History of Kilburn and West Hampstead

This is a story of the darker side of Victorian theatre which follows the complex links between the London Pavilion Theatre in Piccadilly Circus , Kilburn and a vicious acid attack on an actress. The London Pavilion The imposing London Pavilion occupies a prominent site at the corner of Shaftsbury Avenue and Piccadilly Circus . In the late 1980s the building was gutted and redeveloped behind the Grade II listed façade. This was the second ‘Pav’ on the site: the first dated from 1859 and was a humble affair, an entertainment room attached to the Black Horse Inn in Tichborne Street (now part of Great Windmill Street ). It was the brainchild of Emil Loibl and his business partner Charles Sonnhammer who roofed in the irregularly shaped yard of the Inn to create the first London Pavilion Music Hall . A gallery was added on the north and east sides in 1861, and further improvements followed in 1876. Both men were born in Vienna and came to England in January 1844. F...