St. Martins School of Art
First gig - Sex Pistols, November 6th 1975 'Unplugged'.
This gig probably came about because the band's bass player at the time, Glen Matlock, was studying at the art school. Also in 2016 The Guardian reported on a house just up the road in Denmark Street which was a base for the Pistols in the 70s.
Our attribution of this plaque to David Rhys Jones is based on: a) Jones trained at Central Saint Martins, and b) on his Saatchi page one of the works is a small (9cm diameter) version of this plaque.
Site: Sex Pistols (1 memorial)
WC2, Charing Cross Road, 107
This plaque is/was in the reception area inside the building when St Martin's School of Art was still in residence. We don't know if it is still in place.
Saint Martin's School of Art was established in 1854 by the vicar of the church of St Martin-in-the-Fields and was first housed on the top floor of St Martin's Northern School in Shelton Street (called Castle Street at the time). In 1859 it became independent of the church.
From London College of Distributive Trades Facebook: "In 1938 the College {CDT} moved to new purpose built accommodation at 107 Charing Cross Road. The building was designed and built as a technical institute and art school, by the London County Council, architect E P Wheeler. ... When it opened, CDT occupied the first four floors of the building and St Martin’s School of Art the area above. It continued in this form until the 1980’s..."
In 1989 Saint Martin's became part of Central Saint Martin's College of Arts and Design and in 2011 moved out of the Charing Cross building into the King's Cross campus. By 2014 the old building had become home to high-end apartments and Foyles bookshop.
