Place Name
The origins of this street name go back to at least the Middle Ages and most likely even before then, Ley being a Saxon term for a straight track between villages. This is an ancient green path, and they often led to holy places connected with Druidic or pre-Christian religion. The name was first recorded in Barking Abbey’s records of 1456 as Leestrete and Lee Street in 1609. It has also been suggested that the name is derived from the stretch of open land, possibly a pasture or field, which bordered it.
