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The decision to prefix some 'High Street's with the name of the local town or village was probably taken by the General Post Office in order to reduce ambiguity in addressing letters. They did something similar with the names of some towns (adding 'by sea' or 'on Thames' for example).

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Where I live, there is a suburb called Crookes - one of the oldest settlements in the area, called Krkor by the Vikings - which has a high street named Crookes. Not Crookes High Street, or Crookes Road - just Crookes. Confuses the hell out of delivery drivers and people new to the area (and of course the locals become belligerent if you dare refer to it as "Crookes High Street"). The road itself is over 1000 years old, according to local records.

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