The Origins Of Some Of London's More Unusual Place Names

 

Found below is a list of the origins of some of London’s more unusual place names. 

ALDWYCH

Aldwych is situated along the border of the City of London and the City of Westminster and is an Old English name which means “old settlement”  made up from the words auld and wyc.The name refers to an Anglo Saxon village which was once situated there. 


ARNOS GROVE 
Arnos Grove, in the London Borough of Enfield, is an old English word for 'Copse (or grove) of the Arnold People'. No one quite knows who the Arnold people were but they were most probably local landowners. The area's history dates back to Tudor times and it is well known that there was once a large manor house and a convent situated in the area up until the mid 1700s.  

BILLINGSGATE

Billingsgate, site of London's famous fish market, was named after a 12th century water gate which spanned the River Thames which was once situated there known as Blynes Gate.

Blynes Gate was named in honour of  former King of the Britons Belinus, also known as King Belin.  

BIRD CAGE WALK

Bird Cage Walk in the City of  Westminster is named after King James I's Royal Menagerie and Avery which he had built there. 

COVENT GARDEN

Covent Garden in London's West End is actually a mis -  spelling of the word Convent after a former convent which was on the site was pulled down in order to build the famous market there. Town planners wanted the convent to be remembered but apparantly the sign maker missed out the N and the area has been called Covent ever since.

  

DOWNING STREET

Downing Street is London’s most famous street being as it is home to our revered leader the Prime Minister and his or her Chancellor of the Exchequer.

The street received  it's name from Irish statesman and diplomat Sir George Downing who built the street in the 1680's.  


EALING
The west London suburb of Ealing is probably a Saxon name which was originally known as 'Gillingas', which meant 'place of the people associated with Gilla',.
Gilla was the name of a former Saxon landowner and the word 'gas' is old English for ' the people of'.
Since then the area has been known as 'Illing', 'Gilling' and 'Ylling' until 'Ealing  became the standard spelling in the early 19th century.


ELEPHANT & CASTLE 
Elephant and Castle is named after an eighteenth century coaching inn which had once stood in this area of Newington. Previous to the building of the inn the area had been the site of a cutler's business, whose coat of arms displays a picture of an elephant and castle. 

MAIDA VALE

The west London residential area of Maida Vale was named after The Maida Pub which once stood in the area. The pub got it's name from a battle which saw  British Expeditionary forces lead a British victory against the French at The Battle of Maida in Italy in July, 1806. 

MAYFAIR

The classy London district of Mayfair received it's name after the annual two week May Fair which was held there from 1686 until 1764.  

OLD BAILEY

The Old Bailey situated in the City of London is famous for being home to the country’s Central Criminal Courts and is named after the old city walls of London which once ran along the street which were known as baileys. 

PATERNOSTER SQUARE

Paternoster Square in the City of London, London’s Stock Exchange, aquired it's name from St Paul .

Pater Noster is Latin for Our Father and the Our Father in question is St Paul who is the Patron Saint of the City of London. 

PICADILLY

Picadilly in London's West End  is one of the most famous landmarks in London and is symbolic of London's Theatreland.

The area received it's very strange name from a 16th century high collar which was manufactured and sold in the area known as a picadill.  

PIMLICO

Pimlico is situated in the classy area around Mayfair and Knightsbridge in the City of Westminster and  was once known as Five Fields in the Manor of Ebury.

According to the 17th century actor Ben Johnson Pimlico derived it's name from a Ben Pimlico, purveyor of fine ales, whose Hoxton ale house and beer garden was reached by way of a path from Five Fields known as the Pimlico Path. 

As the area around Five Fields grew up and the pasture land that gave the area it's name disappeared the name of the path was shortened to Pimlico and the area has been known by that name ever since. 

PORTOBELLO ROAD

The Portobello Road in London's Notting Hill got it's name from a failed British naval action against the Spanish in 1726.

It pertained to when the British tried to blockade the Port of Porto Bello in Panama from the invading forces of the Spanish Navy. 

