Leyton is an Anglo-Saxon word for “Farm on the Lea”. The River Lea passes through it. Since it was close to the City of London many rich merchants built houses here in the 16th and 17th centuries. It was originally part of the Forest of Essex. It contained marshland near the river. The Leyton Marshes were drained in the 19th century and railway yards and other industrial concerns were constructed there. Industrialisation led to the construction of houses for workers on the land. Parliament passed the Epping Forest Act in 1878 which preserved 200 acres of open land in Leyton as public parkland. The council bought the remaining land in Leyton Marshes in 1905 for public use. Leyton was quite severely damaged by bombing in the Second World War and extensively rebuilt afterwards.

The most sought-after properties are in the Barclay Estate which is north of Leyton Midland Road station and east of Leyton High Road. The roads from Colchester Road to Lea Bridge Road contain terraced houses, either as single family homes or as flats. There also some blocks of flats including Brockway Close and Silks Court.