It was completed in 1869 on the site of an earlier bridge (built in 1769). 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 first bridge was nine arches of portland stone, the replacement consists of five cast iron arches and was designed by J Cubitt.
It is owned and maintained by the Corporation of London.
The north end is nearby the Inns of Court, and a Knights Templar church, along with Blackfriars station, and the south end is near the Bankside Gallery, and the Oxo Tower.
The bridge became internationally famous in 1982, when the Italian banker Roberto Calvi was found hanged below its arch.