Despite its elegance, Knightsbridge likely does not get its name from anything to do with knights (Credit: Alamy)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Knightsbridge:<\/strong>\u00a0Today, this area of west London, with the Tube stop of the same name, is known for its pricey flats and upmarket stores (both Harrods and Harvey Nichols have their flagships here). But as appropriately noble as it sounds, the name Knightsbridge \u2013 first recorded in 1046 as Cnihtebricge, evolving into Knyghtsebrugg by 1364 \u2013 recalls a much rougher past.<\/p>\n

The word \u2018bridge\u2019 comes from Old English \u2018bryc\u0121\u2019, of the same meaning. Here, it refers to a crossing over the West Bourne River \u2013 one of the \u2018lost rivers\u2019 of London, which was re-routed through an underground sewer in the 19th Century. A \u2018knight\u2019, on the other hand, meant a boy or young man, particularly one in someone\u2019s employment. The young men referred to here might have been employed to keep up \u2013 or even defend \u2013 the bridge. Or perhaps they just loitered: \u201cone explanation for the name Knightsbridge is that it was a place where the local yoof hung out\u201d, writes Caroline Taggart in The Book of London Place Names. Things didn\u2019t go much better for Knightsbridge over the ensuing centuries, when it was seen as out of the way enough to house lepers, slaughter animals or \u2013 in the 18th Century \u2013 for highwaymen to hold up passersby.<\/p>\n