Blackfriars

Blackfriars station was opened on 30 May 1870, by the Metropolitan District Railway (MDR), now the District line.

Blackfriars served as the new eastern terminus of the Metropolitan District Railway when their line was extended from Westminster. The construction of this MDR section was coordinated with the development of the Victoria Embankment, employing the cut and cover method to roof over a shallow trench.

Now the station spans the River Thames, occupying the entirety of the Blackfriars Railway Bridge. Since December 2011, there have been station buildings with passenger entrances on both sides of the river. Previously, only the north side had buildings and entrances. Adjacent to the rail bridge runs Blackfriars Bridge, a road bridge that runs parallel to it.

Blackfriars is named after a central London area in the southwest corner of the City of London. Its name dates back to 1317 and originates from the black capes (cappas) worn by the Dominican Friars. These friars relocated their priory from Holborn to the area between the River Thames and Ludgate Hill in 1276.

Main source:	Wikipedia
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CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE LOCALITY

MCNALLY Blackfriars Added: 17 May 2021 09:42 GMT	Blackfriars (1959 - 1965) I lived in Upper Ground from 1959 to 1964 I was 6 years old my parents Vince and Kitty run the Pub The Angel on the corner of Upper Ground and Bodies Bridge. I remember the ceiling of the cellar was very low and almost stretched the length of Bodies Bridge. The underground trains run directly underneath the pub. If you were down in the cellar when a train was coming it was quite frightening Reply
Tom Blackfriars Added: 21 May 2021 23:07 GMT	Blackfriars What is, or was, Bodies Bridge? Reply
Linda Webb Hungerford Stairs Added: 27 Sep 2021 05:51 GMT	Hungerford Stairs In 1794 my ancestor, George Webb, Clay Pipe Maker, lived in Hungerford Stairs, Strand. Source: Wakefields Merchant & Tradesmens General Directory London Westminster 1794 Source: Hungerford Stairs Reply
Sandra Field Masons Place, EC1V Added: 15 Apr 2023 16:15 GMT	Removal Order Removal order from Shoreditch to Holborn, Jane Emma Hall, Single, 21 Pregnant. Born about 21 years since in Masons place in the parish of St Lukes. Source: Sign up Reply
Jeff Owen Owen Street, EC1V Added: 20 Mar 2021 16:18 GMT	Owen’s School Owen Street is the site of Owen’s Boys’ School. The last school was built in 1881 and was demolished in the early 1990s to make way for the development which stand there today. It was a “Direct Grant” grammar school and was founded in 1613 by Dame Alice Owen. What is now “Owen’s Fields” was the playground between the old school and the new girls’ school (known then as “Dames Alice Owen’s School” or simply “DAOS”). The boys’ school had the top two floors of that building for their science labs. The school moved to Potters Bar in Hertfordshire in 1971 and is now one of the top State comprehensive schools in the country. The old building remained in use as an accountancy college and taxi-drivers’ “knowledge” school until it was demolished. The new building is now part of City and Islington College. Owen’s was a fine school. I should know because I attended there from 1961 to 1968. Reply
Scott Hatton Blackmoor Street, WC2B Added: 11 Sep 2020 19:47 GMT	Millions Of Rats In Busy London The Daily Mail on 14 April 1903 reported "MILLIONS OF RATS IN BUSY LONDON" A rat plague, unprecedented in the annals of London, has broken out on the north side of the Strand. The streets principally infested are Catherine street, Drury lane, Blackmore street, Clare Market and Russell street. Something akin to a reign of terror prevails among the inhabitants after nightfall. Women refuse to pass along Blackmore street and the lower parts of Stanhope street after dusk, for droves of rats perambulate the roadways and pavements, and may be seen running along the window ledges of the empty houses awaiting demolition by the County Council in the Strand to Holborn improvement scheme. The rats, indeed, have appeared in almost-incredible numbers. "There are millions of them," said one shopkeeper, and his statement was supported by other residents. The unwelcome visitors have been evicted from their old haunts by the County Council housebreakers, and are now busily in search of new homes. The Gaiety Restaurant has been the greatest sufferer. Rats have invaded the premises in such force that the managers have had to close the large dining room on the first floor and the grill rooms on the ground floor and in the basement. Those three spacious halls which have witnessed many as semblages of theatre-goers are now qui:e deserted. Behind the wainscot of the bandstand in the grillroom is a large mound of linen shreds. This represents 1728 serviettes carried theee by the rats. In the bar the removal of a panel disclosed the astonishing fact that the rats have dragged for a distance of seven or eight yards some thirty or forty beer and wine bottles and stacked them in such a fashion as to make comfortable sleeping places. Mr Williams. the manager of the restaurant, estimates that the rats have destroyed L200 worth of linen. Formerly the Gaiety Restaurant dined 2000 persons daily; no business whatever is now done in this direction. Reply
Bruce McTavish Lambeth North Added: 11 Mar 2021 11:37 GMT	Kennington Road Lambeth North station was opened as Kennington Road and then Westminster Bridge Road before settling on its final name. It has a wonderful Leslie Green design. Reply
Bernard Miller Windsor Terrace, N1 Added: 12 Apr 2022 17:36 GMT	My mother and her sister were born at 9 Windsor Terrace My mother, Millie Haring (later Miller) and her sister Yetta Haring (later Freedman) were born here in 1922 and 1923. With their parents and older brother and sister, they lived in two rooms until they moved to Stoke Newington in 1929. She always said there were six rooms, six families, a shared sink on the first floor landing and a toilet in the backyard. Reply
Johnshort Hurley Road, SE11 Added: 7 Oct 2017 21:07 GMT	Hurley Road, SE11 There were stables in the road mid way - also Danny reading had a coal delivery lorry. Reply
Robert smitherman Saunders Street, SE11 Added: 23 Aug 2017 11:01 GMT	Saunders Street, SE11 I was born in a prefab on Saunders street SE11 in the 60’s, when I lived there, the road consisted of a few prefab houses, the road originally ran from Lollard street all the way thru to Fitzalan street. I went back there to have a look back in the early 90’s but all that is left of the road is about 20m of road and the road sign. Reply
Richard Roques Hungerford Stairs Added: 21 Jan 2021 16:53 GMT	Buckingham Street residents Here in Buckingham Street lived Samuel Pepys the diarist, Charles Dickens and Rudyard Kipling Reply
Talbot Yard, SE1 Added: 27 Jul 2021 14:31 GMT	correction Chaucer did not write Pilgrims Progress. His stories were called the Canterbury Tales Reply
sam Burdett Street, SE1 Added: 31 Dec 2021 00:54 GMT	Burdett Street, SE1 I was on 2nd July 1952, in Burdett chambers (which is also known as Burdett buildings)on Burdett street Reply
All bar one Added: 3 Jun 2021 15:50 GMT	All Bar One The capitalisation is wrong Reply
Erin Windsor Terrace, N1 Added: 2 May 2022 01:33 GMT	Windsor Terrace, N1 hello Reply
J Parker Windsor Terrace, N1 Added: 14 May 2023 15:27 GMT	Windsor Terrace, N1 Thank you for the information - My great grandparents lived at 11 Windsor Terrace from around 1918 to 1938... I was just trying to establish the kind of house it might have been as there are so many people listed at the same address so really interesting to see your description. Reply

