Prostitutes Green: Uncovering London’s Notorious History

Prostitutes Green stands as a stark reminder of a specific era in London’s sprawling urban history. Located near the Tyburn gallows (modern-day Marble Arch), this patch of open ground earned its infamous name in the 18th century as a notorious gathering place for sex workers, operating openly amidst the chaos of public executions and fairs. Its story is deeply intertwined with poverty, law enforcement, public spectacle, and the harsh realities of life for marginalized women in Georgian England. Understanding Prostitutes Green requires delving into the social geography, economic pressures, and legal frameworks of the time, revealing a complex layer of London’s past far removed from its present-day grandeur.

What Was Prostitutes Green Historically?

Prostitutes Green was a specific area of open ground near Tyburn gallows in London, notorious during the 18th century as a primary gathering spot for sex workers. Its location adjacent to the site of public executions and popular fairs created a unique, chaotic environment where illicit activities thrived alongside public spectacle and commerce.

This wasn’t a formal park or designated space, but rather a patch of common land, likely rough and unkempt, situated near the junction of major roads leading into London (Oxford Street, Edgware Road, Bayswater Road). Its proximity to Tyburn Tree – where criminals were publicly hanged, drawing massive crowds – was fundamental to its character. On execution days, the area transformed into a raucous fairground atmosphere, attracting not just spectators but vendors, entertainers, pickpockets, and, significantly, large numbers of prostitutes. The combination of large, transient crowds, a temporary suspension of normal social order, and the presence of people with money (and perhaps a morbid fascination or desire for distraction) created the perfect conditions for the sex trade to flourish openly on this “Green.” Its name was a direct, colloquial reflection of its primary use and reputation during this period.

Where Exactly Was Prostitutes Green Located?

Prostitutes Green was situated immediately adjacent to the Tyburn gallows, placing it squarely in what is now the Marble Arch area of London, near the confluence of Oxford Street and Edgware Road. This location was strategically significant as a major entry point to the city from the northwest.

Pinpointing its exact boundaries is challenging due to the lack of precise historical maps and the informal nature of the space. However, historical accounts consistently place it very close to the “Tyburn Tree” gallows structure. This places Prostitutes Green roughly in the vicinity of the modern-day traffic island and green spaces surrounding Marble Arch itself, extending perhaps towards the edges of Hyde Park. It occupied a liminal space – physically on the edge of the city proper, and socially on the fringes of acceptable behavior. Its position near a major crossroads ensured high visibility and accessibility to the large crowds drawn by executions and fairs, making it an effective, albeit infamous, marketplace for the services offered there.

Why Was This Area Called “Prostitutes Green”?

The area earned the name “Prostitutes Green” because it became synonymous as the primary, open-air location where sex workers congregated and solicited clients, particularly during the large public events held at Tyburn. The name was a blunt, colloquial descriptor reflecting its dominant social function and reputation in the 18th century.

This naming wasn’t official but emerged from common usage, likely coined by locals, pamphleteers, and commentators of the time who observed the area’s notorious activity. The term “Green” simply referred to the open, grassy nature of the common land itself. The designation stuck because it accurately captured the defining characteristic of that specific patch of ground during the Tyburn execution era. It served as a geographical shorthand, instantly conveying to Londoners the nature of the activities one could expect to find there, much like “Grub Street” denoted hack writers or “Petticoat Lane” denoted clothing markets. Its infamy made the name widely recognized, even appearing in contemporary satirical prints and literature.

What Activities Occurred at Prostitutes Green?

The primary activity at Prostitutes Green was the solicitation and transaction of sex work, operating openly and on a significant scale, especially during Tyburn execution days and nearby fairs. However, this core activity existed within a broader ecosystem of vice, commerce, and public spectacle characteristic of the Tyburn site.

On execution days, the area became a vast, chaotic fairground. Alongside the sex workers, one would find:

Vendors: Selling food, drink (especially gin), souvenirs, and ballads about the condemned.
Entertainers: Jugglers, musicians, puppeteers, and freak shows capitalizing on the crowd.
Pickpockets and Thieves: Exploiting the dense, distracted crowds.
Gamblers: Running impromptu games of chance.
Spectators: From all social classes, drawn by the macabre fascination of the hangings.

