Old Compton Street - History

History

The street was named after Henry Compton who raised funds for 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.

By the end of the 18th century, fewer 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 Arthur Rimbaud and Paul 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.

Between 1956 and 1970, the 2 I's Coffee Bar was located here. Many well-known 1960s pop musicians played in its cramped surroundings.