Ganton Street is a street in central

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

that runs between Marshall Street and

Kingly Street Kingly Street is a street in London's Soho district. It runs north to south from Liberty's and Foubert's Place to Beak Street, in parallel to, and between, Regent Street and Carnaby Street. It was known as King Street until 1906. The Bag O'N ...

. It is crossed by

Carnaby Street Carnaby Street is a pedestrianised shopping street in Soho in the City of Westminster, Central London. Close to Oxford Street and Regent Street, it is home to fashion and lifestyle retailers, including many independent fashion boutiques. Stre ...

, and Newburgh Street joins it on its north side. The street is in a part-pedestrianised area dominated by independent clothing shops and restaurants, and on upper floors, offices, particularly media companies. Immediately to the east of

Regent Street Regent Street is a major shopping street in the West End of London. It is named after George, the Prince Regent (later George IV) and was laid out under the direction of the architect John Nash and James Burton. It runs from Waterloo Place ...

, Ganton Street is variously described as being in the West End,

Soho Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century. The area was develop ...

, and "Carnaby" areas.Contact Us
Shaftesbury plc, 2014. Retrieved 19 July 2014.

History

Ganton Street was formerly Cross Court and South Row.Marshall Street Area
, ''Survey of London, Volumes 31 and 32: St James Westminster, Part 2.,'' 1963, pp. 196–208. british-history.ac.uk Retrieved 18 July 2014.

Listed buildings

Numbers 2 to 8, 10 and 12, and 24 are all

listed buildings In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

with

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

. Number 21

, on the corner with Ganton Street, is also listed.

Occupants

Property company and major London landlord

Shaftesbury plc Shaftesbury PLC was a British real estate investment trust which invests exclusively in the heart of London's West End. It was headquartered in London and was listed on the London Stock Exchange until it merged with Capital & Counties Properties ...

has acquired significant holdings in the Carnaby Street area and their registered office is at 22 Ganton Street. Designer

James Wedge James "Jimmy" Wedge (born 1939) is a British fashion designer, milliner, and fashion photographer. Early life and education Wedge was born into a poor working-class family. Having little education and never having taken an exam, he joined the Brit ...

had premises at 4 Ganton Street in about 1962. When Wedge moved out, designers

Marion Foale Marion A Foale (born 13 March 1939 in Edmonton, London) is an English artist and fashion designer. With Sally Tuffin, she formed one half of the design team behind the 1960s fashion label Foale and Tuffin. Born in London, Foale attended Ilford ...

and

Sally Tuffin Sally Tuffin (born 1938 in Essex) Sally Tuffin; Marion Foale
National ...

took over the building. Foale described the atmosphere at the time, before Carnaby Street began to swing, as follows: "People lived there, there was a dairy, a tobacconist, a newsagent – there was this little courtyard and everything … a proper village, though very run down." Peter Small's clothes shop The Foundry was at 12 Ganton Street, a listed building, in the early 1980s.

Boy George George Alan O'Dowd (born 14 June 1961), known professionally as Boy George, is an English singer, songwriter, DJ, author and mixed media artist. Best known for his soulful voice and his androgynous appearance, Boy George has been the lead singe ...

worked there as a

window dresser Window dressers are retail workers who arrange displays of goods in shop windows or within a shop itself. Such displays are themselves known as "window dressing". They may work for design companies contracted to work for clients or for department s ...

and the shop sold the creations of Sue Clowes, which were worn by bands including

Culture Club Culture Club are an English pop band formed in London in 1981. The band comprises Boy George (lead vocals), Roy Hay (guitar and keyboards), Mikey Craig (bass guitar) and formerly included Jon Moss (drums and percussion). Emerging in the New ...

The Cure The Cure are an English Rock music, rock band formed in 1978 in Crawley, Crawley, West Sussex. Throughout numerous lineup changes since the band's formation, guitarist, lead vocalist, and songwriter Robert Smith (musician), Robert Smith has re ...

, and

Bananarama Bananarama are an English pop duo from London, formed as a trio in 1980 by friends Sara Dallin, Siobhan Fahey and Keren Woodward. Fahey left the group in 1988 and was replaced by Jacquie O'Sullivan until 1991, when the trio became a duo. Thei ...

. The shop is now MOR Jewellery.10. The Foundry
Carnaby Echoes, 2013. Retrieved 19 July 2014. Cultural commentator

Stephen Bayley Stephen Paul Bayley (born 13 October 1951) is a British writer and critic, known particularly for his commentary on architecture and design. He was founding CEO of the Design Museum in London in 1989, and has been a regular architecture, art ...

has offices at 23 Ganton Street. The Gold brothers'

Lord John Lord John was a British men's fashion retailer, which opened its first store at 43 Carnaby Street, London, at the corner with Ganton Street, in 1963. The first Lord John boutique was opened by the brothers Warren, Harold and David Gold in Car ...

men's fashion chain had their first shop at 43 Carnaby Street, on the corner with Ganton Street, that featured a large mural painted by the pop art collective Binder,

Edwards Edwards may refer to: People * Edwards (surname) * Edwards family, a prominent family from Chile * Edwards Barham (1937-2014), a former member of the Louisiana State Senate * Edwards Pierrepont (1817–1892), an American attorney, jurist, and ora ...

and

Vaughan Vaughan () (2021 population 323,103) is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located in the Regional Municipality of York, just north of Toronto. Vaughan was the fastest-growing municipality in Canada between 1996 and 2006 with its population increas ...

. Other work by the trio included

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

's piano and the car seen on the cover of

The Kinks The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, north London, in 1963 by brothers Ray and Dave Davies. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British rhythm ...

' ''

Sunny Afternoon "Sunny Afternoon" is a song by the Kinks, written by chief songwriter Ray Davies. The track later featured on the '' Face to Face'' album as well as being the title track for their 1967 compilation album. Like its contemporary "Taxman" by the B ...

'' EP from 1966.

Giant plug and socket

An outsize plug and socket has been a feature of the façade of the

electrical substation A substation is a part of an electrical generation, transmission, and distribution system. Substations transform voltage from high to low, or the reverse, or perform any of several other important functions. Between the generating station and ...

on the corner of Ganton Street and Marshall Street since 2001. ''Plug and Socket'' was installed by James Glancy Design as a piece of

urban art Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of people ...

to enliven an otherwise dull building. It has had a number of different designs over the years and the whole item, including the cable, lights up at night.Urban Art > Plug and Socket
James Glancy Design, 2014. Retrieved 18 July 2014.

References

{{coord, 51, 30, 47, N, 0, 8, 20, W, type:landmark, display=title Streets in the City of Westminster Streets in Soho