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The Lamb Building

Silver Street, Bradford on Avon, Wiltshire.

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The Lamb factory before conversion

The Lamb Building was constructed in 1916 as an extension to the factories of the George Spencer, Moulton Rubber Company, which needed to expand to supply increased demand at the time of the Great War. It was built with an innovative reinforced concrete frame according to the Khan system, the parts of which were made by the Trussed Concrete Steel Company in London and erected on site. It was originally planned to have been of four storeys, but only two were built. The sides facing Silver Street and the river are faced in local Bath Stone, but the other two were filled in with brickwork. The architect was E.J. Manico.

The building replaced and took its name from the former Lamb Inn, as well as a smaller house that stood next to the river. It was also built out over the river by bridging across to a small island. The Lamb started life as a Georgian house in the part of Silver Street that was known as Bridgefoot. By about 1780 it had become the Scribbling Horse public house, named after a piece equipment used in the woollen cloth industry; the name changed to the Lamb in about 1820 and a large sculpture of a lamb was on its classical porch. The pub had become run-down by the beginning of the 20th century and, in 1912, the local Magistrates did not renew its licence.

The Lamb Building following conversion to mixed use- a supermarket (originally Budgens, later Co-op) and a restaurant (Sebastien’s, then Il Ponte, then Il Fiume) on the ground floor; flats on the upper floor and a new build of flats on the former roof. Early plans featured a round restaurant on the roof.