Stoke Newington
Encyclopedia
Stoke Newington is a district in the London Borough of Hackney
. It is 5 miles (8 km) north-east of Charing Cross
.
postcode area (though this also includes parts of Stamford Hill
and the almost extinct district of Shacklewell
). Its southern boundary with Dalston
is quite ill-defined too. However, Stoke Newington was once a well-defined administrative unit. In 1899 the Metropolitan Borough of Stoke Newington
was formed out of the greater part of the parish of Stoke Newington
. The resulting boundaries seem rather anomalous now; the entire eastern side of Stoke Newington High Street and beyond, including Stoke Newington Common
, were included in the next door Metropolitan Borough of Hackney
, but in fact this area was already part of the parish of Hackney
- not Stoke Newington - and much of it would have been regarded as being in Shacklewell at the time. These apparent oddities became moot when in 1965, the Metropolitan Borough became part of the London Borough of Hackney
.
Throughout all these changes, the core of Stoke Newington, centred around Stoke Newington Church Street
, has retained its own distinct 'London village' character, and indeed, Nikolaus Pevsner
confessed that he found it hard to see the district as being in London at all. It also has large Orthodox Jewish and Turkish populations as well as a long term Irish population.
For one small district, Stoke Newington is endowed with a generous amount of open space. To its north, there is the extensive West Reservoir, now a non-working facility, but open for leisure and surrounded by greenspace, at the entrance to which is the architecturally bizarre Castle Climbing Centre, once the main Water Board pumping station. It was originally designed, by William Chadwell Mylne
, to look like a towering Scottish castle, and is now much-loved in the area.
South of these facilities is Clissold Park
, an extensive swathe of parkland complete with a small menagerie, aviary and Clissold Mansion, a Grade II listed building, built for Jonathan Hoare, a local Quaker and brother of Samuel Hoare
, in the 1790s.
Tracking east from here and past the two Church of England parish churches, both called Saint Mary's http://www.stmaryn16.org/ (Stoke Newington strangely decided to retain the old one, unusual in a London parish), leads to Abney Park Cemetery
, one of the most splendid and enlightened of Victorian London cemeteries. It is now a nature reserve, a role that it was in many ways originally intended for, as it was set up as an arboretum
, but Abney Park became scheduled in 2009 as one of Britain's historic park and garden at risk from neglect and decay. Finally, across the high street to the east is the fragmented Stoke Newington Common
. This, however, has its charms, largely due to the extensive and diverse programme of tree planting it has enjoyed in recent years.
's New River
runs through the area and still makes a contribution to London's water. Although this originally terminated at the New River Head in Finsbury
, since 1946 its main flow has ended at Stoke Newington reservoirs, though a slow ornamental trickle flows past the West Reservoir to go underground for a stretch on Green Lanes
, reappearing for a time in Clissold Park only to disappear underground again on its way to Canonbury
. 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
, though not all sections are open.
Stoke Newington East and West Reservoirs, to the north of Clissold Park, are quite substantial for urban facilities. Stoke Newington Reservoirs were constructed in 1833 to purify the New River water and to act as a water reserve. As mentioned, 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 the main hall. The pumping station at the reservoir gates, converted to a climbing centre in 1995 (as mentioned above) was designed in a distinctive castellated style by Robert Billings under the supervision of William Chadwell Mylne
and built in 1854-56.
Besides the water board facilities and the New River, Clissold Park also contains two large ornamental lakes, 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 actually fed from the brook, which has long disappeared into the maze of sewers under London, but from the mains supply - ultimately the New River.
Stoke Newington or 'new town in the wood', has been lightly settled for many hundreds of years, close to larger neighbouring Saxon
settlements near 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
.
Stoke Newington is recorded as part of the Ossulstone
hundred
in the county
of Middlesex
in the Domesday Book
of 1086. In the 17th century, for administrative purposes the west of Stoke Newington High Street became part of the new Finsbury division
and the east part of the Tower division
. Both divisions were in 1889 then incorporated into the County 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 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
.
who drew up 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 Dr Isaac Watts
and her daughters.
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 the commercial heart of the capital was made possible by the birth of the railways and the first omnibuses
. The latter were first introduced into central London in the 1820s by George Shillibeer
, following his successful trial of the world's first school bus
for William Allen
and Susannah Corder's novel Quaker school, Newington Academy for Girls
. By the mid-nineteenth century, Stoke Newington had "the largest concentration of Quakers in London", including many who had moved up the A10 from Gracechurch Street
meeting house in the City. A meeting house
was built in Park Street (now Yoakley Road) by the architect William Alderson, who later designed Hanwell Lunatic Asylum.
St Mary's Lodge on Lordship Road, the 1843 home of architect and district surveyor John Young, is the last-surviving 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', were built off Stoke Newington High Street in 1880 and still stand today.
As 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.
Town Hall was built for the Metropolitan Borough of Stoke Newington
by J. Reginald Truelove.
