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Smith’s Court

Passage to Brewer Street

A half-minute walk from Brewer Street

London ultra-short walk - 24

It was common in Georgian London for courtyards to be renamed after a new ground landlord, tradesman, or builder who bought up the plot. Smith's Court has been so-named for at least 280 years.


Today, it survives as one of Soho's quieter, York-stone paved pedestrian secrets just off Brewer Street, shifting from its historic roots as a trading space for 18th-century cabinet makers and leather workers into a hub for independent shops and cafes.


Characterized by its preserved 18th-century brick buildings and potted olive trees, it can remind people of how Neal's Yard in Covent Garden used to feel before it became such a major tourist hotspot.