Notable Landmarks · London, Greater London
First Ann Summers Shop
The shop that began the mainstreaming of sex retail for British women — from a scandalous Marble Arch 'sex supermarket' to the party-plan empire.
The place
Britain's first high-profile named sex shop, opened 1970 by Michael 'Dandy Kim' Caborn-Waterfield and named after his secretary Annice Summers (born Annice Goodwin, 1941); bought by Ralph & David Gold (1971–72); Jacqueline Gold introduced the party-plan model in 1981.
Sources
Nearby on the map
From her sickroom at 50 Wimpole Street, under a father who forbade his children to marry, Elizabeth Barrett conducted a secret courtship of 574 letters with Robert Browning — then slipped out to marry him and flee to Italy. 'How do I love thee?' was written in this house's shadow.
Documented historyModern NotorietyStephen Ward's flat, Wimpole MewsLondon, Greater London · EnglandWard's Marylebone flat was the hub where aristocrats, showgirls and diplomats mingled; the shots Johnny Edgecombe fired at its door on 14 December 1962 dragged the Profumo affair into open court.
Documented historyQueer HeritageThe Cadogan Hotel (arrest of Oscar Wilde)London, Greater London · EnglandOscar Wilde was arrested in Room 118 on 6 April 1895, an event immortalised in Betjeman's poem 'The Arrest of Oscar Wilde at the Cadogan Hotel'. Royal mistress Lillie Langtry also lived on the site — a double dose of scandal.
Documented historyHot spotSpotted an error, or hold a better source? Write to marquis@marquisdemayfair.com — corrections are made, never defended. Our methodology.