During World War II
, much of the area was damaged in the Blitz
and many were made homeless, although the level of destruction was much lower than in those areas of East London further south such as Stepney
or Shoreditch
or even in next-door Hackney. The death toll was also relatively low: almost three-quarters of civilian deaths being due to one tragic incident on 13 October 1940 when a crowded shelter at Coronation Avenue off the high street received 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 and Tottenham, Stoke Newington avoided most of the later V-weapon attacks, which fell disproportionately on South London; only a total of 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 a repairable state. Two notable exceptions are the classically grand Parish Church of West Hackney, St James's, on Stoke Newington Road, which dated from 1824 and St Faith's, a Victorian muscular gothic 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 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.
, the designer of Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral
.
Ever a home to radicals, Communist Party meetings were held in the Town Hall in the post-war years. And although Stoke Newington became part of the London Borough of Hackney
in 1965, it has never quite lost its own identity. Indeed, following the 1960s, it increasingly became home to a number of squatters, artists, bohemians and also political radicals. Famously, the 'Stoke Newington 8' were arrested on 20 August 1971 at 359 Amhurst Road for suspected involvement in The Angry Brigade
bombings.
The most famous examples of political terrorism by Stoke Newington residents, none originally from the area, are Patrick Hayes, Jan Taylor and Muktar Said Ibrahim. The first two were convicted of two bombings and had substantial links to the huge lorry bombs of the 1990s. Both were arrested, firing at officers in Walford Road and later sentenced to thirty years imprisonment.
The third, Muktar Said Ibrahim
, was convicted, as the ring leader, on an indictment of conspiracy to murder. He personally planted a failed bomb on a 26 bus, which misfired later on the Hackney Road
on 21 July 2005
. Ibrahim used to work at an off-licence on Amhurst Road. In February 2005, police were seeking Ibrahim on an arrest warrant for an outstanding public order offence and sent a letter to his Farliegh Road address saying "Call us, before we call you." After the attack, Ibrahim was seen on the run in Farleigh Road and was later arrested in Dalgrano Gardens, W10. He was sentenced to life imprisonment, to serve a minimum of forty years before being considered for release.
These days, Stoke Newington is a very multicultural area, 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.
On Saturday mornings, St Paul's churchyard in Stoke Newington High Street hosts an active farmers' market - relocated in July/August 2011 from its earlier site in the playground of William Patten Primary school on Stoke Newington Church Street. This was the first farmers' market in the UK to have only organic and biodynamic producers.
In June 2011 property developer Newmark Properties LLP announced their proposed development for Wilmer Place. This includes a large Sainsburys supermarket, "high quality private and affordable residential apartments" and a 90+ vehicle car park. This development requires the demolition of some of the exiting properties in Wilmer place and 195-201 Stoke Newington High Street. There has been strong local reaction against this development during the brief pre-planning consultation. Several local groups are protesting this development, including Hackney Unites, the Hackney Liberal Democrat Party and Stokey Local, a group formed by local business leaders and residents.
), it contains a fair number of Grade II* buildings for one London district. Unsurprisingly, given its nature, residential buildings are strongly represented, and this becomes even more clear when the lowest grade, Grade II, is considered, where almost whole streets are listed in some cases.
Grade I
Grade II*
Grade II
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 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 the British Royal Family
, replicated as a mural
on the building. By 2009 it had become a tourist attraction, but Hackney Council had 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 contact her due to incorrect Land Registry records, they started painting over the artwork with black paint. They were stopped after they had partly covered the mural.
About 1.5 miles (2.4 km) away, the nearest London Underground station is Manor House
on the Piccadilly Line
.
also used to be on Church Street but has now moved to Dalston.
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....
. It is 5 miles (8 km) north-east 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...
.
Boundaries
In modern terms, Stoke Newington can be roughly defined by the N16N postcode area
The N postcode area, also known as the London N postcode area, is the part of the London post town covering part of North London, England....
postcode area (though this also includes parts of Stamford Hill
Stamford Hill
Stamford Hill is a place in the north of the London Borough of Hackney, England, near the border with Haringey. It is home to Europe's largest Hasidic Jewish and Adeni Jewish community.Stamford Hill is NNE of Charing Cross.-History:...
and the almost extinct district of Shacklewell
Shacklewell
Shacklewell is a district within the London Borough of Hackney, roughly North-east of modern-day Dalston, .-History:...
). Its southern boundary with Dalston
Dalston
Dalston is a district of north-east London, England, located in the London Borough of Hackney. It is situated northeast of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London...
is quite ill-defined too. However, Stoke Newington was once a well-defined administrative unit. In 1899 the Metropolitan Borough of Stoke Newington
Metropolitan Borough of Stoke Newington
The Metropolitan Borough of Stoke Newington was a metropolitan borough in the County of London between 1900 and 1965 when it became part of the London Borough of Hackney.-Predecessor authorities:...
was formed out of the greater part of the parish of Stoke Newington
Stoke Newington (parish)
Stoke Newington was an ancient parish in the county of Middlesex. It was both a civil parish, used for administrative purposes, and an ecclesiastical parish of the Church of England.-Civil parish:...
