A walk around Soho

A BRIEF HISTORY OF SOHO

In the Middle Ages this was just farmland, later becoming Henry VIII’s hunting grounds (the name ‘Soho’ is an old hunting cry, like ‘Tally Ho’). It began to be developed in the mid-17th century, and initially the houses were quite grand and inhabited by the wealthy and influential.

Then came influxes of refugees, mainly Huguenots from France, but others from Russia, Germany and Italy fleeing both poverty and religious and political persecution. This resulted in the ‘gentry’ moving into posher areas such as Mayfair. Indeed, by the early 18th century between a quarter and a half of the population of Soho were French, and in 1740 a commentator wrote, “Many parts of this parish so greatly abound with French that it is an easy matter for a stranger to imagine himself in France.”

One of the results of the huge mix of people who lived in Soho over the years is its cosmopolitan atmosphere. This has attracted a diverse population, particularly from the worlds of the arts, literature, cinema and music. Just a few examples are the Hungarian composer Frank Liszt, the painters Canaletto and Constable and the ‘romantic’ Italian writer and adventurer Casanova. William Blake, Percy Shelley and Karl Marx also lived here.

Fast-forward to the 20th century and Soho has been at the centre of Britain’s – and at times the world’s – music and fashion trends. This was where nearly all the top bands of the 50s, 60s and 70s played their first major gigs. And when it comes to fashion – well, teenage fashion was virtually invented here. Who hasn’t heard of Carnaby Street, which we visit on the walk?

Soho has always been the centre of London’s entertainment, but that brought with it the ‘sleazy’ clubs and prostitution, for which the area became known. However, action by the local authority and the police in the 1980s saw a major clean-up operation. Now, Soho is one of London’s most popular areas for theatres, bars and restaurants. It has also become the heart of London’s LGBTQ+ scene, offering many gay and bi-friendly bars and clubs.

On this walk you will hear and see more about the many periods, people and events that have made Soho so famous.

STARTING THE WALK

The walk begins at Oxford Circus, one of London’s best-known locations.

We start at the south-east corner – see the map below for more details, and if you arrive at Oxford Street tube station, then leave via Exit 5.

As you emerge from the station turn left and walk 15 yards and you find yourself standing at the crossroads of two of the world’s most famous shopping streets – Oxford Street and Regent Street. The first runs from west to east, whilst Regent Street from north to south.

I particularly like the architectural design of the buildings on each of the four corners, as they ‘fit together’ to help create a circular effect. This is particularly the case with their roof lines.

For many years the northeast corner building was occupied by the famous department store ‘Peter Robinson’, but when it closed it became the UK’s biggest branch of Top Shop. However, since the demise of Top Shop it’s been empty, but it will soon be a branch of IKEA, who have been reported to have purchased the site, together with the adjacent Nike store for an estimated £385 million. When open, the new IKEA store is said to cover the equivalent of three and a half football pitches.

Looking up Regent Street to the north you can see All Souls Church and behind it the famous BBC building, Broadcasting House.

On the south-west corner of Oxford Street (west) and Regent Street (south) is the Microsoft store.

We start by turning left down Regent Street (south) but keeping to the left-hand side of the road.

A few words about Regent Street, which divides Mayfair from Soho. It was commissioned by the Prince Regent (who later became King George IV) who wanted to build a ‘ceremonial route’ from Carlton House (which was then his home) to connect with his plan for a park, to be known as Regent’s Park. He employed the architect John Nash to achieve it, which he did.

However, it did not quite go to plan – the Prince had wanted Regent Street to be straight, but because much of the land was privately owned, that couldn’t be achieved, hence its curve. Initially much of the street had colonnades on each side and whilst this protected shoppers from the rain, it wasn’t popular with the shop owners. They complained that it reduced the light and, in the evenings, encouraged prostitution. As a result, the colonnade was demolished, and the street today looks surprisingly similar to how it must have looked back then.

I’ll just mention here that there are some magnificent buildings along the length of Regent Street – we see a couple at the very beginning of the walk, particularly the Apple store, which I highlight shortly.

After just fifty yards notice on the wall of the NatWest bank a plaque which explains that this was once the site of the Argyll Rooms, one of London’s finest concert halls until it burnt down in 1830. It was here in 1824 that the 12-year-old Franz Liszt made his London debut and the following year that Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony (also known as the Choral Symphony) was first performed in Britain. And just five years later, it was where Mendelssohn gave his first London concert.

