Mepham Street is one of the last hold-outs of these streets named after Archbishops - most others were redeveloped after the Second World War and disappeared from the map.

Mepham Street was named after Simon Mepeham, Archbishop of Canterbury from 1329 to 1333. It replaced the eastern end of Vine Street in the late nineteenth century.

The initial Waterloo Bridge Act included a provision for extending Stamford Street across Waterloo Road to Westminster Bridge Road. This new road, initially known as Stamford Street but later renamed York Road, was constructed on land that was part of the Archbishop’s Lambeth manor. Aside from a few cottages along Narrow Wall and Phelps’ soap factory, which was located to the east of Narrow Wall (between Belvedere Road and York Road, adjacent to Waterloo Road), the land was largely undeveloped. It was divided into fields, including Float Mead, The Twenty-one Acres, and The Seven Acres, by open ditches.

In 1807, an Act was obtained by the Archbishop to authorise the development of this land for building. York Road was constructed in 1824, and between 1825 and 1830, nearly the entire frontage on both sides of the road was leased for building purposes. The turnpike, situated roughly across from the present entrance to the tube station, was removed around 1848.