This London Pub feels like a whacked-out Tolkienesque fantasy for all the nostalgics and dreamers
If you come out of Black Friars station in London you will be met with an unexpected and intriguing sight in front of you.
Standing three floors high, a narrow-brick building precariously sits on the middle of an intersection like an obelisk to the gothic past…
Imagine the Flat Iron in New York, stick a big, fat, laughing monk on the front of it like a drunken figurehead strapped to the helm of a ship and you’re halfway there…
The Black Friar Pub is one of London’s most impressive and historic drinking holes and a haven for Arts and Crafts fanatics.
Laced in mosaic tiles and gold-leaf detailing, this pub has been here since 1873, but it was only in 1905 that it was refurbished by architect Henry Fuller Clark and decorated by Henry Poole (RA).
Once at the main spoke of a roundabout, it’s iconic appearance was an advertising ploy — located in plain view of passing traffic — a reminder that they should stop for lunch and enjoy a pint or two of ale to re-hydrate themselves.
Above the doorway to the main entrance there is a curious mural that depicting two monks in a quintessential English landscape with luscious greenery, an ebbing river and the gateway to a traditional settlement beyond.
One monk offers the other a fish that he has just caught. The scene is idyllic and retells the pastoral leisure activities of monks in a much simpler and greener time of the English past.
Further along the facade, there are two large copper plaques that indicate the ‘Saloon Bar’ and the brewery of this establishment, indicated by inquisitive, pointing monks and a visibly drunken washerwoman, the bedrocks of a pre-Reformation and pre-industrialised society.
Peering inside, the interior is just as rich as the outside!
Upon entering, metal sculptures adorn a significant portion of the wall space, set against the backdrop of a mixed marble wall. On the ceiling above, a century of smoking inside has lined the roof with a thick, orange nicotine stain to give the place an air of authenticity
On the walls you can see monks everywhere you look: Friars, digging, reading, harvesting, and, as a particularly literal reading of “Merrie England”, drinking…
After all, the tradition of brewing beer was monastic! It is this vernacular craft of their own that is commemorated on the reliefs as well as in this contemporary poem ‘The Abbot of Burton’.
The Abbot of Burton brewed good ale,
On Fridays when they fasted,
But the Abbot of Burton never tasted his own,
As long as his neighbours lasted
Another relief above the fireplace is lit by a metal panel containing an assemblage of musicians positioned for performance. A bass violinist and two kneeling monks playing the curtal and shawm (medieval equivalents of a bassoon and oboe).
Here, however, is where it gets a bit trippy…
Below the musical orchestra, the fireplace is flanked by two fireguards, on which you can see two cast-iron nymph-like creatures staring inquisitively down the open mouth of a frog…
As if this weren’t fantastical enough, a metal relief on a mosaic panel can be found in the religious crypt-like dining room which shows a friar with bats ears.
There was a pagan tradition to have symbols like this in religious architecture. Maybe it is a Victorian nod to Gothic gargoyles?
However, I think there’s a better explanation…
This idea of ‘Merrie England’ never really existed… It is pure fantasy and so maybe these fantastical creations in the Black Friar are no more mythological than the rose-tinted image we have of ‘Merrie England’ itself…
The Arts and Crafts movement, made popular by artists like William Morris, evolved initially as a reaction to industrialisation and modern capitalism.
People wanted quality design back in their lives — none of the cheap pre-fabricated goods coming out of the factories that were springing up all over the world.
Instead, they wanted communities based on traditional principles; hard labour, the noble art of craft and conservative values!
In this time, the classic British pub became a place where the nation’s favourite, beer, was sold alongside food, refreshing the working people of Britain after the toils of the day to applaud their craft and labour.
The Arts and Crafts movement celebrated these hard-working folk. Ironically, the man who funded this pub was a successful industrialist who would be a billionaire by todays standard.
He used his wealth to commission bronze panel-makers, wood-carvers, stain-glass windows, mosaic tilers and asked them to reproduce all the symbols of medieval heritage.
This type of insignia created a strong affinity with by-gone days; showing drinkers, families and grafters promoting rural values and enjoying a nostalgic idyll.
The wealth of materials used was absolutely staggering — how many pubs today are built by billionaires?
So, if you have a few hours to kill in London and you want to take a step back into the past, back to the London of Rudyard Kipling, Lewis Carrol, J.M Barrie and Oscar Wilde and , then look no further the Black Friar Pub!