The sex trade was deeply embedded in this chaos. Prostitutes actively solicited clients among the throngs – soldiers, visitors from the country, city dwellers, and even those attending the executions. Transactions often occurred hurriedly in the open or in nearby temporary structures, fields, or alleys. The atmosphere was one of temporary lawlessness, heavy drinking, and a carnivalesque suspension of everyday norms, with Prostitutes Green serving as its most infamous epicenter for sexual commerce.

How Did Public Executions Relate to the Sex Trade There?

Public executions at Tyburn were the primary catalyst for the intense concentration of sex work at Prostitutes Green. The massive crowds drawn by the hangings provided a vast, transient clientele, an atmosphere of heightened emotion and revelry that lowered inhibitions, and a temporary breakdown of social order that allowed illicit activities to flourish openly.

Execution days were major public holidays, attracting tens of thousands of spectators from all walks of life. This created an unparalleled commercial opportunity. The intense, often rowdy atmosphere – fueled by alcohol, the thrill of spectacle, and a sense of communal transgression – fostered an environment where solicitation was easier and less conspicuous than on ordinary days. The sheer density of people provided anonymity and opportunity for both sex workers and clients. Furthermore, the journey to Tyburn for the condemned (the “Tyburn procession”) and the hours-long wait for the hanging created a prolonged event, giving people ample time to drift towards the adjacent “Green” and engage in other activities, including soliciting prostitutes. The notoriety of the executions and the associated fair bled directly into the notoriety of the sex trade happening literally on its margins.

What Was the Social and Economic Background of the Women?

The women working at Prostitutes Green overwhelmingly came from the poorest strata of Georgian society, driven into sex work by extreme economic desperation, lack of alternative employment, and often tragic personal circumstances. This was not a chosen profession but a harsh survival strategy.

Options for poor women in 18th-century London were severely limited and poorly paid. Domestic service, piecework (like sewing or washing), street vending, or working in low-end taverns offered meager wages, often insufficient for basic survival, especially if they had children or were abandoned by partners. Many had migrated to the city seeking work only to find destitution. Factors pushing women towards places like Prostitutes Green included:

Abject Poverty: Inability to afford food or shelter.
Unemployment or Underemployment: Lack of viable jobs paying a living wage.
Widowhood or Abandonment: Loss of male support, which was often crucial for survival.
Debt: Threat of debtor’s prison.
Lack of Social Safety Nets: No welfare state; reliance on inadequate parish relief or charity.
Previous Exploitation: Many entered service young and were vulnerable to assault or dismissal without reference.

Life expectancy for these women was low due to disease (especially sexually transmitted infections), violence, alcoholism, and the dangers of childbirth. Their work on the “Green” was perilous and offered little security, reflecting the brutal economic realities faced by the most vulnerable in London.

How Did Law Enforcement and Society View Prostitutes Green?

18th-century authorities and society held a complex, often hypocritical view of Prostitutes Green: officially condemned as a moral nuisance and illegal, yet largely tolerated due to the impracticality of suppression, embedded corruption, and a societal willingness to exploit while condemning the exploited.

Legally, prostitution itself was not a felony, but related activities like street solicitation, “disorderly conduct,” running brothels (“bawdy houses”), and vagrancy were punishable offenses. Constables and watchmen theoretically had the power to arrest women soliciting on the Green. However, enforcement was inconsistent and often corrupt:

Focus on Disorder: Authorities were more concerned with preventing riots or major disturbances at Tyburn events than consistently policing individual vice.
Corruption: Many constables and justice officials were open to bribes, turning a blind eye or even extorting money from sex workers and brothel keepers.
Societal Hypocrisy: While publicly decrying the immorality, many men from various social classes (including the elite) utilized the services available. Moral outrage was often directed solely at the women, not their clients.
The “Necessary Evil” Argument: Some commentators and even authorities believed prostitution prevented worse social ills like widespread rape or sodomy (as per contemporary flawed reasoning).

