Place Name
A corruption of the name of the 31-mile River Roding which rises near Dunmow in Essex and flows through the London boroughs of Redbridge, Newham, Barking and Dagenham before forming Barking Creek as it reaches the River Thames. The name Roding is a corruption of the name Hroda or Hrōtha, an Anglo-Saxon chieftain who presided over settlements in the Roding valley. In 1576 it was recorded as Rodon. However, the ancient name for the lower part of the river was Hyle, which eventually gave its name to Ilford, Ilefort meaning ford on the river Hyle. The street itself was previously called Back Lane, a common name for streets that lay off the main thoroughfare, in this case High Road. These back roads were useful especially when the main roads became too rutted to navigate in the days before paving. The former name is known to have been used from at least the early 16thCentury. Norman Gunby in A Potted History of Ilford refers to a hermit living in Back Lane in 1532 collecting alms for the purpose of maintaining Ilford Bridge.
