Blackfriars Underpass encompasses the area facing the River Thames from Blackfriars Bridge in the west to Millennium Bridge in the east. Sandwiched between Queen Victoria Street and the banks of the Thames, the area is split into two parts by White Lion Hill, a ramp which cuts the area in half. The western half is dominated by large modernist office blocks, as well as Blackfriars railway station to the far west; whereas the eastern half is home to several institutions such as the City of London School, St. Benet’s Metropolitan Welsh Church and The Salvation Army; alongside offices such as Millennium Bridge House. The eastern half is therefore far more walkable, with Millennium Bridge and Peter’s Hill connecting the area to Southwark as well as up to St. Paul’s, and the riverbank. The western portion, on the other hand, is a mess of flyovers, particularly at the entrance of Blackfriars Underpass, which runs under the entire neighbourhood. The western segment is more of a traffic island, with excellent road connections, as well as benefiting from Blackfriars railway and underground station, but lacks the street-level pedestrian activity which the east possesses. Blackfriars Pier is located in between the two bridges, with MBNA Thames Clipper riverboat services running upstream to Westminster and downstream to Tower Bridge, Greenwich and North Greenwich.

Blackfriars was so called due to the Black Friars (also known as the Dominicans), who wore long black mantles over their white robes. The Blackfriars area was one of the most important priories of the more than 50 founded by this order. The priory was dissolved under King Henry VIII and later destroyed to build the Blackfriars Theatre, which then closed in the Civil War. In fact, the area has had a long history of theatres, with The Mermaid formerly being used as a theatre (and before that as a warehouse, which was bombed during the Second World War).

Blackfriars Bridge was constructed in 1769, from funds from the rents of the houses and shops on London Bridge. The bridge would be replaced a century later in 1869. Today you can still see the pillars of the old Blackfriars Bridge, in between the road bridge and the rail bridge, which forms a station stretching the full width of the river.

On 18 June 1982 Roberto Calvi, an Italian financier, was found hanged under Blackfriars Bridge. Known as ‘God’s banker’, due to his work with the Vatican, he was found with his pockets stuffed with bricks and had £10,000 in cash on him at the time. He had been accused of stealing millions and laundering for the mafia. Calvi was convicted of illegally taking foreign currency out of Italy, and sentenced to four years in prison, which he was appealing against, and he knew the secrets of many leading Italian politicians as well as the Vatican. The mafia suspected him of having turned informant, and theories abound that he was murdered (the original verdict was that it was a suicide); though to this day, the murder remains unsolved.

London Blackfriars station was named St. Paul’s until 1937 (St. Paul’s tube station was named Post Office). It was a major railway station for international railway journeys in the past – and you can still see a wall with destinations hand-carved into it, from fairly nearby Brussels to far-flung Berlin, Marseilles, and St. Petersburg.

Blackfriars station is the only station in London to stretch over two postcodes – the northern end is in EC4V, whereas the southern part is in SE1. It is also the world’s largest solar-powered bridge, with 4,400 panels on top producing 900,000kWh.

The western area is extremely difficult for pedestrians to navigate, though the road connections are superb. On the other hand, the eastern portion is the reverse, with pedestrians being given priority over vehicles. Nevertheless, while the western area is difficult to walk within, the entire area is still extremely accessible from other parts of London, a crucial factor in what is a large office area.

The area is not yet slated for major developments, though given the area’s unappealing, post-war buildings, and the proximity to Blackfriars station, which is, in turn, going through its own redevelopment, the area is likely to face some refurbishment soon. The office building at one Puddle Dock was recently refurbished although this made little material impact to the streetscape as most of the changes were internal.