 It is noted in the "Domesday Book" as being called "Legesdun" and the name is thought to be derived from the Anglo-Saxon words "Leswe" (pasture) and "Dun" (hill).A very small hamlet up to late Victorian times, it was developed a little after the arrival of the Sheppey Light Railway in 1903, though grand plans for the establishment of a large resort with hotels never materialised.The railway was closed in the 1950s.