87-674: The Tower Theatre Company is a performing non-professional acting group based in a building in Northwold Road, Stoke Newington , having moved there in April 2018 from the St Bride Institute (on the site of the former Bridewell Palace ), in the City of London . The group presents about 18 productions each year in London, either at their base theatre, or at other small theatres in the London area. During
174-561: A 156-seat theatre known as the Tower Theatre. Over the years it has mounted nearly 1600 productions. The Tower Theatre's productions have always been mounted in publicly licensed theatres with tickets sold to the general public rather than simply to members. The company mounted early productions of Endgame by Samuel Beckett (1961, the first ever production to be designed by William Dudley ) and The Birthday Party by Harold Pinter (May 1959). Both playwrights became major supporters of
261-466: A London parish), is Abney Park Cemetery , one of the most splendid and enlightened Victorian London cemeteries. It is the main London burial ground for 19th-century nonconformist ministers and William Booth , founder of the Salvation Army , is buried here. It is now a nature reserve. Abney Park was scheduled in 2009 as one of Britain's historic parks and gardens at risk from neglect and decay. Across
348-579: A London taxi, is derived from the village name. (Hackney, associated with high-stepping horses and horse-drawn carriages, is the root of the French word haquenée , a term used for a small breed of horse, and the Sardinian achetta horse.) Construction of the railway in the 1850s ended Hackney's rural reputation by connecting it to other parts of the city and stimulating development. London's first Tudor theatres were built at Shoreditch . The Gunpowder Plot
435-996: A center of Hackney's many Orthodox Jewish residents from the 1930s. Alfred Hitchcock made many of his first films in Hoxton at the Gainsborough Studios in Poole Street. The interwar era saw the building of social housing by the LCC and the borough council in the area including the Kingsmead Estate, Morningside Estate, Banister House and Nisbet House. The borough also includes housing projects developed by high-profile postwar architects including The Beckers (1958) by Sir Frederick Gibberd , Granard House (1959) by Colin St John Wilson and Pitcairn House (1962) by Eric Lyons . Following extensive post-war development and immigration since
522-637: A change to the boundaries of these two constituencies were published by the Boundary Commission in July 2023. The borough was formed by the merger of the metropolitan boroughs of Hackney , Shoreditch and Stoke Newington , with the boundaries of these very closely based on the Ancient Parishes of the same name; these areas have been consistently defined for many centuries. Historically, the River Lea formed
609-519: A direct hit. The memorial to all the residents of the Borough who died in the air raids, including local Jewish people, can be seen in Abney Park Cemetery . Like Hackney, Stoke Newington avoided most of the later V-weapon attacks, which fell disproportionately on South London; seven V-1s and two V-2s hit the borough. Most of the historic buildings at the heart of Stoke Newington survived, at least in
696-590: A framework for both civil (administrative) and ecclesiastical (church) functions, but during the 19th century there was a divergence into distinct civil and ecclesiastical parish systems. In London the Ecclesiastical Parishes subdivided to better serve the needs of a growing population, while the Civil Parishes continued to be based on the Ancient Parish areas. The Metropolis Management Act 1855 merged
783-549: A home to many water birds and a population of terrapins . These lakes—purportedly the remains of clay pits dug for the bricks used in the building of Clissold House—are all that is left to mark the course of the Hackney Brook , one of London's lost rivers, which once flowed from west to east across Stoke Newington on its way to the River Lea . In flood at this point, the brook was known to span 10 metres. The two lakes are not fed from
870-526: A late Victorian and Edwardian suburb, Stoke Newington prospered, and continued in relative affluence and civic pride with its own municipal government until changes brought about by the Second World War. Between 1935 and 1937, the curved brick and Portland stone Town Hall was built for the Metropolitan Borough of Stoke Newington by J. Reginald Truelove. During World War II, much of the area
957-453: A reparable state. Two notable exceptions are the classically grand parish church of West Hackney, St James's, on Stoke Newington Road, which dated to 1824, and St Faith's , a Victorian Gothic church by William Burges . Both were so severely damaged, the former in the October 1940 bombing, and the latter by a flying bomb in 1944, that they were entirely demolished. St James's was replaced after
