Old Compton Street

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Old Compton Street street-sign

Old Compton Street is located in Soho, London, England. The street was named after Henry Compton, who raised funds a local parish church, eventually dedicated as St Anne's Church in 1686. The area in general and this street in particular became populated by French refugees after Charles II gave protection to Protestants in 1681.

The street is the traditional centre of London's gay community. In the middle of Soho, it features several gay bars, restaurants and cafés, as well as a popular theatre. Whilst a pedestrianisation project proved unpopular with local traders and was reversed, the street is closed to vehicular traffic for the Soho Pride festival one weekend each year, in late summer.

By all accounts, it has always been Soho's main shopping street. By the end of the 18th century, less than ten of the houses were without shop fronts. In the middle of the 19th century, while there were some workshops too, as well as restaurants and public houses, the ground floors of most of the houses were still used as shops. The number of foreign occupants continued to grow and the street became a recognised meeting place for exiles, particularly those from France: after the suppression in Paris of the Paris Commune, the poets, Rimbaud and Verlaine often frequented drinking haunts here.

As might be expected of one of London's more entertaining districts, Old Compton Street had its resident curiosity in the form of Wombwell's Menagerie. George Wombwell kept a boot and shoe shop on the street between 1804 and 1810 and by all accounts was quite an entrepreneur. Dwarf-like and a drunk he nonetheless built up three hugely successful menageries from a starting point of two snakes bought at a bargain price. The menageries travelled the length and breadth of England and made him a wealthy man before his death in 1850.

Prince Edward Theatre is located on the street. Until 2004, the long-running production of Mamma Mia!, a musical based upon the songs of ABBA, which has a cult status amongst gay men, was showing at the theatre. When Mamma Mia! moved to larger premises in another part of the west end, a production of Mary Poppins moved in, which has an even more camp following.

One notable pub on the street is the Admiral Duncan pub, which in 1999 was the site of a nail bomb attack which killed three people and injured over a hundred. A neo-nazi, David Copeland, was later found guilty of the attack, which had been intended specifically to injure members of London's gay community. Previously decorated quite drably, the Admiral Duncan was re-opened painted pink and purple with a large gay pride rainbow flag flying outside, which has remained there ever since.

The Admiral Duncan pub

Along and near the street are numerous other gay bars, including the Village Soho, Escape, Comptons (catering to the leather crowd), and G-A-Y bar. Also on the street are a variety of bohemian cafés, including Balans (which, unusually for much of England, is open 24 hours a day) a rubber shop, and a variety of sex shops (most of which are exclusively aimed at the gay market).

Old Compton Street is also the home of some of London's film and video post-production houses.

An interesting local feature can be found in the middle of Charing Cross Road at its junction with Old Compton Street. Beneath the grill in the traffic island in the middle of the road, can be seen the old road signs for the now vanished Little Compton Street, which once joined Old Compton Street with New Compton Street.