{"id":318628,"date":"2025-08-05T02:02:14","date_gmt":"2025-08-05T02:02:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/318628\/"},"modified":"2025-08-05T02:02:14","modified_gmt":"2025-08-05T02:02:14","slug":"this-grade-ii-listed-pub-sits-on-the-site-of-a-former-monastery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/318628\/","title":{"rendered":"This Grade II Listed Pub Sits On The Site Of A Former Monastery"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns=\" http:=\"\" class=\"img-fluid\" alt=\"The exterior of the Black Friar pub\" width=\"1024\" height=\"783\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/shutterstock_2298355265-min-1024x783.jpg\"\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCredit: Claudio Divizia, Shtuterstock<\/p>\n<p>There are very few things that pique my interest quicker than a quirky <a href=\"https:\/\/secretldn.com\/best-pubs-in-london\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_self\" class=\"shortcode-outbound-link\" data-has-ga=\"true\" data-ga-type=\"click\" data-label=\"https:\/\/secretldn.com\/best-pubs-in-london\/\" data-action=\"text_cta_0\" data-category=\"click_internal\">pub<\/a>. And so it\u2019s pretty darn handy that I live in a city that\u2019s bursting at the seams with them. One that\u2019s particularly unique, however, is the <strong>Black Friar<\/strong>. Perched proudly over in \u2013 you guessed it \u2013 <strong>Blackfriars<\/strong>; this rather beguiling boozer is ambient, atmospheric, and absolutely blooming gorgeous. A trio of traits that make for a perfect place to sink a pint (or three), don\u2019t you think?<\/p>\n<p> The Black Friar pub <\/p>\n<p>The Black Friar is thought to have been built in 1875. As its name may suggest, it\u2019s known for its monastic links, having set up shop on the site of a <strong>former medieval monastery<\/strong>. The pub underwent a rather hefty refurb in 1905, and most of the impressive interior design details that can still be seen to this day come courtesy of sculptor and artist duo, <strong>Frederick Callcott and Henry Poole<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p> <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-306662 size-full\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns=\" http:=\"\" alt=\"The exterior of the Black Friar pub\" width=\"1200\" height=\"797\" data-lazy- data-lazy- data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/shutterstock_1964823268-min.jpg\"\/>Credit: Mistervlad, Shutterstock <\/p>\n<p>With its distinctive wedge-like shape and a huge Dominican friar statue looming over the entrance; the <strong>Black Friar<\/strong> is fairly hard to miss. It\u2019s certainly a pub that catches your eye as you pass it, but it\u2019s a rather deceptive spot. Its exterior gives the impression you\u2019re going to find yourself inside a teeny tiny tavern upon entry. But once you step inside, you\u2019ll actually find yourself in a super spacious bar, packed with<strong> stunning features<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>The <strong>Grade II listed watering hole<\/strong> is filled to the brim with gorgeous things to gawp at, from stained-glass windows and sculptures to quirky carvings and a whole host of copper reliefs that showcase monks going about their daily business. The building is an <strong>Art Noveau masterpiece<\/strong>, and comes complete with a incredible dining room which was excavated from a railway vault and an impressive mosaic ceiling. There are plenty of<strong> cosy nooks and crannies<\/strong> to while away the hours in, and (in our humble opinion) it should be immediately added to your ever-lengthening list of pubs to visit.<\/p>\n<p>\ud83d\udccdYou\u2019ll find the Black Friar at 174 Queen Victoria Street, EC4V 4EG.<\/p>\n<p>\ud83d\ude87 Nearest station is Blackfriars.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Credit: Claudio Divizia, Shtuterstock There are very few things that pique my interest quicker than a quirky pub.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":318629,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7757],"tags":[23341,748,393,4884,2348,257,34386,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-318628","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-london","8":"tag-beer","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-history","13":"tag-london","14":"tag-social-drinking","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114973700546008695","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/318628","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=318628"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/318628\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/318629"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=318628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=318628"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=318628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}