Place Name
Called Ellison Road when first laid out in the late 19thCentury, it originally ran from Natal Road (then called Potters Lane) crossing Greyhound Lane and south to the junction of Kempshott Road. But when the road was extended south in 1911 it was decided the length of the street would be too long and so it was split into two. the southern section retaining the former name while the northern section became Estreham Road, a reference to the spelling of Streatham (from the Old English words strœt and hām) in the Domesday survey of 1086. That name meaning a hamlet on a road itself refers to the Roman road that ran from London to Brighton, where it is believed the Romans had a port. Streatham High Road closely follows its antiquarian predecessor’s route. The hamlet of Streatham didn’t take its modern spelling until 1510.
