Place Name
This was originally part of Ardleigh Green Road and was the route across the railway line. That changed between the wars when the A127 Southend Arterial road was laid out and Ardleigh Green Road was diverted eastwards and this section was closed off. The name itself is a corruption of local area name which was known as Hardley Green in various forms until at least the early 17thCentury. It was first mentioned in local records as le Haddeleye in 1362 from the Old English words hæth and lēah, meaning heath clearing or perhaps a clearing in the heather. Although others believe it is linked with a local family, the de Badeles, who lived in the area sometime around 1325. In 1514 it took on the Middle English word grene (denoting a village green) to become Hadleygrene, which became Hardey Green by 1777 and Hardley Green on the Ordnance Survey map of 1883. Ardleigh Green Road was originally called Haynes Park Road.
