Place Name
Directional, this is the road that leads to Petersham. Indeed, it was the highway from Richmond to Petersham from very early times. The origins of the name are well established it comes from the Old English word hamm meaning a bend in the river and an Anglo Saxon personal name in this case Peohtrīc. So, the land in the river bend belonging to a man called Peohtrīc (Peter). But how far back does it go? It has been suggested that it was first recorded in the Dark Ages as Pitrechesham in AD675 or AD727, and again in AD933. However Dr David Mills in A Dictionary of London Place Names dismisses this saying: “Earlier spellings… are from spurious charters forged by monks at a later date.” We are on firmer ground with the Domesday Book of 1086 which records it as Patricesham. In 1276 it was recorded as Petrechesham; Petrisham in 1416 and it took on the contemporary spelling of Petersham in 1553. The road itself was featured in the Court Rolls as the Highway from Richmond to Petersham in 1569. This road was prone to heavy rutting or flooding making it difficult to use after heavy rainfall. In order to get around this the Causey or Upper Causey was created over Richmond Hill. This gave rise to this route also being known as Under the Hill and Lower Highway in the 18th and 19th centuries.But in 1893 the Borough Council officially renamed it Petersham Road at the request of local residents.
