Mother Clap’s Molly House
The oldest LGBT community history in London
In the early 18th century London had around thirty “molly houses” – places that combined tavern, club and refuge for men who loved men. The most famous was kept by Margaret Clap in Field Lane, Holborn. “Mother Clap” hosted thirty to forty men every Sunday night, with beds in all the rooms. She was not gay herself; she simply ran the house and was fiercely protective of her clientele.
In 1726 a police informer infiltrated the house. Raids followed. Three men were hanged for sodomy; Gabriel Lawrence, a milkman, was tried at the Old Bailey and executed. Mother Clap was pilloried and sentenced to two years’ hard labour. Field Lane was cleared in the 19th century, and no blue plaque marks the site. It is the oldest LGBT community history in London.