LATEST LONDON-WIDE CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE PROJECT

Sue Meyrick Road, SW11 Added: 24 Sep 2023 19:09 GMT	Meyrick Rd My family - Roe - lived in poverty at 158 Meyrick Rd in the 1920s, moving to 18 Lavender Terrace in 1935. They also lived in York Rd at one point. Alf, Nell (Ellen), plus children John, Ellen (Did), Gladys, Joyce & various lodgers. Alf worked for the railway (LMS). Reply
Michael Tyrrell Avenue, DA16 Added: 20 Sep 2023 21:10 GMT	Momentous Birth! I was born in the upstairs front room of 28 Tyrrell Avenue in August 1938. I was a breach birth and quite heavy ( poor Mum!). My parents moved to that end of terrace house from another rental in St Mary Cray where my three year older brother had been born in 1935. The estate was quite new in 1938 and all the properties were rented. My Father was a Postman. I grew up at no 28 all through WWII and later went to Little Dansington School Reply
Mike Levy Arbour Square, E1 Added: 19 Sep 2023 18:10 GMT	Bombing of Arbour Square in the Blitz On the night of September 7, 1940. Hyman Lubosky (age 35), his wife Fay (or Fanny)(age 32) and their son Martin (age 17 months) died at 11 Arbour Square. They are buried together in Rainham Jewish Cemetery. Their grave stones read: "Killed by enemy action" Reply
Lady Townshend Bridge House Added: 8 Sep 2023 16:02 GMT	Tenant at Westbourne (1807 - 1811) I think that the 3rd Marquess Townshend - at that time Lord Chartley - was a tenant living either at Westbourne Manor or at Bridge House. He undertook considerable building work there as well as creating gardens. I am trying to trace which house it was. Any ideas gratefully received Reply
Alex Britton Roding Valley Added: 30 Aug 2023 10:43 GMT	Late opening The tracks through Roding Valley were opened on 1 May 1903 by the Great Eastern Railway (GER) on its Woodford to Ilford line (the Fairlop Loop). But the station was not opened until 3 February 1936 by the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER, successor to the GER). Source: Roding Valley tube station - Wikipedia Reply
Kevin Pont Roding Valley Added: 30 Aug 2023 09:52 GMT	Shhh.... Roding Valley is the quietest tube station, each year transporting the same number of passengers as Waterloo does in one day. Reply
Kevin Pont Dollis Hill Added: 30 Aug 2023 09:47 GMT	The connection with Bletchley Park The code-breaking computer used at Bletchley Park was built in Dollis Hill. Reply
Kevin Pont Hampstead Added: 29 Aug 2023 15:25 GMT	The deepest station At 58m below ground, Hampstead is as deep as Nelson’s Column is tall. Source: Hampstead tube station - Wikipedia Reply