We’re going to take the next left alongside the NatWest into Little Argyll Street.

However, before you do, I suggest you look across to the other side of Regent Street. Most of the buildings in Regent Street are impressive, with some amazing architecture. A good example is the Apple store, which is directly opposite you – just notice its large, arched windows and rather beautiful domed roof. (There’s no sign saying ‘Apple’ – just their large ‘apple-with-a-bite-taken-out’ flag hanging over the front).

It’s one of the oldest shops in Regent Street, having been built in 1898 by Salviati & Jesurum of Venice to display the glass and fabrics they made in Murano. An example of their mosaics can still be seen today on the front of the building, which feature the heraldic shields of the islands of Burano, Murano and Venice. In a red and gold mosaic band are the names of the other cities where the company also had shops – ‘Paris, New York, St Petersburg and Berlin’. (Other examples of the company’s wonderful mosaics can also be found in St Paul’s Cathedral.)

The new Apple store was redesigned by Foster+Partners, whose amazing architectural works elsewhere in London, and indeed across the world, are too numerous to list here.

At the end of Little Argyll Street turn right into Argyll Street where you immediately see the impressive frontage of the London Palladium. Look up at the building to the left of the Palladium and you’ll see a plaque explaining that the American writer Washington Irving lived there in the 1780s.

Opposite the Palladium is Aqua Kyoto – one of my favourite bar/restaurants in London. Situated five floors above what was once the Dickens & Jones department store, it has two restaurants, a cocktail bar and a stunning roof terrace overlooking Regent Street where you can enjoy an al fresco drink. (Access is via a lift in the lobby.)

Facing you at the bottom of Argyll Street is Liberty’s, the distinguished department store. Before we turn left along Great Marlborough Street walk 50 yards to the right to take a look at three-storey archway adjacent to Liberty’s that spans Kingly Street. I assumed it must have at one time linked with the adjoining building, but it doesn’t and the room above the arch simply provides more retail space, as the photo here shows.

I love the recently restored Liberty’s clock, with its message that I’m sure is good advice to us all – ‘No minute gone comes ever back again – take heed and see ye do nothing in vain’.

It’s worth taking a brief look inside the store as its interior is still as magnificent today as it must have been when it opened. The main entrance is at the front of the store, through the florists and between the two lions.

Liberty’s is something rare these days – a department store whose traditions and quirkiness have hardly changed over the years. It was opened by Arthur Liberty in 1874 in Regent Street, selling fabrics and ornaments from Japan, the Far East and India, but became so successful that it in 1924 he moved to the much larger and more prestigious building that we see today in Great Marlborough Street.

The new store was built in the Tudor-revival style that was popular at the time, using the timber from two ancient battleships. Indeed, the deck planks from the ships created the well-worn but beautiful wooden flooring that’s still in use today. Built over six floors, with three atriums surrounded by smaller rooms, it was an immediate success with customers. Always at the forefront of fashion, Arthur Liberty used to say, “I was determined not to follow existing fashion, but to create new ones.”

After Liberty’s, turn back to continue along Great Marlborough Street, passing on the left the stage door of the London Palladium, where thousands of pop fans have gathered in the past to see their heroes.

Before we take the next right into the wide entrance that leads into Carnaby Street, notice also on the left what was once the Marlborough Street Magistrates’ Court. Many hundreds of well-known people, including Oscar Wilde, John Lennon, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards have been tried here. It’s also where in 1835 Charles Dickens once worked as a court reporter for the Morning Chronicle. The original court opened here in the early 1800s, the second oldest of the seven police stations and magistrates’ courts in England (the first being the Bow Street Court in Covent Garden). However, it was rebuilt in 1913, which is the building we see today. It’s now been converted into the expensive, five-star Courthouse Hotel.

Take the first right into Ganton Street then turn right into Newburgh Street. On your left is the White Horse pub. There has been a pub on this site since the early 1700s, when Soho was being developed. The pub we see today was built in the 1930s, with an art deco exterior and panelled interior.

