Location
Wilcumestowe
Walthamstow village is centred around St.Mary's ChurchWalthamstow was first recorded c. 1075 as Wilcumestowe - "Welcome place" and in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Wilcumestou.
The original Saxon village is believed to have been situated in Shernhall Street, where there was a stream. Later the village developed around the church, the manor house and the inn. South westwards from the crossroads by the church were the grasslands of the Church common called 'Berryfields', where the railway line now passes through and Orford Road is located. The arrival of the Great Eastern railway in 1869/70 accelerated the already rapid urbanisation of the areas as fields, commons and the grounds of the great houses were transformed into the terraced streets of Walthamstow that we know today.
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