Unique Bars & Pubs London's Best Pubs City Pubs The Black FriarThe Black Friar – Blackfriars
The Black Friar pub is an odd shaped building outside Blackfriars Station in the City (like a tiny version of the flat-iron building in NY). 
The interior is a unique display of Arts and Crafts marbling, sometimes referred to as 'Art Nouveau'. The pub was built on the site of a 13th century Dominican priory, which dominated the local area (running from near the Temple Bar in Fleet Street to Puddle Dock just east of Blackfriars station) which is why the area has taken on this name - not just the building. Marble and bas-relief abound in the bar, which makes the experience similar to sipping drinks in a modest craft museum. A step or two from the Thames, you can work off a drink or bite to eat afterwards by wandering along the North Thames Path.
Although the Black Friar pub was built in 1875, the exterior was remodelled by Henry Poole in 1903 and the interiors by H. Fuller Clark in 1905. The theme is obviously monk-related, with a wry twist of humour - motifs such as 'haste is slow' give a hint that Victorian and Edwardians were less stuffy than they're often portrayed. Poole was a pupil of George Frederic Watts, who created the Postman's Park - memorial to self-sacrifice, about a mile away in 'Little Britain'. If you're interested in the Arts and Crafts movement - then Liberty & Co. just off Regent Street is another significant building in the style, whose timbers were salvaged from two decommissioned battleships. (The figurehead from one ship is still outside the mansion of the original Liberty owners - at The Lee, in Buckinghamshire.) Sir John Betjeman, the poet laureate was instrumental in saving the Black Friar pub from demolition in the sixties, when money was tight and developers had one eye on the site's potential.
Before the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIIIth, Blackfriars Monastery was the site of his divorce hearing - when he split from Catherine of Aragon in 1532. It required a break from the Catholic Church in Rome and the creation of the protestant 'Church of England', making the monarch 'Supreme Head'. Within 
nine years the monastery had been dissolved and ownership of the property passed to the Crown. The estate was broken up and some parts were sold - others leased. in 1596, theatre impresario James Burbage acquired buildings on the site and created 'The Blackfriars Theatre' - another Elizabethan Playhouse to add to his chain. Unfortunately locals complained and after a lacklustre launch, he decided to lease the property and seek other investors. William Shakespeare and his 'King's Men' theatre company took up residence in 1609 and began to stage productions there during the winter, with their summer offerings over the Thames at the Globe Theatre on Bankside. Shakespeare bought a house nearby in Ireland Yard and the King's Men continued to use the venue until the English Civil War in 1642, when all theatres were closed by the Puritan regime.
The Theatre was renamed The Blackfriars Playhouse during this period - and along with the Middle Temple Hall, further west along the Thames, was amongst the first few venues to stage indoor plays (in the 16th century and earlier they were often performed in inn yards, one of which survives - the George Inn in Southwark). This enabled them to run during the winter season and also during the evenings. It introduced the idea of set decoration to the stage and 'intervals' were added so that candles which had burned down, could be replaced. Food and drink was consumed, to pass the time during this candle-lighting period. It also marked the beginning of theatres often being destroyed by fire, until the introduction of electric lighting in the 20th century. Productions tended to focus more on the words, than the special effects and entry was up to twenty times the cost of outdoor plays. It had the effect of making indoor performances more 'highbrow' and 'exclusive'. No riff-raff - which some might argue, still lingers today. The Blackfriars Playhouse generated more than twice the profit of the Globe, for the six man shareholding team (including Burbage and Shakespeare).
So, you can let this abundant history wash over you, while ordering from the bar. During the weekday lunch and early evening period - it'll be busy. The Black Friar pub is well known in the area and despite having a large outdoor standing and seating space - nearly a million work in, and visit this modest square mile daily. However it's one of very few City of London pubs which open over the weekend. It's never crowded and you'll find a smattering of visitors, locals and shoppers who work near here, filling the barstools. It's got atmosphere and good food including numerous 'mini' items (fish and chips, cornish pasties, sausage rolls), ales on tap and an impressive variety of drink. Prices are at City levels, so 'high' - to visitors from the 'burbs.
History everyman - Adam Hart-Davies stops by The Black Friar Pub for a snifter, sporting his usual 'retina-baiting' leisure wear.
Opening Hours:
Mon-Sat: 10am to 11pm (plus an extra 30 mins on Friday night)
Sun: 12pm-10pm
Food: daily 12pm to 9pm
The Black Friar pub, 174 Queen Victoria Street, London, EC4V 4EG.
Nearest Tube: Blackfriars.
Call: 020 7236 5474
