PLACE NAME
Descriptive, the prefix High comes from the Middle English heghe meaning chief or important, it was often used to describe the main road during a time when the average village boasted only two streets: the High Road and the Back Road. The name is known to have been used in 1643 when Ilford was a fledgling village of 50 or so families, though the road itself was laid out in Roman times to connect London (Londinium) with the newly-constructed Roman capital at Colchester (Camulodunum). On an Ordnance Survey Map published in 1897, it appears as High Street, becoming Romford Road around the junction with Aldborough Road.