NEARBY LOCATIONS OF NOTE

Alsatia Alsatia was the name given to an area lying north of the River Thames covered by the Whitefriars monastery.

Alsatia

Blackfriars Blackfriars station was opened on 30 May 1870, by the Metropolitan District Railway (MDR), now the District line.

Blackfriars

City Thameslink City Thameslink is a central London railway station within the City of London, with entrances on Ludgate Hill and Holborn Viaduct.

City Thameslink

St Augustine Watling Street St Augustine, Watling Street was an Anglican church which stood just to the east of St Paul’s Cathedral.

St Augustine Watling Street

St Gregory by St Paul’s St Gregory’s by St Paul’s was a parish church in the Castle Baynard ward of the City of London.

St Gregory by St Paul’s

St Mary Magdalen Old Fish Street Mary Magdalen Old Fish Street was a church in Castle Baynard ward of the City of London, located on the corner of Old Fish Street and Old Change, on land now covered by post-War development.

St Mary Magdalen Old Fish Street

St Mary Mounthaw St Mary Mounthaw or Mounthaut was a parish church in Old Fish Street Hill.

St Mary Mounthaw

St Mary Somerset St Mary Somerset was a church in the City of London first recorded in the twelfth century.

St Mary Somerset

St Michael-le-Querne St Michael-le-Querne, also called St Michael ad Bladum, was a parish church in the Farringdon Within Ward in the City of London.

St Michael-le-Querne

St Nicholas Cole Abbey St. Nicholas Cole Abbey is a church in the City of London located on what is now Queen Victoria Street.

St Nicholas Cole Abbey

St Peter, Paul’s Wharf St Peter, Paul’s Wharf, was a parish church in the City of London.

St Peter, Paul’s Wharf

Temple Bar Temple Bar is the point in London where Fleet Street, City of London, becomes the Strand, Westminster, and where the City of London traditionally erected a barrier to regulate trade into the city.

Temple Bar

The Temple The Temple is one of the main legal districts in London and a notable centre for English law.

The Temple

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City of London

The City of London constituted most of London from its settlement by the Romans in the 1st century AD to the Middle Ages, but the conurbation has since grown far beyond its borders.

As the City's boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, it is now only a tiny part of the metropolis of Greater London, though it remains a notable part of central London. It holds city status in its own right and is also a separate ceremonial county.

It is widely referred to as 'The City' (often written on maps as City and differentiated from the phrase 'the city of London') or 'the Square Mile' as it is 1.12 square miles in area. These terms are also often used as metonyms for the United Kingdom's financial services industry, which continues a notable history of being largely based in the City.

The local authority for the City, the City of London Corporation, is unique in the UK and has some unusual responsibilities for a local council, such as being the police authority. It also has responsibilities and ownerships beyond the City's boundaries. The Corporation is headed by the Lord Mayor of the City of London, an office separate from (and much older than) the Mayor of London.

The City is a major business and financial centre, ranking as the world's leading centre of global finance. Throughout the 19th century, the City was the world's primary business centre, and continues to be a major meeting point for businesses.

The City had a resident population of about 7000 in 2011 but over 300,000 people commute to it and work there, mainly in the financial services sector. The legal profession forms a major component of the northern and western sides of the City - especially in the Temple and Chancery Lane areas where the Inns of Court are located, of which two—Inner Temple and Middle Temple - fall within the City of London boundary.