We’re going to turn left alongside the pub into Marlborough Court – but I’ll mention first that on the right at No 5 Newburgh Street was the site of the men’s fashion shop called ‘Vince’ which, in the early 1950s, was the beginning of neighbouring Carnaby Street becoming world-famous for ‘trendy men’s fashion’. Many of Vince’s customers were gay, as indeed he was, and would meet at the Marshall Street baths we’ve just passed, then a popular meeting place for gay men.

However, the person really responsible for Carnaby Street’s worldwide fame for fashion was a young man by the name of John Stephen. He had only worked for Vince for a short time before leaving to open up his own boutique on nearby Beak Street. It was called ‘His Clothes’ and then shortly after he opened a second at 5 Carnaby Street. Although his merchandise targeted teenagers, it attracted high profile pop stars including Jimi Hendrix, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and the Kinks. John Stephen went on to open a further 5 shops on Carnaby Street.

Besides adding more information in the next section, I’ve also written more about Bill Green and John Stephen and the growth of Carnaby Street in the appendix.

At the end of the very short Marlborough Court turn left into Carnaby Street and carry on down until you reach Broadwick Street.

We’re going to turn left into Broadwick Street, but two things to look out for before you do. Firstly, notice on the right-hand side of Carnaby Street a small ‘art deco’ sign over a discreet entrance passage into Kingley Court. It’s a covered courtyard with three floors of bars and restaurants – worth taking a look even if you’re not planning on eating. (Kingley Court was at one time home to Tatty Bogle, one of London’s earliest out-of-hours drinking clubs, which had originally been opened by a group of Scottish officers in nearby Frith Street before moving here.)

Then as you turn left into Broadwick Street you can’t miss the huge, colourful mural. Called ‘The Spirit of Soho’, this 1,600 square foot (approximately – I haven’t been able to determine the exact size) mural was erected here in 1991 and constructed of colourful mosaics and produced by a collective of Soho based artists who wanted to give a visual background to the area’s vibrant and colourful past, highlighting some of the places and people that had made it so unique.

Cross Marshall Street, continue along Broadwick Street (which used to be just called Broad Street), passing a well-restored row of terraced houses, until you reach Lexington Street.

On the corner is the John Snow pub (c.1870), named after a most remarkable doctor who, thanks to his painstaking research into how cholera spread and then his persistence in trying to persuade the authorities to believe him, eventually saved countless lives. Outside the pub is a replica of the pump that he identified as the source of the cholera. Notice, it’s without the handle that would have once pumped the water up. It was by persuading the authorities to remove the handle of the pump – and quickly seeing the number of cases of cholera dropping – that he proved it was a waterborne disease.

Turn right down the side of the pub into Lexington Street – then take the next right into Beak Street.

Beak Street was laid out around 1680 and is named after its developer Thomas Beake, who later became a servant of Queen Anne.

As you walk along Beak Street you see on the corner of Great Pulteney Street another famous Soho drinking establishment – The Sun and Thirteen Cantons. A pub has existed on this site since 1756; the previous one called The Sun burnt down in the late 1870s. It was replaced by the one you see today, which opened in 1882 and is Grade II listed. When it reopened the ‘Thirteen Cantons’ was added to the name in acknowledgment of the Swiss watch makers and woollen merchants who lived and worked nearby. (The Thirteen Cantons were the sovereign territories of early modern Switzerland.) The pub has always been a major hangout for film and stage celebrities, including the likes of Peter O’Toole, Jude Law, Oliver Reed, Ewan McGregor and Russell Crowe, amongst many others.

In 1791 Joseph Haydn, known as the ‘father of the symphony’, lived in a house just a few doors down in Great Pulteney Street. He became particularly popular in the city after composing his twelve London Symphonies.

Continue along Beak Street, crossing Bridle Lane and take the next left into Upper James Street. It’s not a particularly interesting street, but a little way down it runs into the left-hand side of Golden Square, one of the first areas of Soho to be developed. It’s had a very mixed history, as I explain next, but today it hosts the offices of a number of media companies.

Charles Dickens chose Golden Square as the setting for Ralph Nickleby’s gloomy house in ‘Nicholas Nickleby’ in 1839:

Continue down through Golden Square (Upper James Street becomes Lower James Street) and at the bottom, you’ll see the Crown, a pleasing 19th-century pub. There’s a plaque on its wall claiming that this was the site of Hickford’s Room, once a well-known music venue, but the room was actually on the south side of Brewer Street, roughly where the Colmar fashion shop now stands, at No. 63. (Perhaps the pub’s landlord was confused by historical documents saying the site of Hickford’s Room belonged to the Crown – but this would have been a reference to the Crown Estate, custodian of the monarch’s landholdings.)

