Place name
Named after the Late Iron Age settlement, the nearby Uphall Camp, an ancient earthwork between the River Roding river and Ilford Lane. Described as the largest recorded hillfort in Essex, it was first studied in 1735 by antiquarian John Noble. It is believed to have been established on the banks of the river around 100BC enclosing an area of around 48 acres and included houses, barns and granaries. Archaeologists think it was abandoned around the time of Julius Caesar’s invasion of Britain in 54BC. The name for the area was first recorded as Uphall in 1539 and probably means the manor house on high ground, it was recorded as Up Hall in 1805. A small section of the northern bank of the camp still survives, incorporated in the boundary between Howard’s chemical works and the houses in Baxter Road; the gardens of those houses are on the probable site of a ditch. The street itself was laid out along a former footpath during the development of the area in the early 20thCentury. However it was originally much longer running between Victoria Street and Roden Street but was curtailed in the latter part of the 20thCentury to create Lowbrook Road and at its northernmost, Riverdene Road.
