Place Name
Traditionally the area is said to be named after John Godemay who in the early 14thCentury leased land from the Abbess of Barking. More recently however Peter Foley, a local historian, said that it was in fact Godemay that took his name from the hamlet – a not uncommon practice – and not vice versa. In the 15thCentury the area was recorded as Goodmaistrete and, by 1777, as Goodmath. It was part of the Chadwell ward of the ancient parish of Barking. It remained largely undeveloped until the end of the 19thCentury when in 1894, Archibald Cameron Corbett (later Baron Rowallen) started building the Mayfield estate south of the railway line on land formerly occupied by Goodmayes Farm. On the Ordnance Survey Map published in 1898 this street appears as Stoop Lane.
