Leyton

Leyton
Town
High Road, Leyton
Leyton Location within Greater London
Population	14,184 (2011 Census. Ward)[1]
OS grid reference	TQ375865
London borough	Waltham Forest
Ceremonial county	Greater London
Region	London
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	LONDON
Postcode district	E10, E15, E20
Dialling code	020
Police	Metropolitan
Fire	London
Ambulance	London
UK Parliament	Leyton & Wanstead
London Assembly	North East
List of places UK England London 51°34′12″N 0°00′54″W / 51.570°N 0.015°W / 51.570; -0.015

Leyton (/ˈleɪtən/) is a town in East London, England, within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It borders Walthamstow to the north, Leytonstone to the east, and Stratford to the south, with Clapton, Hackney Wick and Homerton, across the River Lea, to the west. The area includes New Spitalfields Market, Leyton Orient Football Club, as well as part of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. The town consists largely of terraced houses built between 1870 and 1910, interspersed with some modern housing estates. It is 6.2 miles (10 km) north-east of Charing Cross.

It was historically part of the ancient parish of Leyton St Mary in the Becontree hundred and part of the ancient county of Essex. The town expanded rapidly in the late 19th century, forming part of the conurbation of London and becoming a suburb, similar to much of south-west Essex. It became part of the Metropolitan Police District in 1839 and has been part of the London postal district since its inception in 1856. The parish became an urban district in 1894 and gained municipal borough status in 1926. In 1965, it merged with the neighbouring municipal boroughs of Walthamstow and Chingford to form the London Borough of Waltham Forest, a local government district of Greater London.^[2]

The town has become one of the most ethnically diverse areas in England, with 69 per cent of residents belonging to a non-British ethnic background. Once a traditional, working class area, it is undergoing large-scale regeneration and gentrification, with large numbers of young professionals moving into the area.^{[citation needed]}