 During Roman Britain , what is now the Strand was part of the route to <unk> , known as " <unk> VIII " on the <unk> <unk> , and which later became known by the name <unk> Street . It was briefly part of a trading town called <unk> that developed around 600 AD , and stretched from Trafalgar Square to Aldwych . Alfred the Great gradually moved the settlement into the old Roman town of <unk> from around <unk> AD onwards , leaving no mark of the old town , and the area returned to fields . 