. The resulting boundaries seem rather anomalous now; the entire eastern side of Stoke Newington High Street and beyond, including Stoke Newington Common
Stoke Newington Common
Stoke Newington Common is an open space in Stoke Newington in the London Borough of Hackney. It is east of Stoke Newington High Street, with Northwold Road to the north, and it straddles the busy Rectory Road....
, were included in the next door Metropolitan Borough of Hackney
Metropolitan Borough of Hackney
The Metropolitan Borough of Hackney was a Metropolitan borough of the County of London from 1900 to 1965. Its area became part of the London Borough of Hackney.-Formation and boundaries:...
, but in fact this area was already part of the parish of Hackney
Hackney (parish)
Hackney was a parish in the historic county of Middlesex. The parish church of St John-at-Hackney was built in 1789, replacing the nearby former 16th century parish church dedicated to St Augustine . The original tower of that church was retained to hold the bells until the new church could be...
- not Stoke Newington - and much of it would have been regarded as being in Shacklewell at the time. These apparent oddities became moot when in 1965, the Metropolitan Borough became part of the London 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....
.
Throughout all these changes, the core of Stoke Newington, centred around Stoke Newington Church Street
Stoke Newington Church Street
Stoke Newington Church Street is a road in north London of the borough of Hackney. The road links Green Lanes in the west to Stoke Newington High Street , in the east...
, has retained its own distinct 'London village' character, and indeed, Nikolaus Pevsner
Nikolaus Pevsner
Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner, CBE, FBA was a German-born British scholar of history of art and, especially, of history of architecture...
confessed that he found it hard to see the district as being in London at all. It also has large Orthodox Jewish and Turkish populations as well as a long term Irish population.
Open space
William Chadwell Mylne
William Chadwell Mylne, FRS was a British engineer and architect.He was descended from a Scottish family of masons and architects, and was the second son of Robert Mylne , surveyor to the New River Company, and builder of the first Blackfriars Bridge in London.Initially, William's elder brother...
, to look like a towering Scottish castle, and is now much-loved in the area.
South of these facilities is Clissold Park
Clissold Park
Clissold Park is a community park in Stoke Newington within the London Borough of Hackney. Facilities include a children's playground, sports fields, a bowling green, tennis courts, a cafe and some animal attractions including terrapins in its lakes...
, an extensive swathe of parkland complete with a small menagerie, aviary and Clissold Mansion, a Grade II listed building, built for Jonathan Hoare, a local Quaker and brother of Samuel Hoare
Samuel Hoare Jr
Samuel Hoare Jr was a wealthy British Quaker merchant and abolitionist born in Stoke Newington, the north of London. He was one of the twelve founding members of the Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade.-Background:...
, in the 1790s.
Tracking east from here and past the two Church of England parish churches, both called Saint Mary's http://www.stmaryn16.org/ (Stoke Newington strangely decided to retain the old one, unusual in a London parish), leads to Abney Park Cemetery
Abney Park Cemetery
Abney Park in Stoke Newington, in the London Borough of Hackney, is a historic parkland originally laid out in the early 18th century by Lady Mary Abney and Dr. Isaac Watts, and the neighbouring Hartopp family. In 1840 it became a non-denominational garden cemetery, semi-public park arboretum, and...
, one of the most splendid and enlightened of Victorian London cemeteries. It is now a nature reserve, a role that it was in many ways originally intended for, as it was set up as an arboretum
Arboretum
An arboretum in a narrow sense is a collection of trees only. Related collections include a fruticetum , and a viticetum, a collection of vines. More commonly, today, an arboretum is a botanical garden containing living collections of woody plants intended at least partly for scientific study...
, but Abney Park became scheduled in 2009 as one of Britain's historic park and garden at risk from neglect and decay. Finally, across the high street to the east is the fragmented Stoke Newington Common
Stoke Newington Common
Stoke Newington Common is an open space in Stoke Newington in the London Borough of Hackney. It is east of Stoke Newington High Street, with Northwold Road to the north, and it straddles the busy Rectory Road....
. This, however, has its charms, largely due to the extensive and diverse programme of tree planting it has enjoyed in recent years.
Reservoirs
From the 16th century onwards, Stoke Newington has played a prominent role in assuring a water supply to sustain London's rapid growth. Hugh MyddletonHugh Myddleton
Sir Hugh Myddelton , 1st Baronet was a Welsh goldsmith, clothmaker, banker, entrepreneur, mine-owner and self-taught engineer...