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#17328589914881044-413: A towering Scottish castle. To the south of these facilities is Clissold Park , which contains a small menagerie, aviary and Clissold Mansion, a Grade II listed building , built in the 1790s for Jonathan Hoare, a local Quaker and brother of Samuel Hoare . East from here and past the two Church of England parish churches, both called St Mary's (Stoke Newington decided to retain the old one , unusual in
1131-439: A weak correlation with woodland cover, especially in the early post-Conquest Period. By the time of the earliest reliable maps, in the 18th century, the area covered by the modern borough was an agricultural area characterised by enclosed farmland with small hamlets and very little woodland. There were a number of commons, most of which survived to become the basis of modern parks. Many of the major roads were present by this time,
1218-736: A weakly or partially understood extent and it is not unusual for perceptions of place to overlap or change over time. The area of the former parish and borough of Stoke Newington includes the Woodberry Down area, while the former parish and borough of Shoreditch includes Hoxton and Haggerston . The former parish and borough of Hackney is much larger and includes Hackney Central , Hackney Downs , West Hackney , Dalston , De Beauvoir Town , Shacklewell , Stamford Hill , London Fields , Upper and Lower Clapton , Hackney Wick and Homerton . The London Borough of Hackney covers an area of 19.06 km (7.36 sq mi), rising westward from
1305-465: Is an area in the northwest part of the London Borough of Hackney , England. The area is five miles (eight kilometres) northeast of Charing Cross . The Manor of Stoke Newington gave its name to Stoke Newington , the ancient parish. The historic core on Stoke Newington Church Street retains the distinct London village character that led Nikolaus Pevsner to write in 1953 that he found it hard to see
1392-421: Is included in the bills of mortality, tho' no where joining to London, it is in some respects to be call'd a part of it. This town is so remarkable for the retreat of wealthy citizens, that there is at this time near a hundred coaches kept in it; tho' I will not join with a certain satyrical author, who said of Hackney, that there were more coaches than Christians in it. The parish church of St John-at-Hackney
1479-489: Is now based there. The space was turned into "a performance space and production base for the company" thanks to a fundraising campaign. A former Methodist chapel built in 1875, the building was damaged during World War II. In 1953, it was repaired and renovated by the congregation Beth Hamedrash Ohel Yisroel and consecrated as the Northwold Road Synagogue on 18 December 1955. It closed again in 1989. The building
1566-499: Is the oldest surviving dwelling in Hackney, originally built in 1535 as Bryck Place for Sir Ralph Sadleir , a diplomat. The village of Hackney flourished from the Tudor to late Georgian periods as a rural retreat. The first documented " hackney coach "—the forerunner of the more generic " hackney carriage "—operated in London in 1621. Current opinion is that the name "hackney", to refer to
1653-492: The British Royal Family , replicated as a mural on the building. By 2009 it had become a tourist attraction, but Hackney Council wanted to remove all graffiti from the area and tried to contact the building owner to gain her agreement to remove the artwork. Unable to reach her due to incorrect Land Registry records, they started painting over the artwork with black paint. They were stopped after they had partly covered
1740-470: The Hack element may also derive from: Given the island context, the "hatch" option is unlikely to be correct, so the favoured "Haka's Island" or the "Island on the bend" seem more likely. The place name will have originally referred to just the island or possibly both the island and the manor of the same name based around it. Subsequently, the name Hackney was applied to the whole ancient parish of Hackney. In
1827-575: The Hackney Marshes to straighten a meander of the natural river. In Roman times and for a long time after, the River Lea was an estuary, tidal as far as Hackney Wick . At Hackney Wick the Hackney Brook met the Lea ; the confluence was very wide when flooded. Hackney Brook was fully culverted in 1860 by the Metropolitan Board of Works . The New River was opened in 1613, diverting water from
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#17328589914881914-622: The Museum of London excavating the site, prior to construction, announced that they had found the footings of a polygonal structure which they believe to be the remains of the north-eastern corner of the foundations of the first permanent theatre ever built in England . In 2018, the Tower Theatre Company found and purchased a building in Stoke Newington, formerly known as Sunstone House, and
