Chapone Place

Chapone Place is a small turning off Dean Street in the eastern part of Soho, running towards the block between Dean Street and Soho Square. It was formerly known as Dean's Yard, a service yard serving the surrounding buildings, and is a minor survivor of the dense pattern of courts and yards that filled the interior of the Soho blocks.

Dean Street itself, which the place opens off, was laid out in the 1690s by Henry Compton, Bishop of London. The 'Dean' of the street's name reflects Compton's position as Dean of the Chapel Royal, and he gave his name to the neighbouring Compton Street as well. Chapone Place sits within that late seventeenth-century framework, behind the frontages of Dean Street and Soho Square.

In recent years the yard has featured in redevelopment proposals for the surrounding site, which takes in 31-32 Soho Square, 65-66 Frith Street, 22-25 Dean Street and 10 Chapone Place. The plans set out to widen and improve the place to form a public route linking Soho Square and Dean Street. For now it stays a quiet back lane, easy to pass without noticing.