Kingly Street is a street in London's Soho district. It runs north to south from Liberty's and Foubert's Place to Beak Street, in parallel to, and between, Regent Street and Carnaby Street.
Known as King Street until 1906, the first building - around a new road based on an existing foot-path from Piccadilly to St. Marylebone - started in the 1680s. [1] In the 1720s there was much re-building. The buildings on the west side of the street - aside from parts of St. Thomas's Church, which survived into the 1950s - were all destroyed during the development of John Nash’s Regent’s Street in the 1820s. [1]
Numbers 7 to 11 and No 24 are survivors from the 1720s. [2]
The Cat's Whisker, a coffee bar at No 1 during the mid-late 1950s, was supposedly the place where hand jiving was invented, as there was little space to maneuver for dancing in its crowded basement. [3]
No 7 has been a barber for well over a century. [2]
The Bag O'Nails at no 9, was a live music club and meeting place for musicians in the 1960s, where Paul McCartney met his future wife Linda Eastman in May 1967. [4]
Tommy Roberts opened his first boutique, Kleptomania, at 10 Kingly Street in 1966. [5]
The Tatty Bogle out-of-hours drinking club moved (from Frith Street) to the basement of No 11 at the end of World War 1. It was used as a bomb shelter in World War II, when the membership book included Guy Burgess, Donald Maclean, Anthony Blunt and Buster Crabbe. [6]
The Red Lion at No 14 is on the site of a tavern dating from the 1720s, but is now largely Victorian in its design. Similarly, there has been a pub at No 18 since it was first licensed in 1728 as the Two Blue Posts. The pub was rebuilt in its present form in 1892. [2]
The Nest Club, a jazz venue opened by American musician Ike Hatch, was at No 23 from 1934 until 1939. The Mills Brothers, Fats Waller and The Ink Spots performed there. [7]
The Northern end runs under the three storey archway that is part of the building that houses the Liberty department store. The renowned Liberty Clock forms part of the masonry section of the archway and looks out over the Northern entrance of Kingly Street.
Kingly Court is behind it, a courtyard in the angle between Carnaby Street and Beak Street.
Soho is an area of the City of Westminster in the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century.
Regent Street is a major shopping street in the West End of London. It is named after George, the Prince Regent and was laid out under the direction of the architect John Nash and James Burton. It runs from Waterloo Place in St James's at the southern end, through Piccadilly Circus and Oxford Circus, to All Souls Church. From there Langham Place and Portland Place continue the route to Regent's Park.
Haymarket is a street in the St James's area of the City of Westminster, London. It runs from Piccadilly Circus in the north to Pall Mall at the southern end. Located on the street are the Theatre Royal, His Majesty's Theatre, New Zealand House, a cinema complex and restaurants.
Carnaby Street is a pedestrianised shopping street in Soho in the City of Westminster, Central London. Close to Oxford Street and Regent Street, it is home to fashion and lifestyle retailers, including many independent fashion boutiques.
Great Marlborough Street is a thoroughfare in Soho, Central London. It runs east of Regent Street past Carnaby Street towards Noel Street.
Liberty, commonly known as Liberty's, is a luxury department store in London, England. It is located on Great Marlborough Street in the West End of London. The building spans from Carnaby Street on the East to Kingly Street on the West, where it forms a three storey archway over the Northern entrance to the Kingly Street mall that houses the Liberty Clock in its centre. Liberty is known around the world for its close connection to art and culture, but it is most famous for its bold and floral print fabrics. The vast mock-Tudor store also sells men's, women's and children's fashion, beauty and homewares from a mix of high-end and emerging brands and labels.
Thomas Daniel Hicks Eytle was a Guyanese calypso musician and actor. Although born in Guyana, Eytle's career was based in the United Kingdom, where he lived after emigrating in 1951.
The Bag O'Nails was a live music club and meeting place for musicians in the 1960s and situated at 9 Kingly Street, Soho, London, England.
The A400 road is an A road in London that runs from Charing Cross to Archway in North London. It passes some of London's most famous landmarks.
The Cat's Whisker was a coffee bar situated at 1 Kingly Street, Soho, London, during the mid-late 1950s. It offered London youngsters Spanish dancing, live rock 'n roll, and skiffle.
The Cave of the Golden Calf was a night club in London. In existence for only two years immediately before the First World War, it epitomised decadence, and still inspires cultural events. Its name is a reference to the Golden Calf of the Biblical story, a symbol of impermissible worship.
The Flamingo Club was a jazz nightclub in Soho, London, between 1952 and 1969. It was located at 33–37 Wardour Street from 1957 onwards and played an important role in the development of British rhythm and blues and modern jazz. During the 1960s, the Flamingo was one of the first clubs to employ fully amplified stage sound and it used sound systems provided by ska musicians from the Caribbean. The club had a wide social appeal and was a favourite haunt for musicians, including The Who.
Riflemaker is a contemporary art business and exhibition space in London specialising in exhibiting and representing emerging artists. The building is a historic gunmaker's workshop off Regent Street. Built in 1712, it is one of the oldest public buildings in the West End of London. Riflemaker is also a publisher of artists books and host of a variety of events including poetry, music, film events, talks, discussions and performances in the space.
Ganton Street is a street in central London that runs between Marshall Street and Kingly Street. It is crossed by Carnaby Street, and Newburgh Street joins it on its north side. The street is in a part-pedestrianised area dominated by independent clothing shops and restaurants, and on upper floors, offices, particularly media companies. Immediately to the east of Regent Street, Ganton Street is variously described as being in the West End, Soho, and "Carnaby" areas.
50 Carnaby Street in London's Soho district was the site of several important music clubs in the 20th century. These clubs were often run for and by the black community, with jazz and calypso music predominating in the earlier years. From 1936, it was the Florence Mills Social Parlour. In the 1940s it was the Blue Lagoon Club. In 1950, it was briefly Club Eleven, and from the early 1950s it was the Sunset Club. From 1961, it was occupied by the Roaring Twenties nightclub. In the 1970s it was Columbo's. It is now a Ben Sherman shop.
Beak Street is a street in Soho, London, that runs roughly east–west between Regent Street and Lexington Street.
Swallow Street is a small street in the West End of London, running north from Piccadilly. It is about 341 feet (104 m) long.
This is a list of the etymology of street names in the London district of Soho, in the City of Westminster. The following utilises the generally accepted boundaries of Soho viz. Oxford Street to the north, Charing Cross Road to the east, Shaftesbury Avenue to the south and Regent Street to the west.
The Liberty Clock is a mechanical clock that was completed in 1925. The clock forms part of, and protrudes from, the three storey archway that spans the northern end of the Kingly Street mall in Soho, Central London. The archway itself is part of the western end of the Great Marlborough Street Liberty department store. The entire building was a design by Edwin T. Hall and his son Edwin S. Hall in 1922 and is an example of the Tudor revival that was quite fashionable in late nineteenth and early twentieth century architecture.
St Thomas's Church, also known as Tenison Chapel, was an Anglican church in Regent Street, London. It was built in 1702, on the site of a wooden chapel of 1688; it was a proprietary chapel until 1869, when it became a district church dedicated to St Thomas. It closed in 1954, and was later demolished.