club
41, Great Windmill Street, W1D 7NB
A striking exhibition celebrating the world’s leading jazz photography, capturing the spirit, passion, and energy of artists on and off stage.
Oxford Circus, Tottenham Court Road
A striking exhibition celebrating the world’s leading jazz photography, capturing the spirit, passion, and energy of the artists.
Other
15:00–17:00
A striking exhibition celebrating the world’s leading jazz photography, capturing the spirit, passion, and energy of the artists.
How to book
Please create a free visitor account to book your festival tickets.
Other
17:00–19:00
A striking exhibition celebrating the world’s leading jazz photography, capturing the spirit, passion, and energy of the artists.
How to book
Please create a free visitor account to book your festival tickets.
Rebuilt 1904 for the wholesale stationers Fuller & Richards (date and name are carved on the street front). Style is late-Edwardian commercial with Baroque flourishes.
Street elevation (Great Windmill St.)
Narrow, vertical composition with a projecting clock-turret rising above the parapet (ogee cap and finial), a heavy modillioned cornice, and a central bowed/oriel window stage below. A cartouche panel with “1904” sits between upper stages. Ground level has a large arched opening and applied “Fuller & Richards” relief signage. Walling is red brick with stone/stucco dressings (architraves, cornices, keystones).
Scale & bay rhythm
Reads as 3–4 storeys to the main parapet, with the clock-turret as a one-bay vertical accent. Adjoining plots are typical Soho narrow frontages, so the façade is one principal bay wide with subdivided window lights. (See 1972 front-elevation photo of Nos. 39–41 for the run of plots).
Ground & basement arrangement (historic use & access)
Ground floor: originally trade/warehouse entrance for Fuller & Richards; later a club entrance and then the Dilly Cineclub/Dilly Cinema foyer from 1965 (became Cannon Dilly in 1985).
Basement: long-running performance/club space from the 1920s; notably Club Eleven (1948–50), Cy Laurie’s (1950s) and the Scene Club (1960s). Crucially, many operations used the Ham Yard side for access/egress, though the postal address remained 41 Great Windmill St.—so the basement reads as a through-plot with rear access to the yard.
Cinema alterations (1965–85)
Conversion for the Dilly Cineclub introduced a small single-screen layout; by 1985 the auditorium was absorbed as Screen 6 of the adjacent Cannon/Classic Moulin complex. Those phases would have brought internal fire-protection, projection-booth and escape works but left the 1904 street front intact.
Conservation status (fabric significance)
The address falls within the Soho Conservation Area. Nos. 37–45 Great Windmill Street (which includes No. 41) are mapped as Unlisted Buildings of Merit—i.e., positive contributors whose demolition or unsympathetic alteration is resisted.
Visual cues to look for on site
Portland-stone (or stucco) dressings against red brick, the arched shop/entrance opening, 1904 cartouche, and the projecting clock—all evident in period and contemporary photos.
Walking tour
Discover the fascinating stories and characters behind this iconic district and gain a whole new perspective on London’s Chinatown! Our trained volunteer History Champions can’t wait to take you on a journey through this area’s complex, nuanced and fascinating evolution. Places are funded by Westminster City Council to allow Open House festival goers to enjoy the tour for free.
Guided tour / Walking tour
The area post 1700 became very cosmopolitan with immigrants mainly from Europe and their influence on food and drink became increasingly important. This tour is based on food and drink, passing by restaurants, pubs, coffee bars and pâtisserie delis that have been present for decades, finishing at a relatively new site.
