Place Name
A reference to the Hanseatic League, a collection of German merchants, whose medieval guildhall Guilda Teutonicorum (German merchants’ warehouse) was here as early as 1157. Hanse, later spelled as Hansa, was the Old High German word for a convoy, and this word was applied to bands of merchants traveling between the Hanseatic cities - whether by land or by sea. This road name however is a much later addition and introduced as part of the improvements to the River Thames waterfront.