PLACE NAME
Woburn Abbey, in Woburn, Bedfordshire, was established as a monastery for Cistercian monks in 1145. Woburn is first recorded as a hamlet in AD969 and not only gives its name to the abbey but the city of Woburn, Massachusetts. The name means twisted or crooked stream and comes from the Old English elements woh, meaning twisted, and burna, meaning stream. After the Dissolution of the Monasteries the abbey was acquired by the Earl of Bedford who had it demolished and built a grand mansion, which he continued to call an abbey, in its place. It’s been in the hands of this major London landowning family, which has over 70 London streets named after it, ever since. Like many of the roads on the St Helier’s estate this is named after British monasteries and abbeys in remembrance of the area’s historic ownership by Westminster Abbey. The road names are in alphabetical order, of which Aberconway Road in the north west of the estate is first.