2001-645: The New River Head in Finsbury , but since 1946 its main flow has ended at Stoke Newington reservoirs. The river bank, the New River Path , can be walked for some distance to the north through Haringey and on to its source near Hertford . Stoke Newington East and West Reservoirs were constructed in 1833 to hold water prior to treatment in the New River Company's filter beds on the other side of Green Lanes, in
2088-505: The River Lea . In the 19th century it was discovered that Stoke Newington Common and Abney Park Cemetery had been part of a Neolithic working area for axe-making, some examples of which can be seen in the Museum of London . In the Middle Ages and Tudor times, it was a very small village a few miles from the city of London, frequently visited by wayfarers as a pit stop before journeying north, Stoke Newington High Street being part of
2175-512: The South Hornsey exclaves of Hornsey , with a population about 20,000, with Stoke Newington. While this still created a borough of only about 50,000 inhabitants, and thus "the smallest borough in London, the anomaly would be a gradually diminishing one, because the population in this district was rapidly increasing. When dividing London up into boroughs they could not avoid creating some anomalies as to size." The modern London Borough of Hackney
2262-423: The 'East' sub-region, while the 2008 and 2004 versions assigned the borough to "North" and "East" sub-regions respectively. The modern borough was formed in 1965 by the merger of the Metropolitan Borough of Hackney with the much smaller Metropolitan Boroughs of Stoke Newington and Shoreditch . Hackney is bounded by Islington to the west, Haringey to the north, Waltham Forest to the north-east, Newham to
2349-427: The 1843 home of architect and district surveyor John Young , is the last-surviving (though now ruined and derelict) of several grand detached houses built in the area around that time for well-off members of the new commuter class. Gibson Gardens , an early example of quality tenement buildings erected for the housing of 'the industrious classes', was built off Stoke Newington High Street in 1880 and still stands. As
2436-530: The A10 from Gracechurch Street meeting house in the city. A meeting house was built in Park Street (now Yoakley Road) by William Alderson , who later designed Hanwell Pauper and Lunatic Asylum . The Anglican St Mary's Church , designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott in 1854–58, replaced the older parish church (also St. Mary's), which survives on the opposite side of Church Street. St Mary's Lodge on Lordship Road,
2523-564: The Anglo-Saxon period, the River Lea separated the core territories of the East Saxons (on the east side) from the Middle Saxons (on the western, Hackney side) they often controlled. This continuity of this natural boundary from pre-Roman period may be a result of the differing Saxon groups taking control of pre-defined territories. After both areas were brought under the control of Alfred
2610-609: The Cambridge road (A10). At this date the whole manor was owned by St. Paul's Cathedral and yielded a small income, enough to support part of their work. During the 17th century the Cathedral sold the Manor to William Patten, who became the first Lord of the Manor . His initials 'WP' and the motto 'ab alto' can be seen inscribed above the doorway of the old church next to Clissold Park . A century later, it passed to Lady Mary Abney who drew up
2697-510: The Civil Parishes of Hackney and Stoke Newington into a new Hackney District . This proved very unpopular, especially in more affluent Stoke Newington , and after four unsuccessful attempts the two parishes regained their independence when they were separated by mutual consent under the Metropolis Management (Plumstead and Hackney) Act of 1893. The London Government Act 1899 converted the parishes into Metropolitan Boroughs based on
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2784-637: The Diocese of London. This broad area comprised many estates, stretching from the Manor of Stepney in the east (of which neighbouring Hackney was a part), to Willesden in the west and Hornsey in the north. The Manor is recorded, as Neutone , in the Domesday Book of 1086, as part of the Ossulstone hundred of the county of Middlesex . Domesday also records that the Manor was held by St Paul's both before and after
2871-635: The Great , the river became the boundary between the historic counties of Middlesex (Hackney) and Essex (modern Newham , Waltham Forest and Redbridge ). In the Tudor period , the lands of religious orders were seized by the Crown and put up for sale. Thus Hackney became a retreat for the nobility around Hackney Central and Homerton . Henry VIII 's Palace was by Lea Bridge roundabout , where BSix Sixth Form College stands today. Sutton House , on Homerton High Street,
