Named after the street, recorded as Ealdestrate around 1200.
It was Eldestrete in 1275 and le Oldestrete in 1373: already the 'old street' in the Middle Ages. It has never been conclusively shown, but the road is probably Roman in origin. It lies on the route of an old Roman, or possibly pre-Roman, track that linked Silchester and Colchester, skirting round the walls of Londinium.