's New River
New River (England)
The New River is an artificial waterway in England, opened in 1613 to supply London with fresh drinking water taken from the River Lea and from Amwell Springs , and other springs and wells along its course....
runs through the area and still makes a contribution to London's water. Although this originally terminated at the New River Head in Finsbury
Finsbury
Finsbury is a district of central London, England. It lies immediately north of the City of London and Clerkenwell, west of Shoreditch, and south of Islington and City Road. It is in the south of the London Borough of Islington. The Finsbury Estate is in the western part of the district...
, since 1946 its main flow has ended at Stoke Newington reservoirs, though a slow ornamental trickle flows past the West Reservoir to go underground for a stretch on Green Lanes
Green Lanes
Green Lanes, London, is a main road in North London and forms part of the A105. At approximately 7.5 miles from end to end, it is one of the longest streets in the capital....
, reappearing for a time in Clissold Park only to disappear underground again on its way to Canonbury
Canonbury
Canonbury is a residential district in the London Borough of Islington in the north of London. It is roughly in the area between Essex Road, Upper Street and Cross Street and either side of St Paul's Road....
. The river bank, the New River Path, can be walked for some distance to the north through Haringey
London Borough of Haringey
The London Borough of Haringey is a London borough, in North London, classified by some definitions as part of Inner London, and by others as part of Outer London. It was created in 1965 by the amalgamation of three former boroughs. It shares borders with six other London boroughs...
and on to its source near Hertford
Hertford
Hertford is the county town of Hertfordshire, England, and is also a civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district of the county. Forming a civil parish, the 2001 census put the population of Hertford at about 24,180. Recent estimates are that it is now around 28,000...
, though not all sections are open.
Stoke Newington East and West Reservoirs, to the north of Clissold Park, are quite substantial for urban facilities. Stoke Newington Reservoirs were constructed in 1833 to purify the New River water and to act as a water reserve. As mentioned, the West Reservoir is now a leisure facility, offering sailing, canoeing and other water sports, plus Royal Yachting Association
Royal Yachting Association
The Royal Yachting Association is the national governing body for certain watersports in the United Kingdom. Activities it covers include:* Sailing* Windsurfing* Motor cruising* Sportsboats* Personal watercraft* Powerboat racing...
- 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 the main hall. The pumping station at the reservoir gates, converted to a climbing centre in 1995 (as mentioned above) was designed in a distinctive castellated style by Robert Billings under the supervision of William Chadwell Mylne
William Chadwell Mylne
William Chadwell Mylne, FRS was a British engineer and architect.He was descended from a Scottish family of masons and architects, and was the second son of Robert Mylne , surveyor to the New River Company, and builder of the first Blackfriars Bridge in London.Initially, William's elder brother...
and built in 1854-56.
Besides the water board facilities and the New River, Clissold Park also contains two large ornamental lakes, 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
Hackney Brook
The Hackney Brook is one of the subterranean rivers of London. It crossed the northern parts of the current London boroughs of Hackney and Islington, emptying into the River Lea at Hackney Wick, with its source in Holloway.- Course of the River :...
, 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 actually fed from the brook, which has long disappeared into the maze of sewers under London, but from the mains supply - ultimately the New River.
Early
Anglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...
settlements near the River Lea. In the 19th century it was discovered that Stoke Newington Common
Stoke Newington Common
Stoke Newington Common is an open space in Stoke Newington in the London Borough of Hackney. It is east of Stoke Newington High Street, with Northwold Road to the north, and it straddles the busy Rectory Road....
and Abney Park Cemetery
Abney Park Cemetery
Abney Park in Stoke Newington, in the London Borough of Hackney, is a historic parkland originally laid out in the early 18th century by Lady Mary Abney and Dr. Isaac Watts, and the neighbouring Hartopp family. In 1840 it became a non-denominational garden cemetery, semi-public park arboretum, and...
had been part of a Neolithic working area for axe-making, some examples of which can be seen in the Museum of London
Museum of London
The Museum of London documents the history of London from the Prehistoric to the present day. The museum is located close to the Barbican Centre, as part of the striking Barbican complex of buildings created in the 1960s and 70s as an innovative approach to re-development within a bomb damaged...
.
Stoke Newington is recorded as part of the Ossulstone
Ossulstone
Ossulstone was an ancient hundred in the south east of the county of Middlesex, England. Its area has been entirely absorbed by the growth of London; and now corresponds to the part of Inner London that is north of the River Thames and, from Outer London, parts of the London boroughs of Barnet,...
hundred
Hundred (division)
A hundred is a geographic division formerly used in England, Wales, Denmark, South Australia, some parts of the United States, Germany , Sweden, Finland and Norway, which historically was used to divide a larger region into smaller administrative divisions...
in the county
County
A county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain modern nations. Historically in mainland Europe, the original French term, comté, and its equivalents in other languages denoted a jurisdiction under the sovereignty of a count A county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain...
of Middlesex
Middlesex
Middlesex is one of the historic counties of England and the second smallest by area. The low-lying county contained the wealthy and politically independent City of London on its southern boundary and was dominated by it from a very early time...
in the Domesday Book
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
of 1086. In the 17th century, for administrative purposes the west of Stoke Newington High Street became part of the new Finsbury division
Finsbury division
The Finsbury Division was one of four divisions of the Hundred of Ossulstone, in the county of Middlesex, England.The other divisions were named Holborn, Kensington and Tower...
and the east part of the Tower division
Tower division
The Tower Division was a liberty, a historical form of local government, in the ancient county of Middlesex, England. It was also known as the Tower Hamlets, and took its name from being under the special jurisdiction of the Constable of the Tower of London...