2958-746: The Iron Age and probably until after the Roman period (as the Romans used tribal territories as administrative sub-divisions), the River Lea was considered to separate the territories of the Catuvellauni to the west of the river from the Trinovantes to the east. The Romans built the Roman road , Ermine Street , which runs through the modern borough under the names Shoreditch High Street and Kingsland Road , among others. In
3045-810: The Lea catchment to create a source of drinking water for London. The New River still passes through the borough, close to Finsbury Park and flows towards Islington . Another man-made feature, the Regents Canal also crosses the borough to the south of De Beauvoir Town in the west, joining the Hertford Union Canal below Victoria Park. Much of Hackney retains an inner-city character, but in such places as Dalston large housing estates have been joined by newly developed gated communities . In South Hackney , near Victoria Park , terraced Georgian , Victorian and Edwardian housing still survives. Light industries in
3132-552: The Lea to reach 30 m (98 ft) above sea level at Clapton Common and Stamford Hill . The area around Victoria Park , in the south of the borough lies about 15 metres (49 feet) above sea level. After the Norman Conquest the area became part of the Forest of Middlesex , which covered much of the county , but this gives rise to misunderstanding, as in this context "Forest" is a legal term referring to royal hunting rights and had
3219-526: The N16 postal area that includes Stoke Newington railway station , Rectory Road railway station and Stoke Newington Common . As a consequence Stoke Newington, like nearby Stamford Hill , has become closely associated with the N16 postcode, though a significant part of western Stoke Newington is covered by the N4 postcode district. The Manor (estate) of Stoke Newington was part of a huge block of land around London held by
3306-496: The Norman Conquest. Stoke Newington was a Prebendary Manor , providing an income to the work of the cathedral. The Ancient Parish of Stoke Newington was established to serve the area of the Manor with which it was coterminous and, like other parishes, would have had its boundaries permanently fixed by the 1180s, even if the underlying Manor's boundaries changed (though manor boundaries were generally stable at that date). From
3393-685: The Stoke Newington Business Association and launched "See you in Stokey", a website dedicated to the area with event listings, articles, and area guides. In the north of the district is the extensive West Reservoir, now a non-working facility, but open for leisure and surrounded by green space. At the entrance is the Castle Climbing Centre, once the main Water Board pumping station. William Chadwell Mylne designed it to resemble
3480-765: The Tower Theatre Company in later life. Actors to have worked with the company include Michael Gambon , Sian Phillips , Tom Courtenay and Alfred Molina . The lease in Canonbury expired in 2003 and the company spent 15 years hiring theatre space at a number of venues, particularly the Bridewell Theatre, while searching for suitable new premises. It commissioned a new theatre at a site just off Curtain Road in Shoreditch , but due to funding difficulties it abandoned plans to proceed with that project. On 6 August 2008 archaeologists from
3567-555: The Tudor period, parishes were obliged to take on a civil as well as ecclesiastical role, with the administration of the new Poor Law of 1601 . In the 17th century, the Ossulstone Hundred was subdivided, with the parish of Stoke Newington, on the west side of Stoke Newington High Street, becoming part of the new Finsbury division and the parish of Hackney to the east becoming part of the Tower division . The Ancient Parishes provided
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3654-519: The area around the River Lea employ over 3,000 people. The Lea and Hackney Marshes are underlain by alluvium soils; and the higher ground between Homerton and Stamford Hill is formed on a widening bed of London Clay . Brickearth deposits are within tongues of clay extending beneath Clapton Common, Stamford Hill and Stoke Newington High Street. The centre and south-western districts lie on river terrace deposits of Taplow Gravel. Victoria Park and Well Street Common lie on flood plain gravel. This data
3741-494: The area now known as Brownswood Park. Water is now sent from here to the Lee Valley Reservoir Chain for treatment. The West Reservoir is now a leisure facility, offering sailing, canoeing and other water sports, plus Royal Yachting Association -approved sailing courses. On its western edge stands the former filter house, now set out as a visitor centre with a café; some of the old hydraulic machinery can be viewed in
3828-615: The area) were convicted of two IRA bombings and had substantial links to lorry bombs in the 1990s. Both were arrested, firing at officers in Walford Road and later sentenced to 30 years' imprisonment. Muktar Said Ibrahim was convicted, as the ringleader, on an indictment of conspiracy to murder. He planted a failed bomb on a 26 bus that misfired on the Hackney Road on 21 July 2005 . In February 2005, police had sought Ibrahim on an arrest warrant for an outstanding public order offence. After
