Timeline of London Bars and Clubs
The gay scene in London has always been centred around the West End, especially Soho. In the 1980s some clubs opened up in Earls Court, where the rent was cheaper. In the 1990s, the scene reverted back to Soho, revitalised by new style bars like The Village. Vauxhall became the locus of gay clubs from 2000. Included in the following timeline are bars and clubs in Earl’s Court and Vauxhall, though they are not strictly in the West End.
1800s
1810 The White Swan, Vere Street (Vere Street)
1839 Admiral Duncan
The Hundred Guineas Club (Portland Place)
1866 Coleherne (261 Earls Court Road, Earls Court)
1889 19 Cleveland Street (of the Cleveland Street scandal)
1893 St James's
1896 Trocadero Long Bar Shaftesbury Avenue
1900s
1905 Criterion
1910s
1910 York Minster, later The French House (49 Dean Street, Soho)
1920s
1925 Hotel de France, now the site of Heaven
1927 The Adelphi Rooms
The Marquis of Granby in Soho.
The Hungry Horse
Gerano's (New Compton Street)
Chez Victor (Wardour Street, Soho)
The downstairs bar at the Ritz Hotel
1930s
Cosmopolitan Wardour Street
1934 The Caravan (Endell Street, Covent Garden)
1935 Billie's Club (Little Denmark Street)
1935 Festival (Dean Street, Soho)
1935 Careless Stork (Denman Street, Piccadilly)
1937 Music Box (Leicester Place)
1937 Sphinx (Gerrard Street)
1939 Boeuf sur Le Toit (Orange Street)
1940s
Queens Head (27 Tryon Street, Chelsea)
1941 Arts and Battledress (Orange Street)
1941 Sam's Café (Rupert Street, Soho)
1941 Swiss Hotel, later Comptons (53 Old Compton Street, Soho)
1941 The Crown and Two Chairmen (31–32 Dean Street, Soho)
The Salisbury (90 St Martin's Lane)
Cave of the Golden Calf (Heddon Street, Mayfair)
1950s
1951 White Horse (Rupert Street, Soho)
1952 A&B, previously Arts and Battledress in Orange Street (Rupert Street, Soho)
Rockingham (Archer Street)
Spartan (Tachbrook Street)
Bennett's Festival (Brydges Street)
1960s
The White Bear
The Carousel Club (Orange Street, then Panton Street)
The Roundabout
The Coffee House (Haymarket)
Vince (Foubert's Place)
Danny La Rue's (Hanover Square)
La Douce (D'Arbly Street, Soho)
Peppermint Lounge (Piccadilly Circus)
1970s
Kings Head (Soho)
Golden Lion (Dean Street)
Green Man (Portland Street)
The Dog and Trumpet (Great Marlborough Street, Soho)
Apollo (Wardour Street, Soho)
Pink Elephant (Newport Place)
Toucan (Gerrard Street)
Vortex (Tachbrook Street)
Louis (Poland Street, Soho)
1975 The Regency Club (Great Newport Street)
1979 Heaven (Under the Arches, Villiers Street)
1980s
Stallions (Falconberg Court, Soho)
Mud Club (Charing Cross Road)
Harpoon Louis, later named Harpo’s and Banana Max (Earls Court Road, Earls Court)
1981 The King's Arms (23 Poland Street, Soho)
1981 Subway (Leicester Square)
1981 The Two Brewers (114 Clapham High Street, Clapham)
1984 The French House previously The York Minster (49 Dean Street, Soho)
1984 Clubbing in London in 1984 – http://history-is-made-at-night.blogspot.co.uk/2008/02/clubbing-in-london-1984.html
1985 The Backstreet (Wentworth Mews, Mile End)
1985 The White Swan (556 Commercial Road, Limehouse)
1986 Comptons, later named Comptons of Soho (53 Old Compton Street, Soho)
1990s
1990 Trade, ended 2015 (Turnmills, 63 Clerkenwell Road, Clerkenwell, then various locations)
1990 The Village (Hanway Place)
1991 Halfway II Heaven (7 Duncannon Street)
1991 Village, second Village branch (81 Wardour Street, Soho)
1993 Freedom (66 Wardour Street, Soho)
1994 FIST, ended 2002 (various venues)
1995 Central Station (37 Wharfdale Road, Kings Cross)
1995 Club Kali
1995 The Yard (57 Rupert Street, Soho)
1998 The George & Dragon (2 Blackheath Hill, Greenwich)
1999 The Admiral Duncan (54 Old Compton Street, Soho)
2000s
2000 XXL (various venues including The Arches/Arcadia in London Bridge, then Pulse at 1 Invicta Plaza, Southwark)
2001 The Shadow Lounge (5 Brewer St, Soho)
2003 Egg (200 York Way, Kings Cross)
2003 Fire (39 Parry St, Vauxhall)
2009 Dalston Superstore (117 Kingsland High Street, Dalston)
2010s
2011 Circa (62 Frith Street, Soho)
2011 Vogue Fabrics aka VFD (66 Stoke Newington Road, Dalston)
External sites
http://qxmagazine.com/pdf/gayhistory-soho.pdf
http://www.kemglen.talktalk.net/stradivarius/