What are the origins of the strange names of London underground stations?

If it is the first time to see the map of the London Underground, you will find that its imagination is not only reflected in the breakthrough design. The name of the subway station is also very strange, even a bit odd. Some of these names seem to be more suitable for medieval fantasy novels (Knightsbridge, Queen's Road) or children's books (Piccadilly Circus, Elephant Castle)-some names will still make Londoners laugh (Shepard Bush, Kirkforth), but these names are not only used to create imagination for people crossing the London Underground, but some names even date back to 1000 years ago. We chose our favorite names 10 to explore their real origins.

In the process of historical development, the name is missing an "n" (source: Alamy).

CoventGarden: The name of this subway station (as well as the surrounding shopping malls, opera houses and residential areas) seems to need no explanation, if it weren't for the disappearance of the "N" after the birth of the Middle Ages. In the13rd century, it was still an orchard and garden separated by a fence, belonging to the monks of Westminster Abbey. They called it "monastery and monastery garden", and later it naturally evolved into "monastery garden" During the dissolution of the monastery, it was seized and distributed by Henry VIII, and then became a residential area-in the17th century, people's impression of it was quite different from its original religious origin. It became a famous red light district, and william hogarth also created a sculpture for Rosentafern brothel here. After cleaning up, it has now become the most famous tourist attraction in London, and Covent Garden has also become the location of the subway station of the same name on the Piccadilly Line.

It seems that the name alone is not enough. There is really an elephant castle sculpture in front of the shopping center outside the subway station (source: Alamy).

Elephant Castle (Elephant &; Castle): This is a whimsical (and confusing) subway station name. It is located in the south of London, and this strange name probably comes from the worship of knives company, a medieval craftsman association that specializes in making swords. They were awarded medals on 1622, with an elephant and a castle. It is generally believed that an elephant refers to ivory used to make hilts. What does the castle mean? It may be to show the huge body of elephants, because few people in medieval Europe have seen elephants. However, because these swordsmen may have provided weapons to Henry V in the decisive battle of Ginkul in 14 15, some people think that elephants carrying castles are a sign of support for the country.

But Cyril Mharis has a great meaning in his book What's in a Name? Anyway, when a pub named Elephant Castle appeared here in the18th century, it seemed to pay tribute to the swordsmen here. Knife makers may have left here long ago, and the pub may have been demolished at 1959, but their influence is still reflected in the surrounding shopping centers-the front door of the pub is now located there-and the name of the station, where the north passenger route and the north line meet.

Even serious Londoners can see the sense of humor contained in this name (source: Wikipedia Shared Resources).

Cockfosters: This name may sound indecent, but surprisingly, its origin is very royal. As the terminal of Piccadilly Line from south to north (and the name of the surrounding suburbs), Cork Foster was once the seat of Enfield Chase in enfield, a royal park with nearly 8,000 acres of land and 3,000 deer-there are also some forest rangers living here, who are responsible for protecting the park from illegal logging. The title of chief ranger is Cockforest. Cockfoster's earliest written records can be traced back to 1524. 16 13 recorded a house with the same name, which may be the residence of the chief ranger.

Strangely, this name is closely related to a Saxon leader, but has nothing to do with whistling (source: Alamy).

TootingBec: There may be many cars and buses in the Tooting community in the south of London (where London Mayor Sadiq Khan lives), but as an area along the North Line of London, the names of Tooting Wide Street and Tooting Bec are derived from the noise Toot generated by this modern means of transportation. Its real origin can be traced back to 1, more than 300 years ago.

When the Anglo-Saxons conquered England in the 5th century, they not only changed the society here, but also changed the language-we now call it Old English. Up to now, you can still see the brand of that era on the map, not only in London, but also in the whole UK. The Anglo-Saxon suffix "-ham" (such as Birmingham) means home, while "-ton" (such as brinton) means farmland. In addition, "-ing" means belonging to someone or having a relationship with someone and their subordinates. Therefore, Paddington means farmland belonging to Pada and its tribes, while Kennington belongs to farmland belonging to Cēna people-while Tooting, which was first recorded in the 7th century, belongs to Tota or its friends.

The second half of Tooting Bec's name comes from this big monastery in Normandy, France (source: Alamy).

But when the Normans conquered England in 1066, they confiscated the Saxon land, gave it to their supporters ... and gave it a new name. One of them is the Baker-Heroin Monastery in Normandy, which acquired a piece of land that once belonged to the Saxon leader Tota. These factors are combined to form today's seemingly meaningless name: Tooting Bec.

Although it sounds tall, the name Knightsbridge may have nothing to do with knights (Source: Alamy)

Knightsbridge: Today, there is a subway station with the same name in this area of west London, which is famous for its high housing prices and high-end shopping malls (both Harrods Department Store and Harvey Nichols Company have opened flagship stores here). But although the name sounds tall, Knightsbridge-first recorded as Cnihtebricge in 1046, and later evolved into KNYGHTSEBRUGG-in 1364-reminds people of that hard past.

