 The name was first recorded in 1002 as <unk> , then in <unk> as <unk> and in 1220 as la <unk> . It is formed from the Old English word ' <unk> ' , meaning the edge of a river . Initially it referred to the shallow bank of the once much wider Thames , before the construction of the Victoria <unk> . The name was later applied to the road itself . In the 13th century it was known as ' <unk> ' or ' street of the Danes ' , referring to the community of Danes in the area . 
