Place Name
First recorded in 1294 as Derleston, derived from Dëoriäf’s tūn or farmstead, although Sheila Fairfield in The Streets of London suggests it may be the simpler Dāl’s Tun, adding the original hamlet lay at the northern end of Queensbridge Road. By 1388 it was written as Darleston and two centuries later, in 1581, as Darleston. It had mutated into its contemporary spelling by 1741. A.D. Mills in his A Dictionary of London Place Names writes: “The current local pronunciation of the name is ‘Dorlston’ (compare the 1388 spelling).”
