Warwick Road. After the Earls of Warwick, owners of the Earl’s Court estate before it passed to the Holland family.
Washington. Laid out under the superintendence of George Washington, the first President of the United States. This seat of the Government was honoured with his name.
Water Lane. Prior to the construction of Victoria Street this winding lane led down to the Thames.
Waterloo Bridge. So called because it was declared open 18th June 1817, the anniversary of the battle of Waterloo.
Waterloo Park. After Sir Sidney Waterloo, who presented it to the public.
Waterloo Place. So called as a military set-off to Trafalgar Square when the Duke of York’s column was erected by public subscription in 1833. The statues of famous British generals around this open space are quite in keeping with the design.
Water Poet. The literary sobriquet of John Taylor, who was a Thames waterman.
Watling Street. A corruption of Vitellina Strata, “the road of Vitellius,” so called because this great Roman highway from Dover to Cardigan in Wales was projected by the Emperor Vitellius, and those portions of it in London and elsewhere were constructed during his reign.
Watteau. See “[Á la Watteau].”
Way Down. An Americanism for “down the way to” e.g.--“Way down the lone churchyard.”