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. Leytonstone was quite severely damaged by bombing in the Second World War and extensively rebuilt afterwards.

The Bushwood Estate, named after Bush Wood running round the edge of Wanstead Flats, is the most desirable area for homes. It takes in the streets between Bush Wood and High Road Leytonstone and includes Barclay, Leyspring and Leybourne Roads. The houses are mainly large Victorian terraced houses. Another popular area is Upper Leytonstone, where Forest Drive East and Forest Drive West and the roads surrounding them, have large houses within a short distance of Epping Forest.