Hickford’s Room had previously been in Panton Street, but in the 1730s it relocated to Brewer Street, and for a few years was the most important concert hall in London’s West End. Handel performed here on a number of occasions, whilst in 1756 the nine-year-old Mozart and his elder sister gave a concert that included pieces of his own composition. (At nine years old!)

The room was said to have been “large and finely proportioned,” though it wasn’t really big – being around 50 feet long, 27 feet wide and 22 feet high. Within a few years, other larger and more prestigious concert halls were built in London, particularly Mrs Cornelys’ Rooms in Soho Square (we see the site of it later in the walk). Hickford’s then became used for less important events, including performances by schools and even dancing academies. In 1934 it was demolished for the construction of an annex of the Regent Hotel.

Don’t continue down Sherwood Street but instead take the left fork into Denman Street. Immediately adjacent to the theatre is the Queen’s Head pub (notice the sign on the wall explaining it’s been an independent pub since 1738).

The triangular shaped pub/restaurant that sits between Sherwood Street and Denman Street was once the Devonshire Arms. After it closed, it was converted into a Jamie Oliver’s restaurant, but with the chain’s collapse it became the Coqbull Bar and Restaurant, but this may now have changed again.

Carry on down Denman Street for another 50 yards then turn left into the not too obvious entrance to Ham Yard Village.

Carry on through Ham Yard – notice the little ‘back entrance’ yard at the rear of it – now just a couple of backdoor emergency exits and refuse bins, but back in the 1960s a doorway here led down a flight of steps into a basement club. It was one of London’s early venues for bands such as the Rolling Stones, The Animals, Chris Farlowe, (remembered for his hit ‘Out of Time’), The Who and many others. Called the Scene Club, it was originally a jazz club but by 1963 it had become one of the top venues for ‘Mods’ (though you have to be of a certain age to recall the Mods and Rockers era).

Turn right into Shaftesbury Avenue. On your left is the London Pavilion, built in 1861 as a music hall – and an odd bit of (useless) information, it is said that this was where the word ‘Jingoism’ came from (which the dictionary describes as ‘extreme patriotism, especially in the form of war-like aggression’). It was an anti-Russian song, sung here during the Russo-Turkish war in 1878, that contained the words “We don’t want to fight, but by jingo if we do, we’ve got the ships, we’ve got the men, we’ve got the money too.”

The Pavilion was rebuilt in 1885 as a theatre, but its uses have changed many times over the years, though its name has remained.

Part of the building is presently the Piccadilly Institute, an enormous nightclub. The building’s owners have expressed an intention to convert most of the Pavilion into a hostel for students, backpackers, and ‘budget explorers’. The conversion is planned for completion in 2025, assuming there are no hitches.

The 588-seat Criterion Theatre is unusual in that, with the exception of its box office, it is entirely underground. So much so that when it was built in 1873, fresh air had to be pumped in to prevent the audience being asphyxiated by the toxic fumes from the gas lights that illuminated the theatre.

Next to it is the Criterion Restaurant. Sadly, the original restaurant closed many years ago and the space has since been occupied by a succession of operators of varying quality. Since 2023 it has been a branch of Masala Zone, a mid-market Indian restaurant group. Its predecessor was an Italian restaurant called Granaio and I have left my original photos of the interior at that time below.

Continue along Coventry Street – on your right is one of London’s longest-standing steak restaurants, the Angus Steakhouse, which opened in the 1950s. Modelled on the popular American steak houses at the time, it offered a menu most English people had not seen before. Nearly seventy years later, little has changed – except the price. Although they generally seem to have had a poor reputation with locals, for many years they were popular with tourists, and I think still are. However, I understand that the 8,000 sq ft three-storey premises are now being offered to rent at a cost of almost £1½ million a year.

Cross over Great Windmill Street, passing a line of touristy shops that form the ground floor of this side of the Trocadero. Cross Rupert Street, which was built in 1676 and named after Prince Rupert of the Rhine, a nephew of Charles l and one of the Royalist commanders during the Civil War.