The word bridge comes from the old English word "bryc?" The meaning is the same as now. This refers to a bridge across the Seaborn River-one of the many "lost rivers" in London, which was diverted by the sewer system built in the19th century. And "knight" refers to a boy or a young man, especially one who is employed by others. Young people here may be hired to maintain or defend the bridge. It is also possible that they are just hanging around here: "As for the place name Knightsbridge, there is an explanation that local young people often hang around here." Caroline Taga, author of Place Names of London, wrote. In the following centuries, the situation at Knightsbridge did not improve. Because of its remoteness, lepers and butchers live here one after another. In the18th century, it even became a paradise for robbers.

Even in the early19th century (as shown in this printed document of 1820), Knightsbridge was still an isolated outpost in London (source: Alamy).

Maida Vale: If the name reminds you of the milkmaid and the lush valleys in England, you are only half right. This low-lying area is indeed called "valley" by the locals, but this subway station in west London and the surrounding community have nothing to do with "girls". Since the British like irony, that's not bad. For example, Maiden Lane in Sasik District is named after many brothels. In fact, Maida is a small town in Calabria, Italy, which is famous all over the world because the British defeated Napoleon's allies in a local war in 1806. (The names of Waterloo Station and Trafalgar Square also come from similar victories. ) A pub called "Maida Hero" is also to commemorate the victory. Although the pub disappeared later, it spread its name to this street and this station on Paddington Line at 19 15.

The name of this station has nothing to do with girls (source: Alamy)

Oldgate: Nowadays, in Oldgate, east London, high-rise buildings and bustling streets covered with glass curtain walls can be seen everywhere. However, both Ward and the two nearby subway stations-Oldgate Station, where the metropolitan line and the ring line meet, and Oldgate East Station, where hammersmith meets the city line and the regional line-were named in those years, and the situation is very different from now. Around the year 190, London was then known as London, a city ruled by the Romans. The original city had six gates, one of which was located here. These city gates (and city walls) have been repaired several times and have been preserved until the18th century. The door here is called Aldgate.

Although Aldgate looks modern-its name is not modern at all (source: Alamy).

There are two possible explanations. One is that the name comes from "all-gate", because this door is different from other doors and is free (so it comes from "open to all"). The other is that there is a pub here that provides ale for people who have just arrived in this city-so this door is called "ale door". In the 65438+60s, in order to alleviate the congestion, the gate itself was demolished. But with the completion of Murgate and Aldgate subway stations (not to mention Bishop's Gate Square, Xinmen Street and Rudmen Mountain), they have become common words in Londoners' daily commuting.

Thousands of people pass by Piccadilly Circus Station every day, but few people know that its name comes from a joke hundreds of years ago (source: Alamy).

Piccadilly Circus: Don't just think about acrobats and dancing dogs. The name of this subway station (also a landmark in London) comes from another meaning of "circus"-the intersection of many streets, not from the circus that has long been forgotten. This can also explain the origin of the name of the Oxford Square subway station half a mile away. But the other half of its name comes from a joke hundreds of years ago.

Piccadilly is a big ruffled collar, which was popular at the end of 16 and the beginning of 17-just look at the portrait of Queen Elizabeth I ... A tailor named robert baker in London made a fortune by making big ruffled collars ... and he also spent money on16/kloc-0. For a "humble" tailor, this house is obviously a bit too luxurious, so people call it Piccadilly Hall. This humorous remark has been handed down all the time: until 18 19, there was a crossroads here, which was naturally named Piccadilly Circus. The subway station built by 1906 also uses this name.

The name of this subway station and this road is to commemorate the Queen's happy childhood (source: Wikipedia Shared Resources).

Queen's Road: The subway station on the central line and the street where it is located are named Queen's Road, not in general, but specifically Queen Victoria. As you can probably imagine, the longest-serving monarch at that time (this record was not broken by Queen Elizabeth II until 20 15) was also commemorated in various ways. There is a lot of traffic, including Victoria Station, Victoria Line and many road names. But there is a sweet story on Queen's Road: Queen Victoria spent her childhood in Kensington Palace, where she often rode horses. After she acceded to the throne, she changed her name to commemorate herself.

Does this name come from a pruned hawthorn forest? (Source: Alamy)

Shepherd'sBush: There are two subway stations in this place in west London, one is Shepherd's Bush Station on the central line, and the other is Shepherd Bush Market Station where the ring line meets the regional line. Although people come and go here, extending in all directions, it used to be a village far from the center of London. It is precisely because of this that this strange name is explained: "Sheppard's Bush" refers to the shelter built by shepherds by pruning hawthorn trees. However, some people say that this place name comes from a person's name (recorded as Bush Green of Shepard in 1635)-of course, this seems to evade the crux of the problem: Who is Shepard? What makes his Bush so famous?