Lamb’s Passage was formerly Great Swordbearers (Sword Bearers) Alley.
Lamb’s Passage owes its origin – or rather its present name – to a local businessman called Thomas Lamb (1752-1813), a cloth dyer and a manufacturer of buckram – a fabric of coarse linen stiffened with gum used both by tailors and bookbinders.
He took up residence here in the late 18th century when it went under the name of Great Swordbearers Alley – that name perhaps deriving from the nearby premises of the Honourable Artillery Company – and moved on in 1813, the year his name was applied to the Passage. He was charged with an enthusiastic inspiration to assist the poor of the neighbourhood. By some means he raised sufficient funds to build a block of tenements on adjacent ground in 1770 - these subsequently came to be known as Lamb’s Buildings.
Great Swordbearers Alley was part of the London streetscape since at least 1666 when ratepayers were listed there.