On the opposite side of the street is the Grade II heritage listed Prince of Wales Theatre, where ‘The Book of Mormon’ has been playing for several years. The theatre opened in 1884, was rebuilt in 1937, and after a further major refurbishment costing £7 million in 2004 opened with Abba’s musical hit ‘Mama Mia’, after it transferred here from the Prince Edward theatre.

Just a few yards further on is Wardour Street, one of Soho’s best-known streets, which we walk through later. But before you continue ahead, pause a moment, first to take in what to me is the ghastliest building to have been erected in this area for many years … the monolithic and exceedingly ugly glass hotel called W London.

Take a look up Wardour Street to see the ‘Chinatown Gate’, This was opened in 2015 by Prince Andrew, and marks the entrance into London’s Chinatown.

The arch is in the style of the Qing dynasty and was made in Beijing and reassembled here. There are three tiers and two pillars with the plaques on either side, which are made from white jade. The decorative panels are embellished with ‘999 gold foil’, (the highest grade available). One of the Chinese texts on the top of the gate translates to read, ‘Peace and Prosperity to Chinatown’.

We explore more of Chinatown shortly, but I’ll just mention that it didn’t really exist here until the 1970s and the area was just a run-down part of Soho.

Leicester Square underwent a huge £15 million renovation as part of the London 2012 Olympic refurbishment.

The gardens in the centre of the square were formed as far back as the 17th century, though for many years it was just common land and often very neglected. However, in the 1870s it was purchased by Albert Grant, a businessman and Member of Parliament, who laid it out, created fountains and statues including the one of Shakespeare in the centre, modelled on his statue in Poets Corner in Westminster Abbey. Grant gave it to the council, to be used ‘hereafter as a public space for the free use and enjoyment of the public’.

On the east side of the square is the art deco Odeon Luxe Cinema which opened here in 1937. With a 120-foot-tall tower that displays its name, and black polished granite exterior, it’s certainly impressive. Well-known for its film premieres, it has the largest single screen in Britain and was the first cinema to have the Dolby sound system installed.

Next to the Notre Dame church is the Leicester Square Theatre, one of London’s smallest with just 400 seats. The original theatre was destroyed in the Second World War and rebuilt in 1953, becoming known as the ‘Notre Dame Hall’. Later renamed the Cavern in the Town, 60s pop group the Small Faces were regular performers. Renamed back to the Notre Dame Hall in the 1970s, it hosted bands including the Rolling Stones and The Who. In the 80s it became a punk music venue, with the Sex Pistols and the Clash performing here. In 2001 it was renamed ‘The Venue’, hosting productions such as the world premiere of the Boy George musical ‘Taboo’. Then in 2008 it went through another ‘transformation’ and reopened in 2008 as The Leicester Square Theatre, with American comedienne Joan Rivers making her acting debut with her play ‘Joan Rivers: A Work in Progress by a Life in Progress’. Since then the theatre has regularly featured top comedians – Al Murray, Ruby Wax, Ricky Gervais, Bill Bailey and Frank Skinner, to name but a few.

Next to the theatre is the Prince Charles Cinema, which opened in 1962 as a theatre, with a new office building above. The playhouse proved unprofitable and it became a cinema in 1969. For many years the Prince Charles showed porn movies but it was later successfully reinvented as revival house / repertory cinema. In 2008 it was divided into two smaller cinemas, with the lower screen seating 300 and the upper, housed in what was previously the balcony, just 104. The cinema is popular due to its low prices and distinctive selection of films.

Turn right into Lisle Street. The long row of oriental restaurants leaves you in no doubt that you are now entering Chinatown.

Take the next left alongside the Ku Bar into Newport Place. Ku is one of London’s longest established and still very popular gay bars, attracting big crowds of both locals and tourists. Pass yet more restaurants, some with intriguing hanging displays of ducks (at least I presume they are) in their windows.

Gerrard Street was originally spelt Gerard Street, after the military leader Charles Gerard, 1st Earl of Macclesfield, who owned the land and used it for training troops. It was laid out between 1677 and 1685 and later developed into private housing by the physician Nicholas Barbon.