3915-772: The attack, he was seen on the run in Farleigh Road and arrested in Dalgrano Gardens. He was sentenced to life imprisonment, to serve a minimum of 40 years before being considered for release. These days, Stoke Newington is very multicultural, with large Asian , Irish , Turkish , Jewish and Afro-Caribbean communities. The area continues to be home to many new and emerging communities, such as Polish and Somali immigrants. Stoke Newington has undergone major gentrification , as have neighbouring Newington Green , Canonbury and Dalston . Church Street includes many independent shops, pubs, bars and cafes. In 2022 traders formed
4002-430: The birth of the railways and the first omnibuses made possible. The latter were introduced into central London in the 1820s by George Shillibeer after his successful trial of the world's first school bus for William Allen and Susanna Corder 's novel Quaker school, Newington Academy for Girls . By the mid-19th century, Stoke Newington had "the largest concentration of Quakers in London", including many who had moved up
4089-509: The borough are popularly regarded as being part of east London that spans some of the traditional East End of London with the northwest belonging to north London. Its population is estimated to be 281,120. The London Plan issued by the Greater London Authority assigns whole boroughs to sub-regions for statutory monitoring, engagement and resource allocation purposes. The most recent (2011) iteration of this plan assigns Hackney to
4176-657: The boundary between the predecessor counties of Middlesex and Essex . Within these parish areas are a large number of sub-districts, some of which have sub-districts of their own. These sub-districts are generally based on former hamlets that expanded and merged as the area urbanised. These sub-districts have never been administrative units so have never had any formal boundaries, however a degree of informal definition has developed. The sub-districts typically take Metropolitan Borough \ Ancient Parish boundaries where available, and can also have informal customary boundaries such as road and railways. Despite this, many areas have only
4263-527: The brook, which has disappeared into the maze of sewers under London, but from the mains supply. At the time of the 2011 census, there were 13,658 residents in Stoke Newington Central ward. Of these, 63.1% were White (44.9% British, 15.2% Other, 2.9% Irish and Gypsy or Irish Traveller, 0.1%). 16.6% was Black (7.3% Caribbean, 6.2% African, 3.1% Other) and 9.9% was Asian (4.2% Indian, 1.3% Pakistani, 1.6% Bangladeshi, 0.8% Chinese and 2% Other). 33.8% of
4350-800: The building in September 2018 with a production of Shakespeare's Henry V , and most Tower Theatre Company productions are now staged there. Like all theatres in the UK the Tower Theatre closed in March 2020 due to the Covid pandemic. However, activities continued in the form of " Virtual Tower " on zoom and a series of podcasts . With the easing of restrictions, productions were resumed in June 2021. 51°33′43″N 0°04′19″W / 51.562°N 0.072°W / 51.562; -0.072 Stoke Newington Stoke Newington
4437-597: The civic and ceremonial duties previously undertaken by the (non-political) mayor prior to 2002. Since 2000, for elections to the London Assembly , the borough forms part of the North East constituency. The constituency returned Sem Moema AM as the directly elected Assembly Member in 2021. The borough comprises two parliamentary constituencies: Hackney North and Stoke Newington (represented by Diane Abbott MP) and Hackney South and Shoreditch (represented by Meg Hillier MP); both are Privy Counsellors and Labour Party Members of Parliament . Final recommendations for
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#17328589914884524-449: The civil parishes continued to be based on the same ancient parish areas. From 1856 the area was governed by the Metropolitan Board of Works , which was established to provide services across the metropolis of London. In 1889 the Metropolitan Board of Works' area was made the County of London . From 1856 until 1900 the lower tier of local government within the metropolis comprised various parish vestries and district boards . Shoreditch
4611-526: The district as being in London at all. The modern London Borough of Hackney was formed in 1965 by the merger of three former Metropolitan Boroughs , Hackney and the smaller authorities of Stoke Newington and Shoreditch . These Metropolitan Boroughs had existed since 1899 but their names and boundaries were very closely based on parishes dating back to the Middle Ages . Unlike many London districts, such as nearby Stamford Hill and Dalston , Stoke Newington has longstanding fixed boundaries; but to many,
