THE ‘VICTORIAN SHOPS UNDER OXFORD STREET’, LONDON

A Malcolm McLaren joke

An urban myth has it that under Oxford Street in London is a parallel subterranean Victorian (or even Georgian) 'ghost' Oxford Street, buried as the ground level was raised, with abandoned underground shops lining it that were once at ground level.

Alas, this derives from 'The Ghosts of Oxford Street' by Malcolm McLaren, (see below) broadcast on TV on Christmas Day 1991. A sequence shows Thomas De Quincey (John Altman) haunted by a Laudanum vision of the 15yr old prostitute Ann for whom he searched Oxford Street in vain (Sinéad O'Connor - singing 'Silent Night') outside a semi-derelict, filthy cobweb covered shop front with an askew sign reading 'Boots Apothecary' in shakey sign writing, in some kind of dark underground tunnel. Altman has apparently said that it was accessed from Selfridges’ basement.

Careful scrutiny however reveals that this is merely a slabbed over 'area', with conventional arched under pavement vaults (used for coal and storage) with derelict wooden doors and windows - indeed the last shot looks up through a pavement light at passing feet. These are not abandoned subterranean shops. When  sites are redeveloped it is common to leave the previous original under pavement vaults intact with the 'area' roofed over by a widened pavement with pavement lights; the new building basement wall would be on the original building line; for example:

The pavement lights of 20-22 Stratford Place, London. Once part of shoe shop Lilley and Skinner

11 x 10 squares

The above ground shots in McLaren’s ‘De Quincy’ sequence are in Stratford Place, a cul de sac northwards off Oxford Street. Compare these pavement lights with the shot of the pavement light from underneath in the film of the ‘shops’. They clearly match. That this building is numbered 20-22 shows that it is an amalgamation of 3 earlier buildings, and indeed the northern end of the row, number 16 is clearly original and has an open ‘area’ of the same width with a cast iron stair down into it.

The underside of the pavement light in the ceiling of the ‘shops’ in the film.

The pseudo Georgian distressed ‘Boots Apothecary’ sign. Note the white glazed bricks, commonly used on the far side of basement ‘areas’ to increase light in the facing basement windows.

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There are several accounts by ex-Lilley and Skinner employees of being shown ‘The Old Oxford Street’ - I fear these have become somewhat embroidered with the elapse of time. Where the Thomas de Quincy sequence was shot was the bridged over ‘area’ and under pavement storage vaults beneath this stretch of pavement on Stratford Place - a length of about 28 meters, and not even on Oxford Street. The building is now (April 2021) 360-366 Oxford Street and vacant .

Text © Roger J Morgan 2021

Thomas de Quincy reminisces about the Oxford Street apothecary who first sold him opium. The ‘shop front’ is the derelict glazed doors (to provide light) to an under pavement vault storage chamber.

De Quincy sees a vision of Anne, the prostitute he searched in vain for. Note the plain vertical wall she is standing next to, which is the more modern basement wall of the re-built building, and the flat more modern ceiling which is the underside of the pavement over the roofed in ‘area’.

De Quincy runs along the under-pavement ex-’area’. Note the pavement lights, heating pipes, the original white glazed bricks on the outer wall and the electricity/gas/water meter on the more modern building wall.