The Lexington is a

pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

and

music venue A music venue is any location used for a concert or musical performance. Music venues range in size and location, from a small coffeehouse for folk music shows, an outdoor bandshell or bandstand or a concert hall to an indoor sports stadium. Ty ...

Pentonville Road Pentonville Road is a road in Central London that runs west to east from Kings Cross to City Road at The Angel, Islington. The road is part of the London Inner Ring Road and part of the boundary of the London congestion charge zone. The road ...

Islington, London Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ar ...

that opened in 2008. The bar specialises in

bourbon Bourbon may refer to: Food and drink * Bourbon whiskey, an American whiskey made using a corn-based mash * Bourbon barrel aged beer, a type of beer aged in bourbon barrels * Bourbon biscuit, a chocolate sandwich biscuit * A beer produced by Bras ...

, as well as American craft beer. The building it is in was built over 1875 to 1876 and was originally known as The Belvidere. The venue area is upstairs, with a raised back section by the bar. The front of this has bench seating, but facing away from the stage. On Monday evenings the pub has a music quiz, previously sponsored by Rough Trade, that is usually hosted by Paul Guided Missile.

History

The building now housing The Lexington was erected in 1875–6. It was then known as the Belvidere, and was a new construction for the earlier tavern of that name on the same site. It was designed by the architect W. E. Williams and built by Robert Marr. The Lexington was particularly badly hit by a reform of London

business rates Rates are a tax on property in the United Kingdom used to fund local government. Business rates are collected throughout the United Kingdom. Domestic rates are collected in Northern Ireland and were collected in England and Wales before 1990 and i ...

in 2017, with a proposed increase of more than 200 percent (the average for London music venues being about 38 per cent). The venue challenged this and managed to get somewhat of a reduction to an increase of 118 percent. The venue's existence has been threatened further by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. The Lexington were among the beneficiaries of the Cultural Recovery Fund administered by

Arts Council England Arts Council England is an arm's length non-departmental public body of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is also a registered charity. It was formed in 1994 when the Arts Council of Great Britain was divided into three s ...

, announced on October 12, 2020. The venue stated that those funds “will go some way in mitigating the financial damage and debt accumulated over the last seven months of closure” but that they are “still in serious peril” as they were only awarded 40% of the funding they applied for. In November the Music Venue Trust announced a campaign which highlighted the 30 UK music venues deemed still in crisis, one of which is The Lexington. The venue are currently running a crowdfunder to raise what is still needed.

Notable performers

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* Bis *

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* Charlotte Church's Late Night Pop Dungeon *

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* Ulrika Spacek *

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lexington, Islington, The Buildings and structures in Islington Music venues in London Pubs in the London Borough of Islington