Place Name
In common with many of the streets off Cheapside, the principle market of the Medieval City, it sold a specific type of commodity, in this case wood and fire logs. The first mention of the street name was in 1157 as Wodestrata and later as Wodestrate in 1169 and Wudestrate in 1171. The street that exists today is much extended from the original, running from Cheapside in the south, past the London Wall and ending at the Barbican Estate. It used to end at Gresham Street, then called Lad Lane in the mid-16thCentury. By the mid-18thCentury Wood Street had been extended again up to Silver Street, now gone, and continued as Little Wood Street up to the London Wall. By 1799, Little had been dropped and Wood Street continued to Cripplegate Buildings.