REGENT'S....

There are many areas of London with the prefix Regent's.The regent in question was Prince George who went on to become King George IV  from 1820 until 1830. 

The Prince Regent spent many years running the country in place of his ailing father, King George III, who was ill with severe mental illness.

During his time as regent the prince instigated the building of many London landmarks, a term which led to the historical era known as the The Regency Period.  

  

 RUISLIP
This leafy part of Hillingdon appears in the Domesday Book spelt as 'Rislepe', which is thought to have meant 'leaping place on the river where the rushes grow'. The aforementioned river is the local River Pinn. The name is formed from the Old English words 'rysc' and 'hlip'.  

    

ST MARY AXE

St Mary Axe is a street in the City of London which is home to the famous building known as the Gherkin.

The street was named after the church of St Mary and a pub called the Axe, both of which were once situated there. 

SHEPHERD'S BUSH

Shepherd's Bush in West London was once common land and was used by shepherd's as a resting place for their sheep on their way to and from market. 

SOHO

Before Soho became synonomous with the West End's sex industry the area was fertile pasture land much used by farmers in Tudor times for grazing their livestock.

Apparantly the word soho was the word used by farmers as a rallying call to fetch up their animals, probably their cows when it was time for milking.  

SPITALFIELDS

Spitalfield's, home of London's famous East End market, is a name taken from Hospital Fields. The name pertained to the grounds of the twelth century New Hospital of St Mary Without, which was located in the Bishopsgate area of the London Borough of Whitechapel.  


SWISS COTTAGE
Swiss Cottage is named after an early nineteenth century inn which once stood on this part of Camden. the inn had resembled a Swiss chalet and went by the name of the Swiss Tavern. 

THE STRAND

The Strand is in London's Theatre Land and is home to many of London's famous theatres.

The word strand is old English for beach and the area was probably named after the sandy embankment along the River Thames which was situated there. 

In the 1500’s the River Thames was much wider than it is today and would have definitely reached up to the point of where The Strand is located today. 

THREADNEEDLE STREET

Threadneedle Street located is located in the City of London and is renowned for being  home to the Bank of England.

The street probably got it's name from a needle making business which was once located along the the street.

The name probably means three needles, which was the picture that appeared on  advertising boards of needle makers at the time.

This name would have been given to the street during the 1600's as the name of the street before that had been a very vulgar term for a sex act, named so because the area was once the haunt of local prostitutes. 

TOOTING 
It is unclear as to how this area in Wandsworth got it's name. Two origins have been attributed to it, the first that it could have been named after an Anglo -Saxon king called Tota, with the name meaning 'the place of Tota's people' or two that it could pertain to an ancient watchtower which once stood in the area which was used to tout, or scout, for approaching enemies. 

 

WHITE CITY

White City is in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham and is famous for being home to the BBC recording studios.

Up until the early 1900's the area had just been common, pasture land.

In 1908 the area was chosen to host the Franco - British Exhibition and the exhibition halls were built with white marble.

After the 1909 Summer Olympic Games, which were also hosted there, as the area had remained nameless, local town planners decided to call the area after the nickname given to the area by residents, White City. 

WHITEHALL

Whitehall is located in the City of Westminster and is home to many of the British government's ministerial departments.

The street was named after the former Palace of Whitehall which was situated along the street at the site where the Banqueting Hall now stands.

The White Hall Palace, which got it's name from the white stone it had been built from, was the official royal residence of the British Monarchy from around 1530 until it was destroyed by fire in 1698. 

WESTMINSTER

The name Westminster pertains to the area which surrounds present day Westminster Abbey, which was originally a monastic church founded in 624 by former Bishop of London, Melitus, which was known at that time as the West Minster. This must mean that the West Minster was so named as to distinguish it from other minsters, possibly to the north, east and south, which were also located in the area. 

The point west comes from the area looking across from St Paul's Cathedral into the City of London.