London Fields
Encyclopedia
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, situated in the eastern borough of Hackney
London Borough of Hackney
The London Borough of Hackney is a London borough of North/North East London, and forms part of inner London. The local authority is Hackney London Borough Council....
. The park itself was first recorded in 1540. At this time it was common ground and was used by drovers to pasture their livestock before taking them to market in London.
London Fields is just over 31 acres (12.5 ha) in extent; about one-third of its original size. It is 4.2 miles (6.8 km) north-east
Boxing the compass
Boxing the compass is the action of naming all thirty-two points of the compass in clockwise order. Such names are formed by the initials of the cardinal directions and their intermediate ordinal directions, and are very handy to refer to a heading in a general or colloquial fashion, without...
of Charing Cross
Charing Cross
Charing Cross denotes the junction of Strand, Whitehall and Cockspur Street, just south of Trafalgar Square in central London, England. It is named after the now demolished Eleanor cross that stood there, in what was once the hamlet of Charing. The site of the cross is now occupied by an equestrian...
.
Overview
London Fields sports a cricket pitchCricket pitch
In the game of cricket, the cricket pitch consists of the central strip of the cricket field between the wickets - 1 chain or 22 yards long and 10 feet wide. The surface is very flat and normally covered with extremely short grass though this grass is soon removed by wear at the ends of the...
, lido (the only heated outdoor 50 metre swimming pool in London), grass areas, a small BMX
BMX
Bicycle motocross or BMX refers to the sport in which the main goal is extreme racing on bicycles in motocross style on tracks with inline start and expressive obstacles, and it is also the term that refers to the bicycle itself that is designed for dirt and motocross cycling.- History :BMX started...
track, tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
courts, a table tennis
Table tennis
Table tennis, also known as ping-pong, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight, hollow ball back and forth using table tennis rackets. The game takes place on a hard table divided by a net...
table and two children's play areas. London Fields received a Green Flag award
Green Flag award
The Green Flag Award is the benchmark national standard for parks and green spaces in the United Kingdom. The scheme was set up in 1996 to recognise and reward green spaces in England and Wales that met the laid down high standards...
in July 2008. A much-used cycle
Bicycle
A bicycle, also known as a bike, pushbike or cycle, is a human-powered, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A person who rides a bicycle is called a cyclist, or bicyclist....
path runs from the Pub on the Park to Broadway Market
Broadway Market
Broadway Market is a street running from London Fieldsto the Regent's Canal in Haggerston in the London Borough of Hackney, east London.Before the late 20th century it was the site of a busy fruit and vegetable market, but this slowly dwindled over time - in the early 2000s, market activity was...
. London Fields also has a railway station
London Fields railway station
London Fields railway station is in the London Borough of Hackney in east London. It is 4 km north east of London Liverpool Street on the West Anglia route...
linking it to Hackney Downs
Hackney Downs railway station
Hackney Downs railway station is in the London Borough of Hackney in east London. The station, and all trains serving it, is operated by National Express East Anglia, on the West Anglia route, and it is in Travelcard Zone 2....
and to Liverpool Street
Liverpool Street station
Liverpool Street railway station, also known as London Liverpool Street or simply Liverpool Street, is both a central London railway terminus and a connected London Underground station in the north-eastern corner of the City of London, England...
in the City. The Pub on the Park is the starting point for the annual Dunwich Dynamo
Dunwich Dynamo
The Dunwich Dynamo is an annual semi-organised, through-the-night bicycle ride from London Fields park in Hackney, London, England to Dunwich on the Suffolk coast. The distance is approximately 120 miles ....
night cycle ride.
Every Saturday, a wide variety of producers from around the country take part in the very popular market selling quality produce including a huge array of hot foods, complemented by many others selling hand-made jewellery, gifts, childrenswear and vintage clothing. Every Sunday, the local London Fields Primary School now hosts the London Fields Farmers' Market and there is a crafts market adjacent to the building next door.
A document in Hackney library records a game of cricket to have been played on the park as early as 1802, and the cricket square on London Fields continues to host competitive games throughout the summer (late April — mid September). Several teams from the North East London Cricket League regard the park as their home pitch, most notably London Fields CC, based from the Pub on the Park. During the summer the park can be extremely busy with many people combining an afternoon's picnic with watching the cricket. The Turley End of the ground is a popular vantage point for those watching the cricket.
The area has been connected with some notable instances of gun crime in recent years.
Members of the London Fields gang which operates in and around the area were convicted on April 12, 2011 for the shooting of 16-year-old Agnes Sina-Inakoju at a chicken shop in Hoxton in April 2010. In May 2010 an innocent 27-year-old man was shot by mistake on a sunny afternoon in London Fields by feuding gang members.
Education
There is also a primary school named after the area, London Fields Primary School, opposite one of the entrances to London Fields park.Housing
The area includes several housing estateHousing estate
A housing estate is a group of buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to country. Accordingly, a housing estate is usually built by a single contractor, with only a few styles of house or building design, so they tend to be uniform in appearance...
s. One of the largest, the Holly Street Estate, is undergoing regeneration, and the new development by United House
United House
United House is a property development company based in the United Kingdom. It the leading housing PFI contractor in the UK and is active in construction of new private and social housing, urban regeneration and refurbishment.-History:...
won Apartment Building of the Year at the Daily Mail British Homes Awards in 2009.
Transport and locale
London Overground
London Overground is a suburban rail network in London and Hertfordshire. It has been operated by London Overground Rail Operations since 2007 as part of the National Rail network, under the franchise control and branding of Transport for London...
station is Haggerston
Haggerston railway station
Haggerston railway station is in the London Borough of Hackney, in London. The station is located on the Kingsland Viaduct in the Haggerston district at the junction of Arbutus Street and Frederick Terrace, near Kingsland Road. The main entrance is in Lee Street...
.
- London Fields railway stationLondon Fields railway stationLondon Fields railway station is in the London Borough of Hackney in east London. It is 4 km north east of London Liverpool Street on the West Anglia route...
External links
- North East London Cricket League
- London Fields Cricket Club
- London Fields Farmers' Market
- Broadway Market
- GLL's London Fields Lido information
- London Fields User Group
History links
- Hackney: Mare Street and London Fields (British History online)
- Hackney: Hackney Village (British History online)