. Both divisions were in 1889 then incorporated into the County of London
County of London
The County of London was a county of England from 1889 to 1965, corresponding to the area known today as Inner London. It was created as part of the general introduction of elected county government in England, by way of the Local Government Act 1888. The Act created an administrative County of...
.
In the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
and Tudor times, it was a very small village a few miles from the city of London
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...
, frequently visited by wayfarers as a pit stop before journeying north, Stoke Newington High Street being part of 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
Lord of the Manor
The Lordship of a Manor is recognised today in England and Wales as a form of property and one of three elements of a manor that may exist separately or be combined and may be held in moieties...
. His initials 'WP' and the motto 'ab alto' can be seen inscribed above the doorway of the old church next to Clissold Park
Clissold Park
Clissold Park is a community park in Stoke Newington within the London Borough of Hackney. Facilities include a children's playground, sports fields, a bowling green, tennis courts, a cafe and some animal attractions including terrapins in its lakes...
.
18th century
A century later, it passed to Lady Mary AbneyLady Mary Abney
Mary, Lady Abney inherited the Manor of Stoke Newington in the early 18th century, which lies about five miles north of St Paul's Cathedral in the City of London...
who drew up the first detailed maps of field boundaries and began to lay out a manorial parkland behind today's fire station on Church Street
Stoke Newington Church Street
Stoke Newington Church Street is a road in north London of the borough of Hackney. The road links Green Lanes in the west to Stoke Newington High Street , in the east...
, with the aid of Dr Isaac Watts
Isaac Watts
Isaac Watts was an English hymnwriter, theologian and logician. A prolific and popular hymnwriter, he was recognised as the "Father of English Hymnody", credited with some 750 hymns...
and her daughters.
19th century
During the early 19th century, as London expanded, the Manor of Stoke Newington was 'enfranchised' to be sold in parcels as freehold land for building purposes. Gradually the village became absorbed into the seamless expansion of London. 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
Nouveau riche
The nouveau riche , or new money, comprise those who have acquired considerable wealth within their own generation...
whose journey to the commercial heart of the capital was made possible by the birth of the railways and the first omnibuses
Bus
A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...
. The latter were first introduced into central London in the 1820s by George Shillibeer
George Shillibeer
George Shillibeer was an English coachbuilder.Shillibeer was born in St Marylebone, London the son of Abraham and Elizabeth Shillibeer. Christened in St Marys Church, Marylebone on 22 October 1797, Shillibeer worked for the coach company Hatchetts in Long Acre, the coach-building district of the...
, following his successful trial of the world's first school bus
School bus
A school bus is a type of bus designed and manufactured for student transport: carrying children and teenagers to and from school and school events...
for William Allen
William Allen (Quaker)
William Allen FRS, FLS was an English scientist and philanthropist who opposed slavery and engaged in schemes of social and penal improvement in early nineteenth century England.-Early life:...
and Susannah Corder's novel Quaker school, Newington Academy for Girls
Newington Academy for Girls
The Newington Academy for Girls, also known as Newington College for Girls, was a Quaker school established in 1824 in Stoke Newington, then north of London. In a time when girls' educational opportunities were limited, it offered a wide range of subjects "on a plan in degree differing from any...
. By the mid-nineteenth century, Stoke Newington had "the largest concentration of Quakers in London", including many who had moved up the A10 from Gracechurch Street
Gracechurch Street
Gracechurch Street is a street in the City of London which forms part of the A10. It is home to a number of shops, restaurants, offices and Leadenhall Market....
meeting house in the City. A meeting house
Meeting house
A meeting house describes a building where a public meeting takes place. This includes secular buildings which function like a town or city hall, and buildings used for religious meetings, particularly of some non-conformist Christian denominations....
was built in Park Street (now Yoakley Road) by the architect William Alderson, who later designed Hanwell Lunatic Asylum.
St Mary's Lodge on Lordship Road, the 1843 home of architect and district surveyor John Young, is the last-surviving of several grand detached houses built in the area around that time for well-off members of the new commuter class. Gibson Gardens
Gibson Gardens
Gibson Gardens is a well-known historic tenement block of flats in Stoke Newington in London, EnglandThe flats were built by the Metropolitan Association for Improving the Dwellings of the Industrious Classes in 1880 and originally comprised 3 brick blocks of flats and a row of 'cottages' which...
