Building    From 1769 

Blackfriars Bridge

Categories: Transport

The first bridge on this site (shown in the picture) was designed by Robert Mylne and added a third crossing point to those already provided by London Bridge and Westminster Bridge. The plaque says 1760 but it took so long to build that it did not open until 1769, just at the end of Pitt the Elder's term as PM so it was named after him.

The location was chosen because there was available a wide route leading from the river up to what is now Ludgate Circus. This was the River Fleet with its disused wharves on both banks. It became the wide New Bridge Street. The equivalent road on the south bank crossed mainly open fields to the new St George's Circus.

Faulty workmanship meant the bridge needed replacing and this new bridge was opened by Queen Victoria on 1869. The bridge is dedicated to her, hence the statue on the north bank. Stone carvings of water birds by John Birnie Philip. Bridge designed by Joseph Cubitt, son of Sir William. Joseph also designed the sister rail bridge. The road bridge was widened 1907–10.

In Google Satellite view you can see, reading left to right: Cubitt's road bridge, Cubitt's 1864 railway bridge piers (the bridge itself was removed 1985), the 1886 bridge which has recently (2014) been converted to carry Blackfriars Station platforms. Note how the piers on all three bridges line up, presumably to ease passage for shipping.

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This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Blackfriars Bridge

Commemorated ati

Blackfriars Bridge - plaque

The Queen was busy that day in 1869, opening two bridges, the other being Hol...

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Blackfriars Bridge - underpass

{Each print is labelled. The one we have chosen for illustration is:} Her Ma...

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Other Subjects

Marcial Echenique

Marcial Echenique

Professor of Land Use and Transport Studies and Dean of Architecture at Cambridge.  Born Chile.  Awarded an OBE in 2009.

Person, Architecture, Education, Transport, Chile

1 memorial
Private Arthur Edwin Still

Private Arthur Edwin Still

Arthur Edwin Still was born in Southampton, Hampshire, one of the seven children of Edwin John Still (1861-1945) and Selina Still née Stickland (1863-1928). His birth was registered in the 4th quar...

Person, Armed Forces, Transport, France

War dead, WW1
1 memorial
Malcolm Campbell

Malcolm Campbell

Holder of land and water speed records. Born Chislehurst, Kent. He broke the land speed record for the first time in 1924 and went on to break it a further nine times (five at Daytona Beach, Florid...

Person, Sport / Games, Transport, USA

2 memorials
High Speed 1

High Speed 1

A high-speed railway link from London through Kent to the UK end of the Channel Tunnel. Officially known as the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL) and originally as the Union Railway or Continental Ma...

Place, Transport

2 memorials
Blackfriars Station

Blackfriars Station

The station was opened by the London, Chatham and Dover Railway company with the name St. Paul's, and renamed in 1937. It underwent a major redevelopment between 2009 and 2012, with the platforms n...

Building, Transport

1 memorial

Previously viewed

Turners' Hall, second

Turners' Hall, second

The Guild of Turners began sometime between 1295 and 1310.  King James I granted the first Royal Charter in 1604.   In the 15th and 16th centuries almost all the turners in London lived in one ver...

Building, Liveries & Guilds

1 memorial
C. W. Hall

C. W. Hall

Master of the Innholders' Company in 1950.

Person, Liveries & Guilds, Politics & Administration

1 memorial
WW1 gates at BMA

WW1 gates at BMA

WC1, Tavistock Square

2019: We are grateful to Justin Barkham who pointed out that we had incorrectly transcribed the text on the shield as 'Memory and peace' ...

2 subjects commemorated, 2 creators
Paul Bommer

Paul Bommer

Professional freelance illustrator & graphic designer based in London’s East End. His website.

Person, Art, Craft / Design

1 memorial
Barking Lord Scruff

Barking Lord Scruff

N6, Pond Square, 15

100+ dog years. Music critic, dog poet, photographic model and all round good egg, Barking Lord Scruff of Highgate, lived here, 1985 -...

1 subject commemorated