Reform efforts, often driven by religious groups like the Society for the Reformation of Manners, periodically targeted areas like Prostitutes Green, leading to crackdowns and arrests. However, these were usually temporary, as the underlying economic desperation driving women there remained unaddressed. The Green persisted as a visible symbol of societal failure and selective law enforcement.

Were There Attempts to Shut Down or Regulate the Area?

Yes, there were periodic attempts by moral reform societies and magistrates to crack down on the open vice at Prostitutes Green, primarily through arrests for vagrancy, disorderly conduct, or operating bawdy houses. However, these efforts were largely ineffective in the long term due to corruption, lack of resources, and the sheer scale of the problem tied to the Tyburn spectacles.

Groups like the Society for the Reformation of Manners (founded in the late 17th century) made suppressing prostitution a key goal. They employed informers to gather evidence against brothel keepers and streetwalkers, leading to raids and prosecutions. Magistrates like Sir John Fielding (of Bow Street Runners fame) also periodically targeted notorious vice districts. Tactics included:

Mass Arrests: Rounding up women on the Green during execution days.
Prosecuting Brothel Keepers: Targeting the landlords and organizers rather than just the individual women.
Publishing Names: Shaming tactics by publishing the names of those convicted.
Pressuring Landlords: Threatening property owners who rented to sex workers.

Despite these efforts, genuine suppression was impossible. The economic forces driving women to prostitution were too strong. Corruption within the watch and constabulary undermined enforcement. The transient nature of the Tyburn crowds made sustained policing difficult. Most importantly, the underlying demand from a broad cross-section of men was never targeted by these efforts. Crackdowns might temporarily displace activity, but it would resurge elsewhere or return to the Green when vigilance waned. True regulation (like licensing brothels, as existed in some European cities) was never seriously attempted in London at this time.

What Was the Moral and Social Stigma Attached to the Women?

The women working at Prostitutes Green bore an immense and crushing social stigma, viewed as the lowest of the low – morally depraved, diseased, and irredeemable outcasts. This stigma was pervasive, deeply internalized, and had devastating lifelong consequences, far exceeding any legal penalties.

Contemporary societal views were heavily influenced by religious doctrine condemning sexual immorality, particularly outside of marriage. Women engaged in sex work were seen as:

Inherently Sinful and Shameless: Their public solicitation was considered brazen defiance of moral order.
Sources of Physical and Moral Contagion: Blamed for spreading venereal diseases and corrupting men’s morals.
“Fallen Women”: A term implying a permanent descent from grace with little hope of redemption in the eyes of society.
Vagrants and Nuisances: Associated with crime, drunkenness, and public disorder.

This stigma manifested in brutal ways:

Social Ostracization: Expulsion from families, communities, and respectable employment. Once labeled, escape was nearly impossible.
Vulnerability to Violence: Seen as “fair game” for assault, robbery, and rape, with little recourse to justice.
Dehumanization: Depicted in popular prints, pamphlets, and literature as grotesque, diseased, and morally bankrupt figures of ridicule or horror (e.g., Hogarth’s “Harlot’s Progress”).
Barriers to Assistance: Even charitable institutions like hospitals or Magdalene Asylums (for “penitent prostitutes”) often imposed harsh conditions and moral judgments.

The stigma attached to the women of Prostitutes Green was a powerful tool of social control, reinforcing class and gender hierarchies while absolving society and clients of responsibility for the conditions that created the trade.

How Did Prostitutes Green Evolve and Eventually Disappear?

Prostitutes Green’s existence was intrinsically linked to Tyburn gallows. Its decline began with the end of public executions at Tyburn in 1783 and accelerated rapidly with the urban development of the surrounding area in the early 19th century. The physical landscape and social conditions that fostered the open-air sex trade vanished, leading to the disappearance of the “Green” and its infamous name.

