LGBTQ+ History of Soho: A Walkable Guide to What Stands and What Has Gone

How to use this guide on a date

Soho's queer history is compact. Old Compton Street, Dean Street, Carlisle Street and Brewer Street sit within a few minutes of each other, so the route below works as a slow walk with one drink at the end rather than an afternoon of sightseeing. Most of the stops are building fronts, not museums: you stand outside, read the date, and talk about what used to happen behind the door.

This guide stays inside Soho. For Gay's The Word, the Royal Vauxhall Tavern, Queer Britain and the archives, see our guide to queer history in London's museums, archives and landmarks; for led walks, including Soho tours, see our guide to LGBTQ+ walking tours. Here the aim is to go street by street, with addresses and dates taken from the venues' own pages, CAMRA's pub listings, contemporary news reports and, where marked, Wikipedia as a secondary source.

Wikipedia's article on Old Compton Street says the street has been a focal point for London's LGBT community since the 1970s, with gay bars, restaurants, cafés and specialist shops. LGBT History UK's place page puts the street's queer life much earlier, describing it as established in the 1890s and as queer London's central street for over a century. Treat both as broad framings rather than precise start dates.

Start at Comptons: 51–53 Old Compton Street

Comptons is the obvious opening stop because the building itself carries the timeline. According to Wikipedia, it was designed by W. A. Williams and Hopton and built as the Swiss Hotel in 1890, with the design exhibited at the Royal Academy that year. By the 1950s it had become the Swiss Tavern, described as "not entirely straight". After a renovation it reopened as Comptons of Soho in June 1986 and became a gay bar, and it marked its twentieth anniversary in November 2006.

CAMRA's listing gives the address as 51–53 Old Compton Street, W1D 6HJ, with Stonegate as operator, and describes the pub as promoted as "Soho's favourite gay bar". CAMRA notes that for many years the windows were blacked out so drinkers could not be seen from outside, and that those days are over. Inside, it lists chandeliers, a mirror ball, a piano, two ale handpumps and a staircase to a balcony overlooking the street. CAMRA's hours are noon to 11.30pm Monday to Thursday, noon to midnight Friday and Saturday, and noon to 10.30pm on Sunday.

If you want a single talking point here, it is the blacked-out windows. The change from hidden to visible is the story of the street in one detail, and you can see the result by looking up at the balcony.

• Comptons of Sohopub

  51–53 Old Compton Street, Soho, W1D 6HJ

  Built as the Swiss Hotel in 1890; a gay bar since June 1986. CAMRA lists it open from noon daily, to 11.30pm Monday to Thursday, midnight Friday and Saturday, 10.30pm Sunday.

The Admiral Duncan and the 1999 bombing: 54 Old Compton Street

A few doors along, the Admiral Duncan is described by Wikipedia as one of Soho's oldest gay pubs. It is named after Admiral Adam Duncan, who won the Battle of Camperdown in 1797, has traded since at least 1832, and by the 1980s was known as a gay pub, though not exclusively.

On Friday 30 April 1999, at about 6.37pm, a bomb left in a sports bag by the neo-Nazi David Copeland exploded inside the pub. It was the third of his London nail bombs that month, after Electric Avenue in Brixton on 17 April and Brick Lane on 24 April. Andrea Dykes, 27, Nik Moore, 31, and John Light, 32, were killed; Dykes was four months pregnant, and Light was to be the baby's godfather. Wikipedia's two articles give the number injured as 79 and 83, and four survivors had limbs amputated. Copeland was convicted on 30 June 2000 and given six life sentences; in 2007 the High Court ruled that he must serve at least 50 years.

Wikipedia records that vigils were held in Soho Square, that the Metropolitan Police afterwards pledged a crime-scene van staffed by openly gay and lesbian officers, and that a memorial chandelier and plaque in the bar commemorate the victims, with an act of remembrance each anniversary. In 2005 Westminster City Council ordered LGBT venues to take down pride flags and then reversed the policy after public and political pressure.

The pub's own site gives the address as 54 Old Compton Street, W1D 4UD, and the hours as Monday to Thursday 1pm–11.30pm, Friday and Saturday 12pm–midnight and Sunday 12pm–10.30pm. It says the venue hosts event nights and is over-18s only, with ID checks possible. If you go in, the chandelier is the memorial, so it is worth knowing what you are looking at before you order.

• Admiral Duncanpub

  54 Old Compton Street, Soho, W1D 4UD

  Trading since at least 1832; bombed on 30 April 1999. Memorial chandelier and plaque inside. Open Monday to Thursday 1pm–11.30pm, Friday and Saturday to midnight, Sunday to 10.30pm.

G-A-Y Bar: the most recent loss

The G-A-Y name started in a basement, not on Old Compton Street. Wikipedia traces it to BANG, launched in March 1976 at the Sundown club under the London Astoria; Jeremy Joseph took it over in the early 1990s and renamed it G-A-Y, and it ran at the Astoria until July 2008. The G-A-Y Bar on Old Compton Street was a sister venue, placed at number 30 in a listing cited by Wikipedia. A late-night offshoot, G-A-Y Late in Goslett Yard, closed permanently on 10 December 2023.

Time Out reported on 2 October 2025 that the bar was closing that weekend. It said Joseph, who opened it in the mid-1990s, had settled a long rent dispute with ArchCo, the landlord of Heaven, by closing the bar to keep Heaven open, and quoted him saying that Old Compton Street had lost its LGBT identity. Wikipedia gives the closing date as 5 October 2025 and notes the bar had been put up for sale in January 2025.

