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Horsleydown

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Originally referred to as Horseydown or Horsedown, Horsleydown (sometimes spelled Horselydown) was located on the southern bank of the Thames, just east of Tooley Street (Surrey Archaeological Society 156, 167). Horsleydown’s name appears to derive from its original function as a large grazing field for cattle and horses (Walford). While Horsleydown remained a pastural setting in Stow’s time, by the nineteenth century the area had become crowded with wharfs and warehouses, granaries and factories, mills, breweries, and places of business of all kinds (Noorthouck; Surrey Archaeological Society 156). Horsleydown is labelled Horſsey downe on the Agas map, Horſy Downe on the 1661 edition of Newcourt and Faithorne’s map (London), and Horsley Down on Rocque and Pine’s 1746 map (A Plan of the Cities of London and Westminster, and Borough of Southwark with Contiguous Buildings). All three maps similarly depict a large open field near the Horsleydown label.
For more information, see the Surrey Archeological Society’s chapter On the History of Horselydown.

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