Blackfriars · the City of London
The Black Friar
Saved from demolition by a poet's campaign
- Address174 Queen Victoria Street, EC4V 4EG
- Websitenicholsonspubs.co.uk/restaurants/london/theblackfriarblackfriarslondon
- OwnershipPart of Nicholson's
About The Black Friar
A wedge-shaped Grade II* pub on the site of a medieval Dominican friary, with an Art Nouveau interior of marble, mosaics and bronze friars.
Built around 1875 on the former site of a Dominican — 'Black Friars' — monastery, the Black Friar is best known for its remarkable interior: marble, coloured mosaics and bronze reliefs of jolly, round-bellied friars, all designed by architect H. Fuller-Clark with sculptor Henry Poole. It was nearly demolished in the 1960s and only survived after a public campaign led by the poet Sir John Betjeman.
On tap
Nicholson's cask ales in one of the City's most distinctive rooms.
Food
A traditional pub menu, served beneath the wedge-shaped building's vaulted back room.
More pubs in Blackfriars
- Hack & HopA nod to Fleet Street's newspaper past
- Harrild & SonsNamed for a City printing dynasty
See all the City of London pubs and the map · All 12 boroughs