Mare Street is a street in the London Borough of Hackney. It has existed since the 15th century, when it was one of the first roads at the centre of the parish. It was then known as Merestret. The word mere was either the Old English mǣre meaning a boundary — referring to the boundary with the parish of Stepney — or mere, a large pond which was fed by Hackney Brook.[1][2][3]
- ^ John Wittich (1996), Discovering London Street Names, p. 80, ISBN 0747803099,
Mare Street, E8 A large pond fed by the Hackney Brook caused constant trouble to coaches and their passengers in the eighteenth century. Because of its low-lying nature the area around Mare Street was a marsh and the street is called Mere (marsh) Street on early maps.
- ^ Why Mare Street? A Short Index of Street Names, Hackney Public Libraries, 1967
- ^ David Mander (1989), The London Borough of Hackney in old photographs before 1914, p. 23, ISBN 9780862996772,
The name Mare Street is derived from the Middle English Meare, meaning a boundary and referring to the original settlement...