Place Name
Named after the medieval inn here called the Olde Swanne, which was first mentioned in 1323 and again in 1441 after the lady of Gloucester, when doing penance through the City for witchcraft, landed at “the Swan in Tempse strete”. But from the late 12th to the turn of the 17thCentury it was known as Ebbgate spelt Ebbegate and in 1603 as Ebgate lane, after a Watergate here. The Old Swan Stairs were a popular dropping-off point for boat passengers not wishing to risk the rapids under the old London Bridge.