4698-431: The east, Tower Hamlets to the south-east and the City of London to the south-west. Hackney was one of the host boroughs of the London Olympics in 2012 , with several of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park venues falling within its boundaries. In the 13th century the name appears as Hackenaye or Hacquenye , but no certain derivation is advanced. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Place Names (fourth edition) discusses
4785-410: The first detailed maps of field boundaries and began to lay out a manorial parkland behind today's fire station on Church Street , with the aid of her daughters and Dr Isaac Watts . During the course of the century, given its proximity to the city a number of Quaker and nonconformist families became settled in the area. During the early 19th century, as London expanded, the Manor of Stoke Newington
4872-399: The high street to the east is the fragmented Stoke Newington Common , which has had an extensive and diverse programme of tree planting. From the 16th century onwards, Stoke Newington has played a prominent role in assuring a water supply to sustain London's rapid growth. The artificial New River runs through the area and still makes a contribution to London's water. It used to terminate at
4959-400: The informal perception of Stoke Newington has blurred over time, to stretch east of the originally Roman A10 to overlap areas of the former Ancient Parish and subsequent Metropolitan Borough of Hackney . The Metropolitan Borough largely adopted the Ancient Parish's boundaries, including the eastern boundary, which followed the A10 road, though there were minor rationalisations, notably
5046-402: The late 20th century, population pressure has increased and the area's many Georgian and Victorian terraces are being gentrified, warehouses are being converted to housing, and new flats are being built. In the 1980s and beyond, Hackney was described as the poorest borough in Britain - although it has been questioned whether this may have in fact been Glasgow , at the time. The council used
5133-491: The lower tier was reorganised into metropolitan boroughs . In this area the three parishes each became a borough: Hackney , Shoreditch and Stoke Newington . There were some rationalisations to boundaries, notably that Shoreditch absorbed part of the tiny Liberty of Norton Folgate (with the rest going to neighbouring Stepney ). Stoke Newington was smaller than the desired size for the new boroughs, and there were proposals to re-merge Stoke Newington and Hackney, or to detach
5220-424: The main hall. The pumping station at the reservoir gates, converted to a climbing centre in 1995 was designed in a distinctive castellated style by Robert Billings under the supervision of William Chadwell Mylne and built in 1854–56. The site is still used as a pumping station for the Thames Water Ring Main . Besides the water board facilities and the New River , Clissold Park contains two large ornamental lakes,
5307-418: The modern borough broadly corresponds to the three ancient parishes of Hackney , Shoreditch and Stoke Newington , which had all historically been part of the Ossulstone hundred of the county of Middlesex . For some administrative functions, Ossulstone was divided into four divisions. Stoke Newington was part of the Finsbury division . Hackney and Shoreditch were both part of the Tower division , which
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#17328589914885394-410: The mural. London Borough of Hackney The London Borough of Hackney ( / ˈ h æ k n i / HAK -nee ) is a London borough in Inner London , England. The historical and administrative heart of Hackney is Mare Street , which lies 5 miles (8 km) north-east of Charing Cross . The borough is named after Hackney , its principal district. Southern and eastern parts of
5481-422: The northern part of Hackney and join it with Stoke Newington. These proposals were rejected due to the experience of "intolerable and interminable feuds" between the districts when they were previously "forced together". The First Lord of the Treasury , Arthur Balfour recognised that there was "great ill-feeling and mutual ill-will... between the inhabitants of the two districts". It was therefore decided to merge
5568-461: The origin of the name. The first surviving records of the place name are as Hakney (1231) and Hakeneye (1242 and 1294). The "ey" suffix almost certainly refers to an island; the dictionary favours the interpretation that Hackney means "Haka's island", with Haka being a notable local person and the island (or inaccessible place surrounded by marshes) lying close to the River Lea . This was once a much wilder place than today. The dictionary suggests that
5655-405: The phrase 'Britain's Poorest Borough' in official materials. It was described in this way as late as 2001 and in Parliament in 2010. This picture has now changed: the 2019 Indices of Multiple Deprivation found that Hackney was the 22nd most deprived borough in England, down from 11th in 2015 and 2nd in 2010, whilst Hackney has also featured prominently in discussions of gentrification . It
