The original Blackfriars bridge was the third Thames crossing to be constructed in the eighteenth century, just six years after the opening of the troubled, unpopular and expensive Westminster Bridge in 1750. Rivalry between the City of London and the City of Westminster may have played a part in the decision to erect another bridge since the City financiers had initially been very hostile to the Westminster Bridge project. However, once the politicians of Westminster were afforded easy access to the South Bank, by 1756 the City financiers decided that they wanted a bridge of their own and commissioned one. Consequently, the foundations for Blackfriars Bridge were laid in 1760, though the £230,000 required to fund the construction of the bridge was raised by an even more bizarre method than the public lottery that Westminster Bridge relied upon. The building of Blackfriars was paid for using fines accumulated from people refusing the office of Sheriff (using such an eccentric method, it can come as no surprise that lack of funds was a major delay to the bridges construction).

Opening in 1769 as William Pitt Bridge, in the foundation stone was buried a tin plate of coins bearing Pitt’s name. The decision to name such a prominent landmark after the Tory Prime Minister of the day proved an unpopular one and the name was soon changed to Blackfriars Bridge. The Black Friars (their name derived from the colour of their robes) were an order of Dominican Monks that settled on the north bank of London in 1279 and survived by begging alms. Their order was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666, but their name survives. The bridge itself had nine elliptical arches in Portland stone that rested on piers that also bore Greek Doric columns for added decoration.

As with many other London bridges, it was discovered to be badly damaged by the mid-nineteenth century and was rebuilt in 1860-69. The new construction was of five cast-iron arches on granite piers. For decoration red granite columns were added with leafy Portland Stone capitals. The bridge was widened and generally improved from 1907-10. The history of the Bridge is depicted on the walls of the southern underpass.