BLACKFRIARS RAILWAY BRIDGE
London Archive Chronicles
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One of the favourite parts of my pre-pandemic days was going through Blackfriars Station on my way to work. The platforms sit on the bridge, spanning over the Thames. If I was lucky, there was no southbound train on platform 1 and I was able to see the view: London Bridge, Tower Bridge in the distance, the dome of St Paul’s and the other somewhat anonymous buildings -- were some of them originally warehouses? — rinsed with the colours of the sunrise. For this reason alone, the Blackfriars Railway Bridge is one of my favourite constructions in London.
In fact, there have been two bridges with that name. The red pillars in this image are from the first bridge, built in 1864. The current railway bridge was built in 1886 and is partly supported by the 1864 bridge piers. The bridge was extensively remodelled by the Thameslink Programme. The refurbishment works started in 2009. While the station was fully functional by the time of the London Olympics in 2012, the improvements continued until 2019. During these works the platforms were extended across the river; the roof was fitted with photovoltaic panels providing up to 50% of the station’s energy; and a system to collect rainwater to be used in the toilets was installed. The station is also designed for a lot of natural light to get in, further reducing the use of energy. The remodelling was designed by Pascall + Watson Architects, executed by Jacobs, Toby Gee and Partners and built by Balfour Beautty. The etymology of Blackfriars, the area on the north bank of the river, takes us further back in history. The name comes from the Dominican monks who built a priory in the area in the 13th century. ‘Black’ was for the long black mantles the monks wore over their white robes and ‘friars’ is a derivation from the French word ‘frères’. The priory didn’t survive the dissolution of monasteries in 1538, and Blackfriars Theatre was built on its site. The theatre, in turn, closed during the Civil War and was demolished in 1655. A part of the priory wall can still be found on what remains of St Ann’s churchyard, on Ireland Yard. There are many more layers of history in this area. For example, there is the once prominent River Fleet, tributary to the Thames, that is now subterranean and more of a sewage than a river. There is Baynard’s House, the brutalist office block nearby the station, that is on the site of two castles that once stood there, both called the Baynard’s Castle. Opposite to the new station, where the Unilever House now stands, was a luxury hotel called De Keyser Royal Hotel. It was opened in 1874 by Constantin De Keyser, a Belgian immigrant who later left the management of the hotel to his son, Polydore De Keyser. Polydore De Keyser was involved in the city politics, despite continuous backlash due to his foreign origin. Still, he was elected the Mayor of London in 1887 and was knighted by Queen Victoria in 1888. The hotel business stayed in the family after his death in 1898. During World War1 however, it was requisitioned by the government and after the war sold to Lever Brothers who demolished it and built their new office, the Unilever House, on the site in 1931. The current railway bridge is best to be experienced, not photographed. The real subjects of this image are the red pillars. I had wanted to take a photograph of them for a while after I had first taken one from the other side of the river in the early days of these wanderings, only to realise that I had over-exposed it. The river had reflected the light, bouncing here and there. The slide film being what it is resulted in a photo that I couldn’t save in Lightroom so I decided to take another one. I chose a cloudy day because there would be less contrast between light and dark areas and therefore the textures and colours would come through. I was pleased when I got the slides back from the lab. The red of the pillars came out very vivid, surrounded by the muted palette of greys and browns. Somehow it reminds me of all things English, this palette of comfort, contrasted with vivid red; it is that almost translucent sky, like the mixture of black tea and milk, when the milk has just been poured in, next to the red of the London buses and the phone booths. The position of the photographer and the viewer alike is almost on ground level, a point of view which highlights the scale of these structures. The photograph is divided into two by the structures that dominate this image. On the left is the current Blackfriars Railway Bridge with its pink pillars, light grey metal arches and the aforementioned platforms stretching over the river. On the right are the pillars that remain of the old railway bridge. Their incompleteness renders them into a kind of a monument. I took this photograph because I have both admired and been fascinated by those red pillars. And as it is with anything that one admires, it feels nonsensical to discuss it, at least at length. Looking at them is enough. Looking and capturing, since London is under constant change, erasure and re-building. There have been several remarkable buildings around Blackfriars of which nothing but a street name survives. Who knows if and when this photograph is looked at as a window to the past. (originally published 18.03.2021) |
© Carita Silander
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Blackfriars Railway Bridge under construction in 1864,
a photomechanical reproduction |
A photograph of the Blackfriars Bridge and railway bridge, c1890
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Celebrations by Blackfriars Bridge, photograph taken c1910
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A photograph of people queueing at the tram stop in Blackfriars, 1912
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De Keyser’s Royal Hotel, a lithograph, c 1875.
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A view of Baynard’s Castle, with a smaller image of the previous ruined castle, engraving, 1817 . Images reproduced with the kind permission of the London Picture Archive
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