About 30 yards or so on the left is the Loon Fung Supermarket where a plaque on the wall above explains that the poet, literary critic, translator and playwright John Dryden lived in a house that stood on this site during the 17th century. England’s first ever Poet Laureate, he was appointed to the post in 1668.

On the right-hand side is the New Loon Moon Supermarket, occupying what was originally a terraced house built in 1759 on the site of the Turks Head Tavern, founded by Dr Samuel Johnson and Joshua Reynolds in 1704.

Nearly opposite at Leong’s Legend, there are two plaques; one explains that this was the Westminster office of the Penny Post (and later the ‘Two Penny Post’ – they had inflation even in those days), the other that in the basement was Ronnie Scott’s original jazz club – it’s now situated in Frith Street, which we pass shortly.

As you pass the bottom of Macclesfield Street there’s a sculpture on your left called the Two Lions, a gift from the Chinese government that was unveiled by HRH Duke of Gloucester in 1985.

Behind the lions, the incongruously large building is the China Exchange, which looks rather derelict. In 1907 a telephone exchange was built here, which was then rebuilt around 1930 as a post office and telephone exchange. If you ever see ‘GER’ at the beginning of an old London phone number, it was short for ‘Gerrard’ and this was the exchange through which its calls were routed. The building is now a Chinese cultural centre that was established in 2015.

At the end of the street, we turn right into Wardour Street. As you do, notice the O’Neill’s pub that faces you. Its basement (now home to a bookmaker) was previously the Flamingo Club, well known in the 1950s & 60s for jazz and later rhythm & blues acts. Some of the many who performed here back then were Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, John Lee Hooker, John Mayall, Bill Haley, Stevie Wonder, Otis Redding, the Animals, Wilson Pickett – it’s probably easier to list the artists who didn’t play here! The resident house band for several years in the 60s was Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames, and they made a live recording of their hit record ‘Night Train’ in the club. And I must point out that this is where, in 1963, the Rolling Stones first performed with the full line-up of Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Bill Wyman, Charlie Watts and Brian Jones.

The club closed in 1967, though a successor called the the Pink Flamingo carried on the tradition for two more years, after which the venue spent several years as the Temple, which was primarily a progressive rock club. Meanwhile, the joint was also jumping at the Whisky a’Gogo upstairs.

Walk to the top and cross the busy Shaftesbury Avenue and continue up on the right-hand side of Wardour Street.

Wardour Street runs north to south through all of Soho, and as a result is one of its busiest streets. It was originally a lane that connected the area around Charing Cross to the ‘way from Uxbridge to London’, which is now Oxford Street.

On the corner is the Sondheim Theatre, which opened in 1907 and was originally called the Queen’s Theatre. The name was changed in recognition of the composer Stephen Sondheim in 2019, following a £13 million refurbishment. It’s currently showing Les Misérables, the world’s longest running musical which, with a break whilst the refurbishment took place, has been playing here since 2004.

We are now in what I call the ‘real’ Soho. The area is packed with interesting streets and sights, and I’ve tried to include as many as possible, without making the walk too long. However, I hope it will give you a good flavour of this distinctive area of London.

Behind the unusual railings on the right is St Anne’s public park. It was originally the churchyard of St Anne’s, which you can see behind it, though access to the church is now via the adjacent Dean Street. The reason for the churchyard being raised is because it was used for many years as a burial ground – around 60,000 bodies are said to be buried here.

The church was founded here in 1687 and, except for the tower, was virtually destroyed in the Second World War. Left for many years as a bombsite and then car park, it was eventually rebuilt in 1991.

Pass the start of Old Compton Street – which we see more of shortly – and on the next corner on the left is the Round House. Built in 1892, it became the London Skiffle Centre in the 1950s and in 1958 the Blues and Barrel House Club. It later became a blues and skiffle club, and in 2019 it underwent a £1 million restoration and is now the Soho Residence, billed as the West End’s ‘premier bar, club and lounge space’.

A few yards further on, the building on the left displays the words ‘Cinema House’. From 1909 onwards Wardour Street was the centre of the film industry in London and nearly all of the big movie companies had their offices and did much of the post-production work here, some of which continues today. You can still see the evidence with the names of the buildings along this stretch of Wardour Street, such as The Pathé Building, Hammer House, Moving Picture House and Screen House.

