Great Queen Street is a street in central London

Central London

Central London is the innermost part of London, England. There is no official or commonly accepted definition of its area, but its characteristics are understood to include a high density built environment, high land values, an elevated daytime population and a concentration of regionally,...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 in the West End

West End of London

The West End of London is an area of central London, containing many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government buildings, and entertainment . Use of the term began in the early 19th century to describe fashionable areas to the west of Charing Cross...

. It is a continuation of Long Acre from Drury Lane

Drury Lane

Drury Lane is a street on the eastern boundary of the Covent Garden area of London, running between Aldwych and High Holborn. The northern part is in the borough of Camden and the southern part in the City of Westminster....

 to Kingsway

Kingsway (London)

Kingsway is a major road in central London in the United Kingdom, designated as part of the A4200. It runs from High Holborn, at its north end in the London Borough of Camden, and meets Aldwych in the south in the City of Westminster at Bush House. It was built in the 1900s...

. It runs from 1 to 44 along the north side, east to west, and 45 to about 80 along the south side, west to east. The street straddles and connects the Covent Garden

Covent Garden

Covent Garden is a district in London on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St. Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and the Royal Opera House, which is also known as...

 and Holborn

Holborn

Holborn is an area of Central London. Holborn is also the name of the area's principal east-west street, running as High Holborn from St Giles's High Street to Gray's Inn Road and then on to Holborn Viaduct...

 districts and is in the London Borough of Camden

London Borough of Camden

In 1801, the civil parishes that form the modern borough were already developed and had a total population of 96,795. This continued to rise swiftly throughout the 19th century, as the district became built up; reaching 270,197 in the middle of the century...

.

Roughly half of the south side is occupied by Freemasons' Hall

Freemasons' Hall, London

Freemasons' Hall in London is the headquarters of the United Grand Lodge of England and a meeting place for the Masonic Lodges in the London area. It is in Great Queen Street between Holborn and Covent Garden and has been a Masonic meeting place since 1775...

, the headquarters of the United Grand Lodge of England

United Grand Lodge of England

The United Grand Lodge of England is the main governing body of freemasonry within England and Wales and in other, predominantly ex-British Empire and Commonwealth countries outside the United Kingdom. It is the oldest Grand Lodge in the world, deriving its origin from 1717...

. The first English Grand Lodge was founded in 1717, which explains the dates on the top of the current building. Their first buildings on this site were replaced in 1860 by the architect Frederick Pepys Cockerell

Frederick Pepys Cockerell

Frederick Pepys Cockerell was a British architect. He was the second son of Charles Robert Cockerell, also an architect, whose favour for French architecture and sculpture in architecture was a major influence on Frederick.-Life:He studied at Winchester College and at King's College London, and...

. However, this is the third Freemasons' Hall, which was built by international subscriptions in 1927-33 as a Masonic Peace Memorial after the Great War. It is a grade II listed building, and the only Art Deco

Art Deco

Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...

 building in London that is unaltered and still used for its original purpose. There are 29 meeting rooms and the 1,000 seat Grand Temple, which with the Library and Museum are open to the public with hourly guided tours.

The four Masonic Charities are also located in Freemasons' Hall. They are The Freemasons' Grand Charity, a grant-making charity; the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution(RMBI), which operates 17 care homes for Freemasons and their dependants; the Royal Masonic Trust for Boys and Girls, provides education for the children of Freemasons; and the Masonic Samaritan Fund, providing medical care and support.

In 1775 the Freemasons' Tavern stood at 61-65, now the hotel and “New Connaught Rooms”. Like the original Tavern, the hotel is used by the public as well as by the freemasons for their receptions and dinners: the “New Connaught Rooms” are frequently used for exhibitions, business meetings and award ceremonies. There are conflicting stories about the founding in 1863 of the Football Association

The Football Association

The Football Association, also known as simply The FA, is the governing body of football in England, and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. It was formed in 1863, and is the oldest national football association...

 to set down the rules of the game. The existing pub “The Freemasons Arms

The Freemasons Arms

Freemasons Arms is a fairly common name for British pubs.One such is a Shepherd Neame pub on Long Acre in London. It claims to be the site where both the Football Association and the Geological Society of London were founded; however this may be merely because the pub succeeded to the business of...

” on Long Acre is sometimes said to be the site of this event, but other sources say it was the “Freemason’s Tavern” where the New Connaught Rooms now stand.

There is a pub called "The Prince of Wales" at 45 Great Queen Street, presumably named after the future George IV

George IV of the United Kingdom

George IV was the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and also of Hanover from the death of his father, George III, on 29 January 1820 until his own death ten years later...

 who was the Grand Master of the Freemasons in 1809.

The North side of the road is also partly occupied by Masonic regalia shops, Masonic charities and administrative offices. At numbers 19-21 is the premises of the regalia manufacturer Toye, Kenning & Spencer who have been located at this address since acquiring the rival manufacturer George Kenning in 1956. At 23 is another shop where Masonic regalia is sold. At 30-31 is the Royal Masonic Trust for Girls and Boys, a charity to provide an education for the orphaned children of Masons.

At about 72 is the “Kingsway Hall Hotel”.

At 31, Great Queen Street lived James Basire, member of the Society of Antiquaries who took on William Blake

William Blake

William Blake was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his lifetime, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of both the poetry and visual arts of the Romantic Age...

 as an apprentice in 1772. During 1837 to 1840 the painter Richard Dadd

Richard Dadd

Richard Dadd was an English painter of the Victorian era, noted for his depictions of fairies and other supernatural subjects, Orientalist scenes, and enigmatic genre scenes, rendered with obsessively minuscule detail...

 lived in Great Queen Street, while studying at the Royal Academy

Royal Academy

The Royal Academy of Arts is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly, London. The Royal Academy of Arts has a unique position in being an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and...

. Shanks and Co ran their well known coachbuilding business at 70/71 Great Queen Street from the 1850s, becoming F & R Shanks in 1860, the business moved out of Great Queen Street around 1905.

From 1882 to 1959 the Novelty Theatre

Novelty Theatre

The Novelty Theatre was a London theatre. It was located on Great Queen Street, accessed off Little Queen Street until 1905, and from the new Kingsway road from 1905 onwards...

was also to be found on the street.