The key turning point was the relocation of London’s main execution site from Tyburn to Newgate Prison in 1783. This decision was partly driven by the authorities’ desire to reduce the massive, unruly public gatherings associated with Tyburn hangings. Without the regular influx of huge crowds drawn by executions, the chaotic fairground atmosphere that sustained Prostitutes Green’s primary clientele evaporated almost overnight. While some sex work likely persisted in the vicinity, the scale and open nature collapsed. Simultaneously, the area underwent significant transformation. The development of the Tyburn Turnpike trust improved roads, and the expansion of wealthy residential areas like Mayfair and Marylebone pushed northwards. The construction of Tyburnia (now part of Bayswater) and, most significantly, the creation of the Cumberland Gate entrance to Hyde Park (where Marble Arch was later moved to in 1851) formalized and gentrified the landscape. The open common land of “Prostitutes Green” was swallowed up by roads, park entrances, and eventually, the urban fabric of modern London, erasing its physical presence and its raison d’être.

What Happened After the Tyburn Executions Stopped?

The cessation of Tyburn executions in 1783 dealt an immediate and fatal blow to Prostitutes Green as a major, organized hub for sex work. The disappearance of the massive execution-day crowds removed its primary economic engine, leading to a rapid decline in the concentration of sex workers at that specific location.

While the *trade* of prostitution certainly didn’t vanish from London (it merely shifted and adapted), the unique phenomenon of the large-scale, open-air market operating on that specific patch of common ground adjacent to the gallows ended. Without the regular spectacle drawing thousands, the ancillary fairground economy – including the prominent presence of sex workers openly soliciting – collapsed. The area lost its primary claim to notoriety. Some lower-level vice and streetwalking might have lingered in the immediate neighborhood, but it no longer defined the space in the way it had for decades. The name “Prostitutes Green” began to fade from common usage, becoming more of a historical reference than a current descriptor, as the activity that gave it meaning dissipated and the urban environment changed.

How is the Area Recognized or Remembered Today?

Today, Prostitutes Green itself has no physical marker or official recognition at its former location near Marble Arch. It exists primarily as a historical footnote, remembered through academic studies, niche historical tours, and occasional mentions in literature or media focusing on London’s darker or more salacious past.

The modern landscape bears no resemblance to the rough common land of the 18th century. Marble Arch, a grand monument moved to the site in 1851, now dominates the area, surrounded by busy traffic islands, pathways into Hyde Park, and upscale commercial and residential districts. There are no plaques, statues, or signs acknowledging the area’s infamous past as Prostitutes Green. Its memory persists mainly in:

Historical Scholarship: Books and articles on crime, punishment, sexuality, and urban history in Georgian London.
Guided Walking Tours: Some specialized tours focusing on crime, vice, or hidden history might mention Prostitutes Green while discussing Tyburn and the evolution of the area.
Cultural References: Occasionally appearing in historical novels, TV dramas, or documentaries set in 18th-century London.

The legacy is one of historical curiosity rather than commemoration. It serves as a potent example of how urban spaces and their associated social practices can transform radically over time, with layers of forgotten history buried beneath modern development. Prostitutes Green remains a stark symbol of a brutal, exploitative aspect of London’s past, now largely invisible on the ground.

How Does Prostitutes Green Compare to Other Historical Red-Light Districts?

Prostitutes Green shared core characteristics with other historical red-light districts – concentration of sex work, association with marginality and law enforcement challenges – but was distinct due to its specific genesis from public executions, its open-air nature, and its relatively brief period of peak notoriety tied to a single, macabre event.

Like areas such as Southwark’s Bankside (near Shakespeare’s Globe, known for brothels and bear-baiting) or the medieval “stews” licensed by the Bishop of Winchester, Prostitutes Green was a designated zone for vice, tolerated due to its location on the city’s periphery. Similarly, it thrived in areas with transient populations (near execution sites, theatres, docks). However, key differences stand out:

Catalyst: Its existence was *directly* fueled by Tyburn executions, unlike districts sustained by theaters, markets, or ports.
Format: It was primarily an open-air market on common land, whereas areas like Bankside featured established brothels (stews) in buildings.
Duration of Peak: Its period of intense, specific notoriety was shorter (largely the 18th century), whereas areas like Covent Garden or parts of Whitechapel had longer histories as vice districts evolving over centuries.
Abrupt End: Its decline was swift and directly linked to the removal of the execution site, while other districts faded more gradually due to urban renewal, changing moral codes, or policing shifts.

