PLACE NAME
The Tottenham Court which is referred to probably comes from the former manor of Tottenham (Tottenhall) which stood here from the 13thCentury. The court itself was possibly named after William de Tottenall, or else from the far earlier Anglo-Saxon leader, Tota, literally Tota’s Hall. The name later became confused with the unconnected Tottenham, in Middlesex, in today’s Haringey. John Field in Place-Names of Greater London says that it means: “‘Manor house of Totta’s angle of land, bearing the same personal name as Tottenham but not necessarily referring to the same man. The parish name has also affected this one, which might without such influence have become Tottenhall or Totnal.” The manor house was situated not far from the site of Euston Station, at the south east corner of Hampstead Road. Around the time of the first millennium it was mentioned in an Anglo-Saxon charter as Thottanheale or þottenheale. In 1083, the Normans called it Totenhala but by 1487 it was Totenhalecourt. By 1708 the road itself was named Tottenham Court Row, because of its direct route from St Giles to the ancient manor. The Fitzroy family inherited the manor of Tottenham by marriage with the heiress of Lord Arlington.
