DoneThat
Around Soho (1), London
Looking east along Great Marlborough Street showing the Liberty's department store; the prominent half-timbered building. Many of the luxury items here may be out of your financial comfort zone but it is worth going in to look around if only for the building.
The store was built in 1924 from the timbers of two ships: HMS Impregnable and HMS Hindustan. The frontage on Great Marlborough Street is the same length as the Hindustan.
| Comment | More of Liberty's |
Carnaby Street appears to have been laid out in 1685 or 1686 and first appearing in the ratebooks in 1687. The street was almost completely built up by 1690 with small houses and a market was developed in the 1820s. Benjamin Disraeli, in his novel Sybil refers to "a carcase-butcher famous in Carnaby-market".
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The first area in London known as Chinatown was located in the Limehouse area of the East End of London at the start of the 20th century but the present Chinatown, which is off Shaftesbury Avenue, did not start to be established until the 1970s.
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Walkers Court is an example of the numerous narrow streets and lanes in Soho. The name "Soho" first appears in the 17th century and most authorities believe that the name derives from a former hunting cry. James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth, used "soho" as a rallying call for his men at the Battle of Sedgemoor in 1685, half a century after the name was first used for this area of London.
| Comment | More of Soho |