Heaven, in the arches under Charing Cross station, is just outside Soho. Wikipedia says it opened in December 1979, founded by Jeremy Norman, and that it was still operating in 2026 and hosts G-A-Y nights. Whether the G-A-Y story counts as Soho's decline or just a business decision is a fair thing to argue about on the walk.

Dean Street and Carlisle Street: the Colony Room and Candy Bar

Cross to Dean Street. At number 41, on the first floor, was the Colony Room Club, a private members' drinking club founded by Muriel Belcher in 1948. Wikipedia describes Belcher as a lesbian whose open attitude drew many gay men to the club, often through her partner Carmel, and names Francis Bacon as a founding member and a central figure. Belcher's private members' licence ran from 3pm to 11pm, when pubs had to close at 2.30pm. Belcher ran it until her death in 1979; it closed at the end of 2008, when its owner, Michael Wojas, said financial pressure meant he would not renew the lease. There is nothing to visit at 41 Dean Street now; a separate venue called the Colony Room Green, which describes itself as a re-creation, opened in 2023 at 4 Heddon Street near Regent Street.

A short walk north is 4 Carlisle Street, home from 1996 to January 2014 of Candy Bar, a lesbian bar founded by Kim Lucas. According to Wikipedia, men were admitted only with a woman, the bar was sold in 2011 to Gary Henshaw, owner of the Ku bars, and it was the subject of the Channel 5 series Candy Bar Girls. Wikipedia attributes the closure to higher rents. The building is Grade II listed, designated on 23 November 1978; that listing predates the bar and covers the architecture.

• Former Colony Room Clubformer venue

  41 Dean Street, Soho, W1

  First-floor members' club founded by Muriel Belcher in 1948; closed at the end of 2008. Building exterior only.

• Former Candy Barformer venue

  4 Carlisle Street, Soho, W1

  Lesbian bar from 1996 to January 2014 in a Grade II listed building.

Brewer Street and Walker's Court: drag and cabaret

Head west to 8–10 Brewer Street, the former Madame Jojo's. Wikipedia says it was opened in 1986 by the publisher Paul Raymond, named after the drag performer Madame Jojo, who hosted until 1991 and led a drag cabaret group called The Barbettes. From 1995 it ran a drag king night and contest, first Club Naive and later Club Geezer, and it was popular with parts of London's gay and trans communities. Its licence was revoked in November 2014, prompting a Save Soho campaign. A new licence granted in 2019 did not lead to a reopening, and on 27 February 2025 Westminster's licensing sub-committee approved an application for a strip club on the premises.

Nearby, at 11 Walker's Court, the former Raymond Revuebar became a gay bar and cabaret venue called Too2Much after the Revuebar closed in 2004, according to Wikipedia's Soho article; Elton John and David Furnish held their joint stag party there in 2005, and the venue, later renamed the Soho Revue Bar, closed in 2009.

These two addresses make the point that Soho's drag and cabaret history sat inside its commercial sex and entertainment trade rather than apart from it, which is part of why licensing decisions keep reshaping the area.

• Former Madame Jojo'sformer venue

  8–10 Brewer Street, Soho, W1F

  Drag and cabaret club from 1986 until its licence was revoked in November 2014; drag king nights from 1995.

A route that works

A simple loop: meet outside Comptons at 51–53 Old Compton Street, walk to the Admiral Duncan at 54, then continue to Dean Street and look up at the first floor of number 41. Carry on to Carlisle Street for number 4, then cut back south and west to 8–10 Brewer Street and Walker's Court. Finish back on Old Compton Street, where the former G-A-Y Bar stood, and choose one of the two pubs for a drink.

Several of these stops are about loss: a bombing, closures blamed on rent and licensing, a club replaced by something else. That can make for a better conversation than a list of bars, but it is worth being clear about it beforehand so neither of you is surprised. If you would rather end somewhere quieter, the next stop is up to you; the two pubs above are the only venues on this route still trading under their historic names.

Before you go

• Check the Admiral Duncan's and Comptons' current hours before you go; both are run by Stonegate, and published hours can change.
• The Admiral Duncan says it is over-18s only and that ID may be requested, so bring photo ID even if you are clearly older.
• Most stops are building exteriors: the Colony Room, Candy Bar, Madame Jojo's and G-A-Y Bar are closed, and their buildings are now used for other things or empty.
• The anniversary of the Admiral Duncan bombing is 30 April; if you plan a walk around that date, expect an act of remembrance on Old Compton Street.
• None of the sources used here states step-free access for the two pubs. Comptons has an upstairs lounge reached by stairs, so ask the pub directly about access.

Questions people ask

When did Old Compton Street become London's gay street?

Sources frame it differently. Wikipedia says the street has been a focal point for London's LGBT community since the 1970s, while LGBT History UK describes queer life there as dating back to the 1890s. Comptons, at 51–53, became a gay bar in June 1986, and the Admiral Duncan was known as a gay pub by the 1980s.

What happened at the Admiral Duncan?

On 30 April 1999 a nail bomb left by the neo-Nazi David Copeland exploded in the pub at about 6.37pm, killing Andrea Dykes, Nik Moore and John Light and injuring around 80 people. A memorial chandelier and plaque are inside the pub, and an act of remembrance is held each year.

Is G-A-Y Bar still open?

No. G-A-Y Bar on Old Compton Street closed on 5 October 2025. Time Out reported that its owner closed it to keep Heaven, at Charing Cross, open after a rent dispute. Wikipedia says Heaven continues to host G-A-Y nights.

Was there a lesbian bar in Soho?

Candy Bar, at 4 Carlisle Street, was a lesbian bar from 1996 until January 2014. It was founded by Kim Lucas, sold in 2011 to the owner of the Ku bars, and was the subject of the Channel 5 series Candy Bar Girls. Wikipedia attributes its closure to higher rents.