Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of 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.
The West End of London is a district of Central London, London, England, west of the City of London and north of the River Thames, in which many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government buildings and entertainment venues, including West End theatres, are concentrated.
Shaftesbury Avenue is a major road in the West End of London, named after The 7th Earl of Shaftesbury. It runs north-easterly from Piccadilly Circus to New Oxford Street, crossing Charing Cross Road at Cambridge Circus. From Piccadilly Circus to Cambridge Circus, it is in the City of Westminster, and from Cambridge Circus to New Oxford Street, it is in the London Borough of Camden.
Wardour Street is a street in Soho, City of Westminster, London. It is a one-way street that runs north from Leicester Square, through Chinatown, across Shaftesbury Avenue to Oxford Street. Throughout the 20th century the street became a centre for the British film industry and the popular music scene.
Chinatown is an ethnic enclave in the City of Westminster, London, bordering Soho to its north and west, Theatreland to the south and east. The enclave currently occupies the area in and around Gerrard Street. It contains a number of Chinese restaurants, bakeries, supermarkets, souvenir shops, and other Chinese-run businesses. The first Chinatown was located in Limehouse in the East End.
Old Compton Street is a road that runs east–west through Soho in the West End of London.
Minories is the name of a small former administrative unit, and also of a street in central London. Both the street and the former administrative area take their name from the Abbey of the Minoresses of St. Clare without Aldgate.
The WC postcode area, also known as the London WC postcode area, is a group of postcode districts in central London, England. The area covered is of high density development, and includes parts of the City of Westminster and the London Boroughs of Camden and Islington, plus a very small part of the City of London.
The Brain was a house and techno music venue in Soho, London. It was located on the former premises of the Apollo Club on 11 Wardour Street. The Brain was founded in 1989 by Sean McLusky and Mark 'Wigan' Williams. Several now famous DJs and producers played at the club, including Norman Cook, Orbital, Leftfield, Billy Nasty, Goldie, Moby, Graeme Park, The Shamen, Mixmaster Morris, Ariel, Andrew Weatherall, and A Guy Called Gerald. At the time there was little actual live performance on the techno scene. The Brain encouraged live sets and P.As at a time when only mainstream house music used vocals on tracks.
Coventry Street is a short street in the West End of London, connecting Piccadilly Circus to Leicester Square. Part of the street is a section of the A4, a major road through London. It is named after the politician Henry Coventry, secretary of state to Charles II.
Westminster St James was a civil parish in the metropolitan area of London, England. The creation of the parish followed the building of the Church of St James, Piccadilly, in 1684. After several failed attempts, the parish was formed in 1685 from part of the ancient parish of St Martin in the Fields in the Liberty of Westminster and county of Middlesex. It included part of the West End of London, taking in sections of Soho, Mayfair and St James's. Civil parish administration was in the hands of a select vestry until the parish adopted the Vestries Act 1831. The vestry was reformed again in 1855 by the Metropolis Management Act. In 1889 the parish became part of the County of London and the vestry was abolished in 1900, replaced by Westminster City Council. The parish continued to have nominal existence until 1922.
Brewer Street is a street in the Soho area of central London, running west to east from Glasshouse Street to Wardour Street.
Meard Street is a street in Soho, London. It runs roughly east–west, between Wardour Street to the west and Dean Street to the east. It is in two sections, with a slight bend in the middle: the west half is pedestrianised, while the east half is a narrow, single-lane road.
St Anne's Court is an alleyway that connects Dean Street and Wardour Street in London's Soho district. Parts of it can be dated back to the late 17th century.
Comptons of Soho is a gay pub in London. Situated at 51–53 Old Compton Street in the heart of Soho's 'Gay village', Comptons has been an integral part of London's gay scene since June 1986.
D'Arblay Street is a street in the Soho district of the City of Westminster, London, named after Frances Burney. It was formerly known as Portland Street and was built on land owned by the Dukes of Portland known as Doghouse Close.
Walker's Court is a pedestrian alleyway in the Soho district of the City of Westminster, London. The passage dates from around the early 1700s and escaped modernisation in the late nineteenth century so that it retains its original narrow layout. In the twentieth century the small shops that traded from the alley gradually closed and from the late 1950s the alley became associated with Soho's sex trade. The Raymond Revuebar opened in 1958 and closed in 2004. There are now plans to redevelop the passage.
The Intrepid Fox was a pub at 97–99 Wardour Street, Soho, London, established in 1784 by the publican Samuel House, who named it after the prominent British Whig statesman Charles James Fox. The pub was located on the corner of Wardour Street and Peter Street.
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.
Pinoli's Italian Restaurant was an Italian restaurant owned by Carlo Pinoli at 17 Wardour Street in what was then the Little Italy area of London's Soho district, with another frontage on Rupert Street. It was founded in the 1890s.
