Notable Landmarks · London, Greater London
The Gateways Club
Behind a green door on Bramerton Street, generations of London lesbians found their first taste of an out life; now an English Heritage blue plaque site.
The place
London's best-known and longest-lived lesbian social venue, open by 1931, a legal members' club from 1936, women-only from 1967; featured in the film 'The Killing of Sister George' (1968).
More stories at this spot
- The last public night was Saturday 21 September 1985 (English Heritage records the final closure as 23 September 1985); blue plaque unveiled 2 July 2025, by Amy Lamé.
Sources
Nearby on the map
Wilde's family home during his years of fame and his affair with Bosie — a ten-minute walk from the hotel where it all came crashing down.
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 spotNotable LandmarksFirst Ann Summers ShopLondon, Greater London · EnglandThe shop that began the mainstreaming of sex retail for British women — from a scandalous Marble Arch 'sex supermarket' to the party-plan empire.
Documented historySpotted an error, or hold a better source? Write to marquis@marquisdemayfair.com — corrections are made, never defended. Our methodology.