Cesspits of Filth is a speculative project that studies the history of Huddersfield's 

iconic 80's gay club. Once described as 'The Studio 54 of The North', The 

Gemini was shut down in 1983 following a series of raids, being branded as a 

'Cesspit of sexual filth' from the West Yorkshire Metropolitan Police. Reflecting on 

the visceral and traumatic impact of police brutality and surveillance of queer 

spaces, intertwined with the AID's Crisis, this dissertation aims to challenge our 

concepts of vernacular histories and spaces of survival. 

 

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Cesspits of Filth aims to propose a series of immersive tactile spaces based on the 

fabric of the Gemini Club, what happened there, and what parts of that story 

we are choosing to continue with into our future. The project aims to reappropriate

British vernaculars in a way expresses the subliminal coding of desire and expression 

as were played out between the various characters within this story. The theoretical 

focus of this project is undoubtedly retrospective -- however, it is crucial to understand 

that this does not make this a work of nostalgia. In order for Huddersfield to re-imagine 

itself, there needs to be a more intimate understanding of the town’s social structures

as manifest of space.