5742-450: The road now known as the A10 was Roman, and others, like many in England, may be older. With the obvious exception of the urbanisation of the area, the greatest changes have been to the waterways and wetlands of the area. The River Lea , the area's primary geographic feature, has lost its grazing marshes and seen the River Lee Navigation created in 1770. This is an artificial channel of the river, passing through Hackney Cut and across
5829-471: The same boundaries, sometimes with mergers or minor boundary rationalisations. Stoke Newington was smaller than desired for new boroughs, and there were proposals to re-merge it with Hackney, or to detach Hackney's northern part and join it with Stoke Newington. These proposals were rejected due to the experience of "intolerable and interminable feuds" between the districts when they were previously "forced together" , and because Parliament recognised that there
5916-454: The sites of the small hamlet of Stoke Newington and part of Newington Green , but excluded the open space known since the early 20th century as Stoke Newington Common (originally Cockhangar Green). Stoke Newington railway station was built close to, but just outside, this area. More recently, many have come to see Stoke Newington as extending east of the A10 to overlap the AP \ MB of Hackney to include West Hackney , an ill-defined area of
6003-435: The summer months they also perform touring productions, with regular appearances at the open-air Théâtre de Verdure, which is in the Bois de Boulogne in Paris, and at the Minack Theatre in Cornwall . The acting company was founded as the Tavistock Repertory Company in 1932, at the Tavistock Little Theatre in Tavistock Square , Bloomsbury. In 1952 it moved to its own premises in Islington at Canonbury Tower which included
6090-432: The transfer of areas of Hornsey . Stoke Newington's northern and western boundaries have become the north-west borders of the modern London Borough. The eastern boundary was formed by the A10 road, where it goes by the name Stoke Newington High Street (originally High Street , until a name change in 1937 ) and Stoke Newington Road (meaning the road to the hamlet of Stoke Newington) further south. These boundaries included
6177-464: The war by a much more modest structure, St Paul's, which is set well back from the street. Traces of the old church's stonework can still be seen facing Stoke Newington Road. During the war, much residential housing was destroyed, and in the aftermath much was demolished, being considered beyond economic repair. Postwar redevelopment has replaced many of these areas with large estates, some more successful than others. Much of this residential redevelopment
6264-403: The ward were Christian, 11.1% Muslim, 3.2% Jewish, 39% had no religion and 10% did not state their religion. Stoke Newington contains only one Grade I listed building ( St Matthias Church ), and several Grade II* and Grade II buildings. There are many Grade II listed properties on Stoke Newington Church Street, the historical heart of the district, and two other notable residential streets to
6351-401: The west of the district, Albion Road and Clissold Road, are replete with listed properties. Close to the local pub The Lion, local resident and property owner Sofie Attrill gave consent for pop group Blur to create some publicity for their 2003 single " Crazy Beat ". The album's cover and single artwork were undertaken by graffiti artist Banksy , with the single featuring a spoof image of
6438-486: Was "great ill-feeling and mutual ill-will... between the inhabitants of the two districts" . Stoke Newington was permitted to become an independent Borough, and most of South Hornsey (also a part of the Finsbury Division was transferred to it to increase the new authority's size. Parts of South Hornsey had previously been exclaves that separated southern Stoke Newington from the rest of the area. The Finsbury Division
6525-407: Was "enfranchised" to be sold in parcels as freehold land for building purposes. Gradually the village became absorbed into London's seamless expansion. It was no longer a separate village by the mid- to late 19th century. Being on the outskirts at this time, many expensive and large houses were built to house London's expanding population of nouveau riche whose journey to London's commercial heart
6612-601: Was abolished. Stoke Newington lost its independence in 1965, when it merged with the Metropolitan Boroughs of Hackney and Shoreditch to form the new London Borough of Hackney . Stoke Newington is part of the Hackney North and Stoke Newington constituency , which has been represented by Labour MP Diane Abbott since 1987. Stoke Newington, or 'new town in the wood', has been lightly settled for hundreds of years, close to larger neighbouring Saxon settlements near
