Leyton's History
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Leyton is a vibrant and multicultural area in
East London with an interesting history.
Its name means "Town on the River Ley" - since 1570 the Ley has been
known as the Lee or Lea - although the name of Leyton has been
around since the 9th Century. In 1722 Daniel DeFoe describes Leyton
as an expanding area, with new houses mainly for the richest citizens, in
Tour Through the Eastern Counties
of England. The earliest memories of residents confirm these facts. One gentleman, Dave, who has lived in Leyton for more than 50 years, reported that there used to be far fewer people in the area - "you could take a walk in the evening and not see anyone". |
Leyton's coat of arms
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In 1886 a pavilion was built at Leyton Cricket Ground becoming the headquarters of Essex Cricket Club until 1933. The pavilion still stands and the grounds have more recently been used for council firework displays.
During World War II, Leyton suffered as a target because of its close proximity to Temple Mills Yard. Alan Putland, from the Battle of Britain website, lived on the High Road during the war. He sent us this information: "I remember many a time that we used to go to the council built brick shelters that had been constructed alongside the bridge, on the corner of Westdown Road... Needless to say, at that time because we were so near to the large railway goods yards at Temple Mills and Leyton itself was a large yard that was the terminus for the coal trains that had come down from the north, it was very often the target for night raids by the Luftwaffe."
After the war, work on the Central line extension from Liverpool Street to Leyton was resumed. Part built stations and tunnels had been abandoned during the war, or turned into shelters or munitions factories. On 5th May 1947, it was finally opened and Leyton became linked to central London via the Underground. The Leyton Signal Box, originally built in 1899, was fitted with a lever to switch between automatic operation for the tube by day and manual operation for British Rail stock by night. Sadly the signal box was demolished during the building of the M11 Link Road in the late 1990s.
In 1965, Leyton was moved from the administration of Essex, into the London Borough of Waltham Forest. A plaque in Coronation Gardens now commemorates this fact.
If you have any information on the Bailey family who lived in 167 High Road with Alan Putland during the war, please get in touch.
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