Toponymy
The River Ching runs through the area, and the town of Chingford is close to a number of crossings of that river. However, old maps and descriptions give a name for the settlement long before the river has a name and it is likely that the name of the river as "Ching" arose long after the settlement was named. It is also thought that, similarly to how Kingston upon Thames appears in Domesday Book of 1086 as Chingestone and Chingetun(e), with ching being old English for king, that Chingford could refer to the King's river, and Kings Ford. This idea is compounded by the Queen Elizabeth Hunting Lodge and links to royalty using the area for hunting in centuries gone by. However, the most generally accepted explanation by place name genealogists is that the settlement's name has its origin as "Shingly Ford"—that is, a ford over a waterway containing shingles.
Read more about this topic: Chingford