We’re going to take the next right into Meard Street. However, if you are interested in (or should I say old enough to remember) 1960s pop music I’ll mention that a hundred yards ahead, at 100 Wardour Street (the building juts out with a very prominent ‘100’ on it), was once the site of the Marquee Club. Well, I say Number 100 … it’s slightly confusing as the actual basement club was next door at number 90, but it extended on the first-floor level to next door at 100 Wardour Street.

It closed in 1988 and was taken over and redeveloped by Sir Terence Conran (of Habitat and goodness only knows what else). Apparently, and I can’t vouch for the truth of this, the effects of the nightly over-amplified bands who played here over the years caused so much damage to the building that its facade eventually had to be demolished and rebuilt. After several reincarnations it is now a bar/restaurant with live music.

Turn into Meard Street – one of my favourite little passages, and one that allows a delightful escape from the hustle and bustle of Soho.

On the right is a row of gorgeous Georgian town houses that are said to be among the best surviving example of original Georgian architecture in London. They were built in the 1720s by John Meard the Younger, who started life as a carpenter and was eventually made the Master of the Worshipful Company of Carpenters.

Early occupants included a harpsichord maker, a vicar (who later became the Bishop of London), an architect, writer, painter, violinist and musical composer – oh, and a woman who was rudely described as “generally a slut, drunkard and occasionally whore and thief.”

Remarkably most are still private homes, though sadly, one has already been turned into a retail shop – quite why planning permission was given for this I fail to understand – I hope no more go this way.

The building on the left is Royalty Mansions, built in 1908 as flats with workrooms for tailors. It was sold in 1978 to the Soho Housing Association and after extensive renovations reopened by the Duke of Edinburgh. There are apparently three apartments per floor, and they each have access to a communal terrace that spans the entire roof of the building. It would appear that their lease expires in 2026, so it will be interesting to see what happens then – no doubt it will be sold to speculators for more apartments for the rich!

To read a little more about Meard Street, see this ‘London Shoes’ blog post, some of which draws on the Survey of London’s characteristically detailed history of the locality.

And in case any ‘ageing goths’ are reading this, I’ll mention that after the Gargoyle closed it was used for weekly club-nights of the Batcave, considered to be the ‘birthplace of the Southern English goth subculture’. Regulars at the Batcave included musicians and singers such as Robert Smith of the Cure, Siouxsie Sioux (of the Banshees) and Nick Cave.

A little further along the street, No. 50 was once the 2i’s Coffee Bar but there’s nothing now to see other than a plaque on the wall. The café opened in 1950 and was said to have played a major role in the development of British skiffle and later rock ’n’ roll. In 1957 the BBC’s ‘Six-Five Special’ was broadcast from here, compered by Tommy Steele; it launched the career of Adam Faith. Other artists to have performed here include Wee Willie Harris, Joe Brown, Screaming Lord Sutch, Jet Harris and Hank Marvin. It closed in 1970.

Take the next left up Greek Street (the appendix has a brief history of the street), where we immediately see two more Soho institutions. The first is on the corner, the Grade II listed Coach & Horses pub. There’s been a pub here since the early 1700s but the building we see today dates back to 1889, when it became the Coach & Horses. It became a ‘watering hole’ of many artists, writers and Soho personalities including the Beatles, George Melly, Keith Waterhouse, Jeffrey Bernard, Francis Bacon to name a few. Regular readers of the satirical magazine Private Eye might remember this was where its journalists, together with various contributors, would meet every Friday lunchtime for, as they described it, ‘an always very boozy editorial board meeting’. There’s even a Private Eye dining room.

The pub was ‘infamous’ for its host – Norman Balon – who was said to have been the ‘rudest landlord in London’. He had started working here in 1943 and continued for just over sixty years, until his retirement in 2006.

Next door is Maison Bertaux, which was founded here in 1871 by a former Communard* who had fled from Paris during those troubled times and brought with him a collection of recipes. Maison Bertaux was later run by the Vignaud family for several generations until present proprietress Michele Wade bought the shop in 1988. Past customers have included Virginia Woolf, Alexander McQueen and even Karl Marx. It has its own bakery on the upper floors where each day fresh artisan croissants and patisseries are baked.

* A Communard was someone who took part in the revolutionary Commune of Paris around the time of the Franco-Prussian War.