, an early example of quality tenement buildings erected for the housing of 'the industrious classes', were built off Stoke Newington High Street in 1880 and still stand today.
As 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.
20th century
Between 1935–37, the curved brick and Portland StonePortland stone
Portland stone is a limestone from the Tithonian stage of the Jurassic period quarried on the Isle of Portland, Dorset. The quarries consist of beds of white-grey limestone separated by chert beds. It has been used extensively as a building stone throughout the British Isles, notably in major...
Town Hall was built for the Metropolitan Borough of Stoke Newington
Metropolitan Borough of Stoke Newington
The Metropolitan Borough of Stoke Newington was a metropolitan borough in the County of London between 1900 and 1965 when it became part of the London Borough of Hackney.-Predecessor authorities:...
by J. Reginald Truelove.
Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, much of the area was damaged in the Blitz
The Blitz
The Blitz was the sustained strategic bombing of Britain by Nazi Germany between 7 September 1940 and 10 May 1941, during the Second World War. The city of London was bombed by the Luftwaffe for 76 consecutive nights and many towns and cities across the country followed...
and many were made homeless, although the level of destruction was much lower than in those areas of East London further south such as Stepney
Stepney
Stepney is a district of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in London's East End that grew out of a medieval village around St Dunstan's church and the 15th century ribbon development of Mile End Road...
or Shoreditch
Shoreditch
Shoreditch is an area of London within the London Borough of Hackney in England. It is a built-up part of the inner city immediately to the north of the City of London, located east-northeast of Charing Cross.-Etymology:...
or even in next-door Hackney. The death toll was also relatively low: almost three-quarters of civilian deaths being due to one tragic incident on 13 October 1940 when a crowded shelter at Coronation Avenue off the high street received 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
Abney Park Cemetery
Abney Park in Stoke Newington, in the London Borough of Hackney, is a historic parkland originally laid out in the early 18th century by Lady Mary Abney and Dr. Isaac Watts, and the neighbouring Hartopp family. In 1840 it became a non-denominational garden cemetery, semi-public park arboretum, and...
. Like Hackney and Tottenham, Stoke Newington avoided most of the later V-weapon attacks, which fell disproportionately on South London; only a total of 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 a repairable state. Two notable exceptions are the classically grand Parish Church of West Hackney, St James's, on Stoke Newington Road, which dated from 1824 and St Faith's, a Victorian muscular gothic by William Burges
William Burges
William Burges may refer to:* William Burges * 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 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.
Postwar developments
After the war a substantial amount of residential housing, particularly to the east of modern Stoke Newington, in Hackney borough at the time, had been either destroyed or left in such a bad state that it was seen by the urban planners of that era as better to demolish it. Postwar redevelopment has replaced many of these areas with large estates, some more successful than others. Much of this residential redevelopment was planned by Frederick GibberdFrederick Gibberd
Sir Frederick Ernest Gibberd was an English architect and landscape designer.Gibberd was born in Coventry, the eldest of the five children of a local tailor, and was educated at the city's King Henry VIII School...
, the designer of Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral
Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral
The Metropolitan Cathedral Church of Christ the King is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Liverpool, Merseyside, England. The cathedral is the seat of the Archbishop of Liverpool and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Liverpool. The Metropolitan Cathedral is one of two cathedrals in the city...
.
Ever a home to radicals, Communist Party meetings were held in the Town Hall in the post-war years. And although Stoke Newington became part of the London 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....
in 1965, it has never quite lost its own identity. Indeed, following the 1960s, it increasingly became home to a number of squatters, artists, bohemians and also political radicals. Famously, the 'Stoke Newington 8' were arrested on 20 August 1971 at 359 Amhurst Road for suspected involvement in The Angry Brigade
The Angry Brigade
The Angry Brigade was a small British militant group responsible for a series of bomb attacks in Britain between 1970 and 1972.-History:During the summer of 1968 there were a number of demonstrations in London against the American involvement in the Vietnam War, centred on the American Embassy in...
bombings.
The third, Muktar Said Ibrahim
Muktar Said Ibrahim
Muktar Said Ibrahim , also known as Muktar Mohammed Said, has been found guilty of involvement in the attempted July 21 attacks on London's public transport system. He attempted to detonate a device on a London bus and was arrested sharing an apartment with the also guilty Ramzi Mohammed on 29...
, was convicted, as the ring leader, on an indictment of conspiracy to murder. He personally planted a failed bomb on a 26 bus, which misfired later on the Hackney Road
Hackney Road
Hackney Road is a London arterial route running from Shoreditch Church to Cambridge Heath. It occupies a no mans land in between Bethnal Green and Haggerston...
on 21 July 2005
21 July 2005 London bombings
On 21 July 2005, four attempted bomb attacks disrupted part of London's public transport system two weeks after the 7 July 2005 London bombings. The explosions occurred around midday at Shepherd's Bush, Warren Street and Oval stations on London Underground, and on a bus in Shoreditch...
