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the history of Leyton and Leytonstone
from . dot to … dots – with plenty of spaces
The Romano-British period
Agriculture and settlement
The right-angle bend in Church Road is an old feature and Roman coins were found in its inner angle. A large subterranean structure was found nearby, in the grounds of Grange House, now Grange park Road, which was interpreted in the 18th century as Roman but sadly was not preserved. In 1978 agricultural features of 4th century date were found south-west of the Grange 1. Roman ditches have been found to the south of Knotts Green (site of Livingstone College Tower) 2. Could the area between what are now Church Road and Lea Bridge Road have been a Roman agricultural estate ?
‘Leytonstone’ was named after a roadside stone, reputed to be Roman and known as the ‘High Stone’ because of its position on high ground.
Roman tesserae (mosaic tiling pieces) were found on what is now the Matalans store on Leytonstone High Road 3.
1 National Monuments Record report 404475 apparently from Eleanor Scott ‘A Gazetteer of Roman Villas in Britain’ 1993 and NMR report 959820 references in the Essex Journal vol 14 no 3 p 15-70, Britannia, The London Archaeologist and Essex Archaeology and History.
2 Pre-Construct Archaeology report by Joanna Taylor (Peter Moore manager) for site code BEU04, grid reference TQ 3785 8770 : the Beaumont estate
