- South bank of the Thames Walkway under Blackfriars Railway Bridge
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51.50856, -0.103319 (OpenStreetMap, Google Maps, Yandex Maps)
- Bridge pillars
- Number of mosaic birds
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4
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Historical background
Blackfriars Bridge
Blackfriars Bridge was named after Dominican monks whose 13th-century monastery was situated nearby. Black Friars, or “black monks”, is a common name for the Dominican Order of friars because of their black cloaks. The banks of the Thames were first linked here in 1769 by an Italian style stonebuild pedestrian toll bridge, the third bridge in central London between London and Westminster bridges. It was originally named after the prime-minister Pitt but the name did not stick and was soon forgotten, however the informal name after the “black monks” is still in use.
Despite the seemingly solid structure of the first Blackfriars Bridge its reconstruction began in 1833. A new bridge was rebuilt in wrought iron in 1869 and it is still in use today. This arched bridge has four piers and is painted in red and white. On the piers are stone carvings of water birds. By these carving you can determine the cardinal directions — on the east side (towards the North Sea), the carvings show seabirds; those on the west side (towards the source of the Thames) show freshwater birds. On the north side of Blackfriars Bridge is a statue of Queen Victoria which completes the compass analogy.
The bridge has quite often been involved in present day history. In the 1980’s it was the venue for Italian mafia showdowns. 20 years later it was featured in a Harry Potter franchise when the Order of the Phoenix flew under the bridge on its way from number 4 Privet Drive. In 2009 prince William organised a social action to support homeless people and spent a night in a sleeping bag near the bridge. In 2011 4,400 solar panels were installed on the roof of the railway bridge next to Blackfriars bearing the same name and became one of the biggest solar power stations in London. Solar energy makes the power station on Blackfriars Railway Bridge environmentally friendly and reasonably cheap to maintain, at the same time making the bridge a facility of the future.
// by Dun.can (Own work) [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/)], via Flickr
Present in routes of categories Lion-Light, Lion-Pro
Passed by: 64/68 (94%).
By categories:
- Lion-Light: 22/25 (88%)
- Lion-Pro: 42/43 (98%)