6699-457: Was built in 1792, replacing the nearby former 16th-century parish church dedicated to St Augustine (pulled down in 1798). Notable residents from the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries included Robert Aske , William Cecil , Samuel Courtauld , Samuel Hoare , Joseph Priestley and Thomas Sutton . Many grand houses stood in Stoke Newington and Stamford Hill ; the latter neighbourhood became
6786-474: Was created in 1965 under the London Government Act 1963 . It covered the combined area of the three metropolitan boroughs of Hackney, Shoreditch and Stoke Newington. The local authority is Hackney Council, which meets at Hackney Town Hall and has its main offices in the adjoining Hackney Service Centre. Since 2002 the council has been led by the directly elected Mayor of Hackney . A speaker fulfils
6873-454: Was damaged in the Blitz and many were made homeless, although the level of destruction was much lower than in areas of East London further south, such as Stepney , Shoreditch or even next-door Hackney. The death toll was also relatively low: almost three-quarters of civilian deaths were due to one incident on 13 October 1940, when a crowded shelter at Coronation Avenue off the high street received
6960-502: Was first exposed nearby in Hoxton . In 1727 Daniel Defoe said of the villages of Hackney All these, except the Wyck-house, are within a few years so encreas'd in buildings, and so fully inhabited, that there is no comparison to be made between their present and past state: Every separate hamlet is encreas'd, and some of them more than treble as big as formerly; Indeed as this whole town
7047-581: Was governed by its vestry , whilst Hackney and Stoke Newington were initially grouped into the Hackney District with a single board covering the two parishes. This proved unpopular, especially in more affluent Stoke Newington. After four unsuccessful attempts, the Hackney District was dissolved in 1894 under the Metropolis Management (Plumstead and Hackney) Act 1893, and its two parishes were then each governed separately by their own vestries. In 1900
7134-423: Was noteworthy in that the men of the area owed military service to the Tower of London . The ancient parishes provided a framework for both civil (administrative) and ecclesiastical (church) functions, but during the 19th century there was a divergence into distinct civil and ecclesiastical parish systems. The ecclesiastical parishes were gradually sub-divided to better serve the needs of a growing population, while
7221-591: Was planned by Frederick Gibberd , the designer of Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral . Communist Party meetings were held in the Town Hall in the postwar years. From the 1970s onwards the area has experienced, or been associated with, a number of terrorist acts. The 'Stoke Newington 8' were arrested on 20 August 1971 at 359 Amhurst Road for suspected involvement in The Angry Brigade bombings. Stoke Newington residents Patrick Hayes and Jan Taylor (not originally from
7308-494: Was ranked as inner London's "greenest borough" and London Transport's "best bike borough 2006", with 62 parks and open spaces , covering 815 acres (3.3 km ). Seven Hackney parks have now achieved Green Flag status. One, Abney Park , became scheduled in 2009 as one of Britain's historic parks and garden at risk from neglect and decay. Hackney Marshes play host to the largest collection of football pitches in Europe. Part of it
7395-542: Was refitted in 1992 and became the Sunstone Women Only Health and Leisure Club, which closed in 2014. The fitting of a swimming pool in the basement, sauna cabins, a gym and a mezzanine level led to significant works required from the Tower Theatre Company to transform the space: the swimming pool was boarded over and is now used for storage; the saunas removed; and the mezzanine was removed to make space for dressing room facilities. The new Tower Theatre opened in
7482-521: Was taken between 1971 and 2000 at the nearest national weather station in Greenwich ; around 7 miles (11.3 km) south of Hackney Town Hall: In 1801, the civil parishes that form the modern borough had a total population of 14,609. This rose steadily throughout the 19th century, as the district became built up; reaching 95,000 in the middle of that century. When the railways arrived the rate of population growth increased — reaching nearly 374,000 by
7569-625: Was used as a site for events of the 2012 Summer Olympics . There are 1,300 listed buildings in Hackney , including the Hackney Empire , Tudor Sutton House , and the Grade I medieval St Augustine's Tower , the borough's oldest building. The borough contains 25 conservation areas including Clapton Square and urban open-spaces including Clapton Common and Clissold Park . Conservation areas also protect large areas of Georgian and Victorian housing , and areas of industrial heritage . The area of
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