Named after St James Street in Walthamstow.
The street was home to St James's church, built in 1842 on a site given by the vicar of St Mary's and S. R. Bosanquet. It was rebuilt in 1902–3, and the new church was demolished some sixty years later. Walthamstow, Wilcumestou in the Domesday Book of 1086, means the place of welcome.