This map shows what the London borough names actually mean

[Click here for the full-sized map.]

There are some seriously old names knocking about this city of ours – and some of the oldest belong to the 32 London boroughs. The Original Tour did some etymological digging to find out where the borough names come from, and though a few (like Redbridge and Newham) are recent inventions, many date back to the Anglo-Saxon era: a time when most of what is now London apparently consisted of forests, sheep and hairy men in helmets. It’s probably a good thing that olde-school chieftains like Cynsige and Hacan aren’t marauding around modern-day Kensington and Hackney. But we’re definitely up for reviving ‘Valley of the crocuses’.

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