Lamb's Conduit Street - Bloomsbury
Lamb's Conduit Street in Bloomsbury, is a street you're unlikely to drift through by accident and belongs to no established tourist trail. Understanding what a conduit is and what it's for, is a useful starting point - before tackling the specifics of who Lamb might be.
History of London Conduits
London's unabated growth throughout the middle-ages created a practical problem, which required one of London's mightiest engineering projects to solve. The water supply failed to meet the daily needs of the population. To address this a 'Great Conduit' was built. Conduits are still used today, though mainly as small plastic coverings for cables and wires. You might imagine that a 'Great Conduit' was the kind of pipe you could manoeuvre three Minis through, 
but conduits actually referred to the 'cisterns' or tanks holding the water. These conduits were served by lead or wooden piping and connected the springs for the River Tyburne, Walbrook and many other [now subterranean] rivers in London. The spring filled the conduit, creating a 'head' of water, that could course for up to a mile down a gentle slope. It was dispensed using cocks or taps.
Since the use of water by some trades was regarded as excessive (bakery, brewing & tanning were especially demanding), the conduit houses surrounding the cisterns were managed and access to the supply was strictly controlled. Conduit houses also served as 'moral billboards' since everyone in the city would need to visit them regularly. Nothing was likely to raise Londoners' scorn quite like having their viewpoint steered or massaged. Then, or now. The conduit houses were consequently covered with graffiti & slogans. The accession parade of James I passed a conduit house where the following verse was daubed for His Majesty's consideration.
Life is a dross, a sparkle, a span
A bubble: yet how proud is man!
Obtaining a personal domestic supply from the conduit required permission from lofty quarters - it was known as "bringing a quill into the home". Illegal tapping of the conduit brought harsh, but imaginative penalties. A man convicted of diverting the supply in 1478 was placed on horseback with a conduit-shaped vessel on his head, dripping water down his face. He was forced to visit each conduit house and verbosely confess his crime, to the fun-poking amusement of the crowd. Ordinarily, domestic water was moved from the conduit to the household, by 'cobs'. A pair of 3-gallon tubs (60lbs when full), slung below a shoulder-yoke, atop a suitably tough individual. Sometimes water was drawn from the River Thames, or a tributary such as the Fleet running below Ludgate Hill. Slipping into the Thames claimed many professional cobs, at a time when the ability to swim was rare and recreational swimming was an unknown fancy. The old London Bridge used undershot water wheels to power a rudimentary pumping system, but the facility was destroyed by the Great Fire of London in 1666. Practically every element of the city water supply was destroyed in the fire, since some pipes and conduit reservoir lining were lead, and everything else was wooden. One quarter of water running through wooden pipes would be lost to leakage, and pipes often ran above ground since they broke frequently and accessing them for repairs was simplified. If a fire broke out, the first consequence was that the main conduit was instantly shut down. If it caught fire and ruptured, the drinking supply could be lost.
Lamb's Conduit Street History
William Lamb founded a conduit in 1577 by joining several springs to build a significant head of water. Gravity enabled it to flow down a leaden pipe from present day Lamb's Conduit Street to Snow Hill, south of Smithfield Market (there's a cop-shop there now). The Snow Hill conduit had existed for centuries, but was dilapidated and unused. 
The street where the source was located, was named 'Lamb's Conduit', in recognition of his benevolent act.
As mentioned, fire had devastating consequences for water systems and the Great Fire of 1666 destroyed Lamb's Conduit entirely. It was rebuilt in 1667 from a design by Sir Christopher Wren and continued to operate until the replacement of London's conduits, with mechanised water supply companies in the Georgian and early Victorian Era. The area surrounding Lamb's Conduit Street was pasture field and a popular place to obtain herbs and cresses. These were used by apothecaries, and grew especially freely in the meadows surrounding Lamb's spring. This area was often referred to as 'the country' despite being close to the City of London boundary markers.
There was an interesting scandal concerning the Chevalier D'Eon, who lived and died in the adjacent Milman Street. One time equerry to Louis XV and Ambassador at the Court of St James's, doubts arose concerning the sex of the Chevalier during his lifetime, resulting in substantial wagers being placed. This led to a later trial, presided over by Lord Mansfield. It was proposed that the Chevalier was a woman in men's clothing and since the defendant made no attempt to refute the claim, the wager was settled to the satisfaction of the plaintiff. The Chevalier D'Eon reverted to wearing women's clothes from this point forward, until her death 33 years later in 1810. The body was then inspected in the presence of 'distinguished personages'. The Chevalier D'Eon had been a man all along.
Lamb's Conduit Street Today
At the north end of Lamb's Conduit Street is 'The Lamb', multi-award winning pub and a good initial reason for straying into the locality (or if you're visiting Great Ormond Street Hospital). Over the years the local independent shops have given the area a distinctive atmosphere; contemporary and high-brow with one foot in the past. Traditional shops such as A. France & Son - funeral directors and monumental masons - rub shoulders with retail artisans, independent cafes, and a nascent pavement culture has evolved. Some areas court these 'chi-chi' credentials and fail miserably, but others like Lamb's Conduit Street introduce a theme and it takes root effortlessly (Lordship Lane is another). A. France & Son was established in 1780 and is an original trader. The sketch in their window showing the street as it is now and a vintage etching of London from a balloon on Hampstead Heath, provide an interesting diversion.
Persephone Books, independent retailers on Lamb's Conduit Street - YouTube
There are plenty of nearby attractions, including the British Museum, Dickens Museum, The Grant and Petrie Museums, The Inns of Court, Sir John Soane's Museum and a raft of other city treasures. The shopping is unique, it's never too crowded and on fine days the draw of al fresco coffee on the terrace, or food en plein air make it a worthy lunch-stop on a meandering 'constitutional' through the City. Knowing something about the history lends it a familiarity, and the 'bonding process' becomes that much faster. If you're taking someone for a day out, dropping nuggets of conduit info, isn't going to do your chances any harm, providing the temptation to lecture is resisted.
As Samuel Johnson might have said in more of a magnanimous mood - "worth seeing AND worth going to see."
Lamb's Conduit Street, Bloomsbury, WC1N.
Nearest Tube: Russell Square or Holborn
