From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
The Blackfriars Bridge is a bridge over the River Thames in London, between Waterloo Bridge and Blackfriars Railway Bridge.
Blackfriars Bridge
The current bridge is on the site of an earlier toll bridge designed by Robert Mylne and constructed with nine elliptical arches of Portland stone between 7 June 1760 and 17 November 1769. The bridge was 995 feet long; the central arch was 100 feet wide - wider than the celebrated Rialto at Venice.
It was originally named William Pitt Bridge (after the Prime Minister William Pitt) but was renamed after a Dominican priory which once stood nearby.
The current bridge was completed in 1869 and consists of five cast iron arches and was built to a design by Joseph Cubitt.
It is owned and maintained by the Corporation of London.
The north end is near to the Inns of Court, and a Knights Templar church, along with Blackfriars station. The south end is near to the Tate Modern art gallery and the Oxo Tower.
The bridge became internationally famous in 1982, when the Italian banker Roberto Calvi was found hanged below its arch.
