LONDON'S STREETS

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 426, 6 May 1937, Page 7

LONDON'S STREETS

CONFUSION OVER NAMES County Council Wrangling ■ London’s street names are in the I newt. The London County Council ' and- he council of ihe Borough of Hol- i born have been wrangling over LiCC. j [proposals \o change the names of ; I miany streets in Holborn Borough in order to less: n duplications, writes J Hayden Church from London to the i I New York TimeJ. There are 127 Church Stree s and | : roads w hin the whole me.ropqlitan ■ i area. The.e are- sixty-tfour l '.reels, ■ I . oads, avenues, and “gardens” in Lon. , ■don which be- r the names of Albert, i lin honour of the Prince Carsort of j I Queen Victoria. Victorii.’s name is j | borne bj r al.nos-t as many stree. s, i road's (there are •twenly-s’x Victoria I rto ds alone), squares, and buildings. Of Chapel Stree s, London possesses i hirty_se.cn: of Albion Stree twin- j , y-six; of Albany Streels, nineteen -Nine 1 we Lanes are rev< aled by a list of nie.rcpulltan stree s issued re- | c.'iitly. | In spite of the fad th? t such dupli- ; ’cations lead to endless confusion, | shrieks of protest go up, ei.her from I local authorities or from dwellers in ' the street itself, whenever the b.C.C. decid-es to rename a 'thorougluare. Sqc.ions of one of London’s main thoroughfares, are named. Holborn, j High Holborn, and- Holborn Viaduct. ! The L.C.C. has issued notice that | part of High Holborn and all of two I streets that are continuations of it I shall be known after July 1 as St. Giles II gh Street Reel estate agents ' vainly prote-s ed 'that thus to rename ’ portion of High Holborn will lead [ to i slump in property values there i ' honkeepe's objected, saying that ‘hey went therein cause High Hol- | 0111 is a good address. I Incidentally, -he L.C.C. is gradujt.lly eliminating the confusion bei Ween the "Gre ts” and ths “L'ttles" :n the, names of Londons s‘ree -s. The latest 'to go is Little Sliaffron Hill, a la.r.c-w street, hardly more than a ! ■ou. t, hat juts out of ths side of ‘ Cl rkenwell Road. Type, the London his'torian, d?cribed Little Saffron Hill in 1720 a'. ' “of small account bo h as to build- j ngs and inhabitants, and pes'-ered with small and ordinary alleys and coui.s taken up by th© maaner sort f people, while others are nasty and incom-iderable.” Time has not served to in ke he street less grim, although its inhabitants are more law-abiding 'han a few generations a-.-o when the lergy of the parish in which it lies i-needed police protection. The s reel's new name, “Herbal tl’U.” is in honour of a book, “Herb- i al,” writ, en in 1597 by the herbalist i Gerard, who li d a physic-garden near by. Many rare plants grew in ho w.lderness surrounding his house, .’.nd these are mentioned in his work. Gerard practised surgery in London and found time to superin'olid the gardens of Lord Burghley, Sir Walter Raleigh, and o hers who were “much I smitten with the useful and agfeeabl: study of botany.” In the oldest part of London, the so-called City, there is little duplication of street names. But in tile City I one finds such edd examples of s rset nomenclaiure as Hanging s.‘ord Alley, Ad .io Hill, St. Mary Axe, Idol Lane, and 4-ye Foot Lane.