, then, seven years later, a divorce hearing of

Catherine of Aragon Catherine of Aragon (also spelt as Katherine, ; 16 December 1485 – 7 January 1536) was Queen of England as the first wife of King Henry VIII from their marriage on 11 June 1509 until their annulment on 23 May 1533. She was previously ...

and

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

. The priory was by legal process dissolved in 1538 under Henry's dissolution of the monasteries. Katherine Parr, Henry's sixth and final wife, was born in an associated parish.

Local wharves of Puddle Dock

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 today's 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).

Amenities

Some of the buildings were later leased to a group of entrepreneurs who created the Blackfriars Theatre on the site, near Shakespeare's

Globe Theatre The Globe Theatre was a theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 by Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, on land owned by Thomas Brend and inherited by his son, Nicholas Brend, and ...

which stood almost directly across the river. In 1632, the

Society of Apothecaries The Worshipful Society of Apothecaries of London is one of the livery companies of the City of London. It is one of the largest livery companies (with over 1,600 members in 2012) and ranks 58th in their order of precedence. The society is a m ...

(a livery company), acquired the late medieval guesthouse which they converted as their base. This was destroyed in the

Great Fire of London The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through central London from Sunday 2 September to Thursday 6 September 1666, gutting the medieval City of London inside the old Roman city wall, while also extending past th ...

of 1666 but the Society rebuilt it, becoming today's Apothecaries' Hall due north of the station. At the very centre of the zone, in typical London equidistance from stations post-pariochial terms, is

Blackfriars station Blackfriars, also known as London Blackfriars, is a central London railway station and connected London Underground station in the City of London. It provides Thameslink services: local (from North to South London), and regional (Bedford an ...

on a large wholly built-up roundabout. Southwest of this is Blackfriars Bridge and south, the railway bridge. A notably long road,

Blackfriars Road Blackfriars Road is a road in Southwark, SE1. It runs between St George's Circus at the southern end and Blackfriars Bridge over the River Thames at the northern end, leading to the City of London. Halfway up on the west side is Southwark Un ...

, in

Bankside Bankside is an area of London, England, within the London Borough of Southwark. Bankside is located on the southern bank of the River Thames, east of Charing Cross, running from a little west of Blackfriars Bridge to just a short distance be ...

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

– a main approach to the road bridge – hosts near its northern extreme skyscraper

One Blackfriars One Blackfriars is a mixed-use development at No. 1 Blackfriars Road in Bankside, London. It is informally known as The Vase or The Boomerang due to its shape. Also nicknamed 'The Beer Gut' by Donald Dishington. The development is made up of a 5 ...

. 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 is

Blackfriars Millennium Pier Blackfriars Pier is a pier on the River Thames, in the Blackfriars area of the City of London, United Kingdom. It is served by boats operating under licence from London River Services and is situated on the north bank of the Thames, adjacent to ...

, a stop for river-bus services on

London River Services London River Services Limited is a division of Transport for London (TfL), which manages passenger transport—leisure-oriented tourist services and commuter services—on the River Thames in London. It does not own or operate any boats itself ...

. The

Victoria Embankment Victoria Embankment is part of the Thames Embankment, a road and river-walk along the north bank of the River Thames in London. It runs from the Palace of Westminster to Blackfriars Bridge in the City of London, and acts as a major thoroughfar ...

stretches along the north bank of the river west from Blackfriars to Westminster Bridge. Notable buildings include the large

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unit ...

Unilever House, and also facing the station's gyratory, the Art Nouveau

Black Friar The Order of Preachers ( la, Ordo Praedicatorum) abbreviated OP, also known as the Dominicans, is a Catholic mendicant order of Pontifical Right for men founded in Toulouse, France, by the Spanish priest, saint and mystic Dominic of ...

pub. Further clockwise, facing, are the Bank of New York/Mellon building and the

Mermaid Theatre The Mermaid Theatre was a theatre encompassing the site of Puddle Dock and Curriers' Alley at Blackfriars in the City of London, and the first built in the City since the time of Shakespeare. It was, importantly, also one of the first new th ...

, now a conference centre. The forerunner station stood south of the river,

Blackfriars Bridge railway station Blackfriars, also known as London Blackfriars, is a central London railway station and connected London Underground station in the City of London. It provides Thameslink services: local (from North to South London), and regional (Bedford and ...

, no major trace of which remains. It was closed to passengers in 1885 when the current station opened, as "St Pauls" for some decades.

Listed buildings

The_Black_Friar_Pub,_London_(8484532405)

One or two elaborate streets of Blackfriars were well repaired after the City was heavily bombed in

the Blitz The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'. The Germa ...

(1940 to 1945). These, of genuine Victorian or city Georgian architecture, are frequently sets for film and television series. These include ''

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...

'' and ''

David Copperfield ''David Copperfield'' Dickens invented over 14 variations of the title for this work, see is a novel in the bildungsroman genre by Charles Dickens, narrated by the eponymous David Copperfield, detailing his adventures in his journey from inf ...

''.

Burials at Blackfriars, London

* Elizabeth de Badlesmere, Countess of Northampton *

Edward Hastings, 2nd Baron Hastings Edward Hastings, 2nd Baron Hastings, KB PC (26 November 1466 – 8 November 1506) was an English peer. Origins Edward Hastings was born in Kirby Muxloe Castle, Leicestershire to Sir William Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings and Katherine Neville, ...

* Robert St. Lawrence 3rd Baron HowthFrancis Erlington Ball 'History of Dublin' *

Hubert de Burgh, 1st Earl of Kent Hubert de Burgh, Earl of Kent (; ; ; c.1170 – before 5 May 1243) was an English nobleman who served as Chief Justiciar of England and Ireland during the reigns of King John and of his son and successor King Henry III and, as a consequen ...

Neighbouring parts of London

*North bank, clockwise: **

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

Fleet Street Fleet Street is a major street mostly in the City of London. It runs west to east from Temple Bar at the boundary with the City of Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the London Wall and the River Fleet from which the street was n ...

** Ludgate Hill/ City Thameslink ** St Paul's *** Mansion House (south-east of above) *South bank: **

Gallery

File:Blackfriars Monastery, London - ground plan.png, Ground plan of Blackfriars Monastery as it appeared before the Dissolution of the Monasteries. The Buttery became Farrant's; the Frater, Burbage's playhouse. File:Apothecaries-hall.jpg, Apothecaries' Hall in Blackfriars, 1831 File:John Carpenter Street.JPG, Blackfriars is home to many investment banks and

financial services Financial services are the economic services provided by the finance industry, which encompasses a broad range of businesses that manage money, including credit unions, banks, credit-card companies, insurance companies, accountancy companies, ...

companies