Immediately beyond Maison Bertaux is a relatively new addition to the street – The Wands & Wizard Exploratorium – selling … well, I’ll leave that to your imagination, but its narrow shopfront belies the fact that it stretches over five floors and if you have children, then you may want to look at its excellent website.

As you’ll see from the blue plaque, No. 22 is also notable as the place where Scottish inventor John Logie Baird gave what is widely regarded as the world’s first public demonstration of television. I’ve written more about this in the appendix, and added some extracts from a newspaper account published two days after the historic event took place.

And another little mention – close by L’Escargot, at number 47, stood the home of Giacomo Casanova, author and adventurer, but best known for his romantic endeavours.

Portland House, which occupied both 12 and 13, was the largest house in the street. It was so named because in 1698 the first Earl of Portland had been granted the freehold of most of what was then countryside and known as the Soho Fields by the King.

Over the years the building has been occupied by a variety of distinguished individuals and businesses, the most prominent being Josiah Wedgwood, of pottery fame. He used the premises for twenty years from 1774 as his firm’s London warehouses and showrooms, which extended through to Manette Street. This was where he displayed the company’s grandest dinner service, which was made for the Empress Catherine of Russia and which was shown to members of the ‘world’s high fashion’. It was displayed over five rooms on two floors of the house. The house’s late 17th-century carcase remains – but the interior has been entirely altered.

The St James’s and Soho Club was established in 1864 and was one of the earliest working men’s clubs in London. Until recently it was a graphic design and animation studio.

At No. 7 you’ll see an impressive hanging sign for the Pillars of Hercules. The original pub opened here in 1714 (though it was then called ‘The Hercules Pillars’). Hercules was the Greek hero renowned for his courage and strength and Wikipedia has an article explaining where his ‘pillars’ might have been.

Like a few buildings around here, the pub is mentioned in Charles Dickens’s ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ and it has had many literary connections, being popular with writers as diverse as Casanova, Thomas de Quincey, Ian McEwan, Julian Barnes, Martin Amis and Clive James. Indeed, Clive James named his book of literary criticism ‘At the Pillars of Hercules’, saying it was because most of the pieces it contained were either commissioned, written or delivered here. There is also a connection with the poet Francis Thompson, which I’ve put in the appendix.

The Pillars of Hercules closed in 2018. It subsequently reopened as Bar Hercules, then became Jimi Loves Gloria and since June 2022 it’s been a Simmons Bar.

Alongside the Pillars of Hercules is Manette Street, named after a character in ‘A Tale of Two Cities’, which I refer to shortly. It was called Rose Street until 1895. The street has recently been the scene of intensive and messy activity related to the construction of Ilona Rose House.

Number 2, almost at the top of Greek Street, was for many years a very well-known Hungarian Restaurant called the Gay Hussar (though, despite being in Soho, gay it was not). The Hussars were an elite part of the Hungarian army. It became the favoured haunt of many literary figures, such as TS Eliot, as well as with left-wing politicians – Aneurin Bevan, Barbara Castle, Michael Foot, Ian Mikado, Neil Kinnock, Gordon Brown all dined at the restaurant. After 65 years here the restaurant closed in 2018 and was replaced by one called ‘Noble Rot’ (a wine reference).

As you walk into the square from Greek Street keep to the right-hand side where you see St Patrick’s Church, built in 1893 for the many Irish and other Catholics who lived nearby. It was built in the Italianate style on the site of a smaller church that was one of the first Roman Catholic churches to be built after the Catholic Relief Acts of the 1790s. The inscription above the entrance to the church reads, ‘UT CHRISTIANI ITA ET ROMANI SITIS’, which means ‘Be ye Christians as those of the Roman Church’, which is a quotation from the writings of St Patrick. The church was refurbished in 2010–11, and there’s an excellent article in The Guardian about it.

From the church cross over and enter the garden through the gate in the railings. Walk to the middle, where you’ll see quaint gardener’s hut mentioned above.

If you turn around and look to the buildings on the south of the square, you’ll see high up on one of the building a sign for the Frith Street Women’s Hospital that opened here in 1842.

Turn right, pass the statue of Charles II, and leave by the gate at the top of the garden – and over on your left is the French Protestant Church, which was built in 1893 – the same year as St Patrick’s. Services are still conducted here in the French language.