Prostitutes Green exemplifies how unique local conditions – in this case, the spectacle of public hangings – could create highly specific, transient, yet intensely notorious zones of sexual commerce within a city’s broader geography of vice.

What Was the Difference Between Brothels and Open-Air Solicitation like the Green?

The key difference lay in the structure, control, and environment of the sex trade: brothels were fixed, indoor establishments (often in buildings) with some level of organization and management, while solicitation at Prostitutes Green was predominantly unstructured, outdoor, and chaotic, operating in a temporary, crowd-driven marketplace.

Brothels (“bawdy houses” or “stews”) ranged from squalid single rooms to more organized establishments. They offered:

Fixed Location: A specific building known (often tacitly) to clients and authorities.
Management: Typically run by a “bawd” (female keeper) or “pimp” who controlled access, took a cut of earnings, and might provide basic provisions (gin, a bed).
Relative Privacy (Indoors): Transactions occurred inside, offering some shelter and separation from the street.
Potential for Hierarchy: Some brothels catered to specific clientele (soldiers, sailors, wealthier men), with women potentially having slightly different statuses or earnings.

In contrast, Prostitutes Green represented:

Open-Air Market: Solicitation and initial transactions happened outdoors on common land.
Transience: Activity peaked only on specific days (executions, fairs), driven by crowds. It wasn’t a permanent “establishment.”
Lack of Central Control: Women largely operated independently or in small, temporary groups without a formal manager taking a large cut. Organization was minimal.
Chaos and Vulnerability: Highly exposed environment, subject to weather, police raids (however inconsistent), and greater risk of violence or robbery. Privacy was non-existent during solicitation.
Lower Status/Desperation: Often seen as the lowest rung of the sex trade, attracting the most desperate women with the least bargaining power and highest vulnerability.

While some women working the Green might have been affiliated with nearby low-end brothels or lodging houses where transactions concluded, the core activity *at* the Green itself was characterized by its outdoor, chaotic, and unstructured nature compared to the more defined (though still harsh) world of brothels.

What is the Legacy of Places Like Prostitutes Green in Urban History?

Places like Prostitutes Green leave a complex legacy in urban history, serving as stark reminders of systemic poverty, gender inequality, societal hypocrisy, and the ways cities spatially marginalize and exploit vulnerable populations. They highlight the intersection of public spectacle, commerce, and control in shaping urban zones.

These districts demonstrate several enduring themes:

Spatial Marginalization: Cities often confine “undesirable” activities to peripheral or liminal spaces (edges of cities, near execution sites, outside city walls – like Bankside historically). Prostitutes Green exemplifies this, existing literally on the edge of Tyburn’s spectacle.
Economic Drivers of Vice: They underscore how extreme poverty and lack of opportunity, particularly for women, are the primary engines of street-level sex work, regardless of era.
Societal Hypocrisy: They reveal the gulf between public moral condemnation and private consumption/complicity. The trade flourished because of demand from across the social spectrum.
Law Enforcement as Control, Not Elimination: The historical response (periodic crackdowns, tolerance through corruption) focused more on managing visibility and disorder than addressing root causes or demand, a pattern often repeated.
Urban Transformation Erasing History: Their disappearance through development (like the gentrification of the Tyburn area) shows how cities physically overwrite uncomfortable pasts, often leaving no trace of the lives lived in those spaces.
Windows into Social Conditions: Studying such areas provides invaluable insights into the lived experiences of the poorest and most marginalized inhabitants, often absent from official histories focused on elites.

Prostitutes Green, though vanished, remains a potent symbol of how urban spaces reflect and reinforce social power dynamics, economic desperation, and the often brutal realities of life for those on the fringes of historical metropolises like London.

Prostitutes Green: London’s Historical Red-Light District Explained