The Lamb is a
Grade II listed
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
pub
A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...
at 94
Lamb's Conduit Street
Lamb's Conduit Street is a street in Holborn in the West End of London. The street takes its name from ''Lambs Conduit'', originally known as the ''Holborn Conduit'', a dam across a tributary of the River Fleet.
Lamb's Conduit
Lamb's Conduit w ...
, in the
London Borough of Camden
The London Borough of Camden () is a London borough in Inner London. Camden Town Hall, on Euston Road, lies north of Charing Cross. The borough was established on 1 April 1965 from the area of the former boroughs of Hampstead, Holborn, and St ...
, London.
The Lamb was built in the 1720s and the pub and the street were named after
William Lamb, who repaired the ''Holborn Conduit'', later renamed
Lamb's Conduit in his honour, a few metres to the south, in 1577. The Lamb was refurbished in the
Victorian era
In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...
and is one of the few remaining pubs with '
snob screens' which allowed the well-to-do drinker not to see the bar staff, and vice versa.
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...
lived locally and is reputed to have frequented The Lamb. Other writers associated with the pub include
Ted Hughes
Edward James "Ted" Hughes (17 August 1930 – 28 October 1998) was an English poet, translator, and children's writer. Critics frequently rank him as one of the best poets of his generation and one of the twentieth century's greatest wri ...
and
Sylvia Plath
Sylvia Plath (; October 27, 1932 – February 11, 1963) was an American poet, novelist, and short story writer. She is credited with advancing the genre of confessional poetry and is best known for two of her published collections, ''The ...
. Hughes, who was a regular at the pub, arranged to meet Plath there in the early days of their relationship.
[Connie Ann Kirk, ''Sylvia Plath: a Biography'' (Greenwood, 2004) p. 73]
See also
*
List of pubs in London
References
Buildings and structures completed in the 18th century
Grade II listed buildings in the London Borough of Camden
Tourist attractions in the London Borough of Camden
1720s establishments in England
Grade II listed pubs in London
Buildings and structures in Bloomsbury
1720s architecture
18th-century architecture in the United Kingdom
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