'Noon' from
Four Times of the Day, showing the church in the background It is thought to take its name from a
Greek church that was built in 1677 in adjacent Crown Street, now part of the west side of
Charing Cross Road. The church is depicted in
William Hogarth's 'Noon' from
Four Times of the Day. Although the street has several houses from the 18th century and earlier, it is mainly 19th-century in appearance. No. 1 Greek Street is the
House of St Barnabas, built in 1746. It became the offices of the
Westminster Commissioner for Works for Sewers in 1811. This is where Chief Engineer
Sir Joseph Bazalgette started to work on the construction of the
London sewerage system. By 1862 the house had been taken over by The House of Charity, which was established in 1846 to provide temporary accommodation for homeless people.
Charles Dickens used the house and gardens as a model for the London lodgings of Dr Manette and Lucy in
A Tale of Two Cities. There has been a public house known as
Pillars of Hercules at no. 7 since 1733. The current pub building sports some artwork by
Invader and was long favoured by many figures in the London literary scene, including
Martin Amis,
Ian Hamilton,
Julian Barnes and
Ian McEwan. Indeed,
Clive James named his second book of literary criticism (
At the Pillars of Hercules) after it. In the mid-eighteenth century, no. 9 was the location of the Turk's Head Tavern, where a well-known lodge of
Freemasons met. The
Ancient Grand Lodge of England was organized there on 17 July 1751. The
Coach and Horses pub (also known as Norman's), famous for the rudeness of its former landlord Norman Balon, is at no. 29, at the corner with Romilly Street. The fortnightly editorial lunch of
Private Eye is held in the Coach and Horses. There has been a public house of that name on the site since the 1720s. No. 47 is known for having provided temporary lodgings for
Giacomo Casanova, famed
Venetian adventurer and author, in 1764. No. 49, on the west side of Greek Street, was the home of the legendary folk music club
Les Cousins. No. 58 was a temporary lodging for
Thomas De Quincey in 1802, as described in Part I of
Confessions of an English Opium-Eater. The noted
Victorian sheet music lithographer Alfred Concanen was living at no. 66 with his wife and children in 1861. In the southern part of the street (past
Old Compton Street), no. 28 is the site of Maison Bertaux, a renowned French
pâtisserie, founded in 1871. Owned by sisters Michele and Tania Wade, it is known as the headquarters of the artist
Martin Firrell. The upstairs
tea room shows work by comedian and artist
Noel Fielding and members of Icelandic band
Sigur Rós, among others. It is also the home of the Maison Bertaux Theatre Club, which performs within the tiny confines of the shop. The street is the setting for the 1930 film
Greek Street, directed by
Sinclair Hill and starring
Sari Maritza and
William Freshman. In the 1971 film
Villain, the crime lord Vic Dakin (
Richard Burton) recommends Greek Street as a venue of prostitution. "Try the Manhattan Club in Greek Street... lot of 'sunburnt' girls there... for twenty quid they'll do anything... enjoy yourself!" "Hot Neon", a song featured in the 1976 British TV series
Rock Follies, begins: "She writhes in her bed/ In her sweltering room/ In Greek Street/ She tosses and moans/ And her glistening sweat/ Stains the silk sheets/ She is dreaming of…/ Hot neon". In the first series of the show
Harlots, Greek Street is the location to which brothel owner Margaret Wells aspires to move her business, instead of remaining in Covent Garden.
Former occupants • No. 9: Turk's Head Tavern • Nos. 12–13:
Josiah Wedgwood (as pottery warehouse and showroom) • No. 16: Le Beat Route (club in the 1980s) • No. 17:
Crab Tree Club • No. 18:
The Establishment Club • No. 20: Hopkins Purvis & Sons,
colour merchants • No. 40:
Soho House • No. 47:
Giacomo Casanova • No. 49:
Les Cousins • No. 58:
Thomas De Quincey • No. 66:
Alfred Concanen ==In the present day==