LOCAL PHOTOS

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Postal area SE1 TUM image id: 1483541461 Licence: CC BY 2.0	Smithfield Market TUM image id: 1620388545 Licence:	The Hole In The Wall, Waterloo. A noted venue for many a traveller awaiting their train or ending their evening. Credit: Virtual Tourist TUM image id: 1605093975 Licence:	The old wooden Temple Bar Credit: Walter Thornbury TUM image id: 1523115955 Licence: CC BY 2.0	Hopton’s Almshouses, Hopton Street, Bankside (1957) TUM image id: 1470953421 Licence:
Tate Modern viewed from Thames pleasure boat (2003) Credit: Christine Matthews TUM image id: 1557161613 Licence: CC BY 2.0	Middle Temple Lane looking towards Victoria Embankment (2008) The buildings are mainly occupied by barristers’ chambers Credit: Wiki Commons/J D Mack TUM image id: 1660223325 Licence: CC BY 2.0	Illustration of Fleet Market Credit: William Henry Prior TUM image id: 1530111646 Licence: CC BY 2.0	Amen Court, EC4M TUM image id: 1493474208 Licence: CC BY 2.0	Anchor Terrace, SE1 A large symmetrical building on Southwark Bridge Road, Anchor Terrace was built in 1834 for senior employees of the nearby Anchor Brewery. The building was converted into luxury flats in the late 1990s. Credit: Wiki Commons/Jwslubbock TUM image id: 1621527193 Licence:
Ayres Street TUM image id: 1544924072 Licence: CC BY 2.0	At the southern end of Carmelite Street in the City of London stood the Victorian-era Whitefriars Fire Station. Credit: Wiki Commons TUM image id: 1623066010 Licence:	View of Cloth Fair in 1884 showing the side entrance to St Bartholomew’s Priory, Smithfield. Credit: John Crowther TUM image id: 1622807402 Licence:	Collingwood Street, near Blackfriars Road c1900 The street was renamed Colombo Street in 1937 by the London County Council. The weatherboarded cottages suffered severe bomb damage during the Blitz and were demolished in 1948 TUM image id: 1681811062 Licence:	Holborn Viaduct from Farringdon Street, c. 1910 The building of Farringdon Street is considered one of the greatest urban engineering achievements of the 19th century. It was one of the first engineered multi-lane roads, and also buried the River Fleet in a system of underground tunnels, solving one of London’s most daunting sanitary problems. Its construction also included the building of the world’s first stretch of underground railway, a branch of the Metropolitan Railway that later became part of the London Underground running beneath Farringdon Road from King’s Cross St. Pancras into the City at Farringdon. The construction of Farringdon Street also necessitated the removal of the Fleet Market that had been built in 1736 above the course of the River Fleet, which is now London’s largest subterranean river. North of the market was Hockley-in-the-Hole (around Ray Street Bridge), an area notorious for bear-baiting and similar activities. Credit: Bishopsgate Institute TUM image id: 1686139066 Licence:

In the neighbourhood...

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Hopton’s Almshouses, Hopton Street, Bankside (1957)
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Tate Modern viewed from Thames pleasure boat (2003)
Credit: Christine Matthews
Licence: CC BY 2.0

Illustration of Fleet Market
Credit: William Henry Prior
Licence: CC BY 2.0

Amen Court, EC4M
Licence: CC BY 2.0

At the southern end of Carmelite Street in the City of London stood the Victorian-era Whitefriars Fire Station.
Credit: Wiki Commons
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Collingwood Street, near Blackfriars Road c1900 The street was renamed Colombo Street in 1937 by the London County Council. The weatherboarded cottages suffered severe bomb damage during the Blitz and were demolished in 1948
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Holborn Viaduct from Farringdon Street, c. 1910 The building of Farringdon Street is considered one of the greatest urban engineering achievements of the 19th century. It was one of the first engineered multi-lane roads, and also buried the River Fleet in a system of underground tunnels, solving one of London’s most daunting sanitary problems. Its construction also included the building of the world’s first stretch of underground railway, a branch of the Metropolitan Railway that later became part of the London Underground running beneath Farringdon Road from King’s Cross St. Pancras into the City at Farringdon. The construction of Farringdon Street also necessitated the removal of the Fleet Market that had been built in 1736 above the course of the River Fleet, which is now London’s largest subterranean river. North of the market was Hockley-in-the-Hole (around Ray Street Bridge), an area notorious for bear-baiting and similar activities.
Credit: Bishopsgate Institute
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Farringdon Street, EC4M
Licence: CC BY 2.0

Hopton’s Almshouses
Licence: CC BY 2.0

St Paul’s Cathedral from Ludgate Circus, London c 1885 John Atkinson Grimshaw (1836 - 1893) was a Victorian-era painter, notable for his landscapes. In 1861, at the age of 24, to the dismay of his parents, he departed from his first job as a clerk for the Great Northern Railway to pursue a career in art. He began exhibiting in 1862, under the patronage of the Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society.
Credit: John Atkinson Grimshaw
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