Discovering London Street Names

Londoners and tourists alike probably wonder about the meaning of such street names as Piccadilly, Pall Mall, Old Bailey, Houndsditch and Crutched Friars. John Wittich explains the origins of these and many other London street names which can reveal unsuspected facts about the history of the area, which occasionally dates back to Saxon times. Apparently straightforward names are not always what they seem: Cannon Street was once Candlewick Street, where the candlemakers dwelt, and Bunhill Row is "bone hill", where human remains from St Paul"s Cathedral were reinterred after its destruction in the Great Fire.