. Ibrahim used to work at an off-licence on Amhurst Road. In February 2005, police were seeking Ibrahim on an arrest warrant for an outstanding public order offence and sent a letter to his Farliegh Road address saying "Call us, before we call you." After the attack, Ibrahim was seen on the run in Farleigh Road and was later arrested in Dalgrano Gardens, W10. He was sentenced to life imprisonment, to serve a minimum of forty years before being considered for release.
These days, Stoke Newington is a very multicultural area, with large Asian
British Asian
British Asian is a term used to describe British citizens who descended from mainly South Asia, also known as South Asians in the United Kingdom...
, Irish, Turkish
British-Turkish people
Turks in the United Kingdom or British Turks are Turkish people who have immigrated to the United Kingdom. However, the term may also refer to British-born persons who have Turkish parents or who have a Turkish ancestral background....
, Jewish
British Jews
British Jews are Jews who live in, or are citizens of, the United Kingdom. In the 2001 Census, 266,740 people listed their religion as Jewish. The UK is home to the second largest Jewish population in Europe, and has the fifth largest Jewish community worldwide...
and Afro-Caribbean communities. The area continues to be home to many new and emerging communities such as Polish and Somali
Somali people
Somalis are an ethnic group located in the Horn of Africa, also known as the Somali Peninsula. The overwhelming majority of Somalis speak the Somali language, which is part of the Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family...
immigrants.
On Saturday mornings, St Paul's churchyard in Stoke Newington High Street hosts an active farmers' market - relocated in July/August 2011 from its earlier site in the playground of William Patten Primary school on Stoke Newington Church Street. This was the first farmers' market in the UK to have only organic and biodynamic producers.
In June 2011 property developer Newmark Properties LLP announced their proposed development for Wilmer Place. This includes a large Sainsburys supermarket, "high quality private and affordable residential apartments" and a 90+ vehicle car park. This development requires the demolition of some of the exiting properties in Wilmer place and 195-201 Stoke Newington High Street. There has been strong local reaction against this development during the brief pre-planning consultation. Several local groups are protesting this development, including Hackney Unites, the Hackney Liberal Democrat Party and Stokey Local, a group formed by local business leaders and residents.
Education
- For details of education in Stoke Newington see the Hackney article
Primary schools
- Benthal Junior
- Betty Layward Primary
- Grasmere Primary
- Grazebrook Primary
- Holmleigh Primary
- Princess May Primary
- Jubilee Primary
- Simon Marks Jewish Primary SchoolSimon Marks Jewish Primary SchoolSimon Marks Jewish Primary School is a primary school in Stoke Newington, North London. The school is situated on the corner of both Cazenove Road and Kyverdale Road. Pupils range from 4 years old right the way through to 11 years old , not including the nursery which is available for 3 and 4 year...
http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/reports/index.cfm?fuseaction=summary&id=100275&bar=no - Sir Thomas Abney http://www.sirthomasabney.hackney.sch.uk
- Saint Mary's Church of England Primary
- Saint Matthias Church of England Primary
- William Patten Primary.
Secondary schools
- Beis Malka Girls'
- Stoke Newington School - Media Arts & Science College
- Our Lady's Convent High
- The Skinners' Company's School for GirlsThe Skinners' Company's School for GirlsThe Skinners' Company's School for Girls was founded by the Worshipful Company of Skinners, a London Livery Company. It is a non denominational voluntary aided school and was opened in Hackney in 1890. It was then awarded specialist status in recognition of its excellent Business and Enterprise...
- Tawhid Boys SchoolTawhid Boys School (London)Tawhid Boys School is located in Stoke Newington, in the London Borough of Hackney. It is the first Islamic boys school in the Stoke Newington area. The school was founded in June 2000 . Hadhrat Moulana Yusuf Motala, head and founder of Darul-Uloom, Bury, Lancashire, inaugurated the school in...
Defunct schools
- Newington Academy for GirlsNewington Academy for GirlsThe Newington Academy for Girls, also known as Newington College for Girls, was a Quaker school established in 1824 in Stoke Newington, then north of London. In a time when girls' educational opportunities were limited, it offered a wide range of subjects "on a plan in degree differing from any...
, a Quaker school established 1824 by William AllenWilliam Allen- Politicians :* William Allen , Canadian politician from Toronto* William Allen , American congressman from Ohio* William Allen , American politician from Ohio...
Architecture
Although Stoke Newington contains only one Grade I listed building (St Matthias ChurchSt Matthias Church (Stoke Newington)
St Matthias Church is an Anglican church in Stoke Newington, north London, England. It is named for St Matthias.-Formation:St Matthias, once one of London’s foremost High Churches, was built from 1849-53, partly with money from a rich doctor named Robert Brett, who thought that the Dissenting...
), it contains a fair number of Grade II* buildings for one London district. Unsurprisingly, given its nature, residential buildings are strongly represented, and this becomes even more clear when the lowest grade, Grade II, is considered, where almost whole streets are listed in some cases.
Grade I
- St Matthias ChurchSt Matthias Church (Stoke Newington)St Matthias Church is an Anglican church in Stoke Newington, north London, England. It is named for St Matthias.-Formation:St Matthias, once one of London’s foremost High Churches, was built from 1849-53, partly with money from a rich doctor named Robert Brett, who thought that the Dissenting...
, Wordsworth Road
Grade II*
- 187-191 Stoke Newington High Street
- 81/83 Stoke Newington Church Street
- 85/87 Stoke Newington Church Street
- Saint Mary's Old Church
- Saint Mary's New Church
- Clissold House, Clissold Park
- Saint Andrew's Church, Bethune Road
- The Castle Climbing Centre, Green Lanes
Grade II
- Stoke Newington Town Hall and Library
- Abney Park Chapel
- Newington Green Unitarian ChurchNewington Green Unitarian ChurchNewington Green Unitarian Church in north London is one of England's oldest Unitarian churches. It has had strong ties to political radicalism for over 300 years, and is London's oldest Nonconformist place of worship still in use...
- 113 Stoke Newington Church Street, one time residence of the poet and writer Anna Laetitia BarbauldAnna Laetitia BarbauldAnna Laetitia Barbauld was a prominent English poet, essayist, literary critic, editor, and children's author.A "woman of letters" who published in multiple genres, Barbauld had a successful writing career at a time when female professional writers were rare...
- Sanford Terrace
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 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
Blur (band)
Blur is an English alternative rock band. Formed in London in 1989 as Seymour, the group consists of singer Damon Albarn, guitarist Graham Coxon, bassist Alex James and drummer Dave Rowntree. Blur's debut album Leisure incorporated the sounds of Madchester and shoegazing...
to create some publicity for their 2003 single "Crazy Beat
Crazy Beat
"Crazy Beat" is a song by English alternative rock band Blur. It was released as the second single from their seventh album Think Tank in 2003. "Crazy Beat" has been compared by critics and the band to Blur's 1997 hit "Song 2" in its guitar-driven simplicity...
". The album's cover and single artwork were undertaken by graffiti
Graffiti
Graffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property....
artist Banksy
Banksy
Banksy is a pseudonymous England-based graffiti artist, political activist, film director, and painter.His satirical street art and subversive epigrams combine irreverent dark humour with graffiti done in a distinctive stencilling technique...
, with the single featuring a spoof image of the British Royal Family
British Royal Family
The British Royal Family is the group of close relatives of the monarch of the United Kingdom. The term is also commonly applied to the same group of people as the relations of the monarch in her or his role as sovereign of any of the other Commonwealth realms, thus sometimes at variance with...
, replicated as a mural
Mural
A mural is any piece of artwork painted or applied directly on a wall, ceiling or other large permanent surface. A particularly distinguishing characteristic of mural painting is that the architectural elements of the given space are harmoniously incorporated into the picture.-History:Murals of...
on the building. By 2009 it had become a tourist attraction, but Hackney Council had 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 contact her due to incorrect Land Registry records, they started painting over the artwork with black paint. They were stopped after they had partly covered the mural.
Transport and locale
Manor House tube station
Manor House tube station is a station on the Piccadilly line of the London Underground, on the boundary between Travelcard Zone 2 and Zone 3. It straddles the border between the London Boroughs of Hackney and Haringey, the postal address and three of the entrances being in the former, and one...
on the Piccadilly Line
Piccadilly Line
The Piccadilly line is a line of the London Underground, coloured dark blue on the Tube map. It is the fifth busiest line on the Underground network judged by the number of passengers transported per year. It is mainly a deep-level line, running from the north to the west of London via Zone 1, with...
.
- Lea Valley LinesLea Valley LinesThe Lea Valley Lines are three commuter lines and two branches in North East London, so named because they run along the valley of the River Lea...
(south to north) — from London Liverpool StreetLiverpool Street stationLiverpool 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...
- Rectory Road railway stationRectory Road railway stationRectory Road railway station is a railway station in Stoke Newington in the London Borough of Hackney, North London, United Kingdom.It is located on the Seven Sisters branch of the Lea Valley Lines, between Stoke Newington and Hackney Downs...
- Stoke Newington railway stationStoke Newington railway stationStoke Newington railway station links Stoke Newington to Liverpool Street in central London, and to Cheshunt and Enfield Town further north. Trains generally run every fifteen minutes....
- Stamford Hill railway stationStamford Hill railway stationStamford Hill is a railway station in Stamford Hill, in the London Borough of Hackney, east London.The entrance hall of Stamford Hill railway station on Amhurst Park lies within the London Borough of Hackney, but the platform area lies within Tottenham in the London Borough of Haringey in north...
- Rectory Road railway station
Entertainment
Stoke Newington is well known for its good pubs and bars and a lively music scene, including contemporary jazz, and open mic comedy sessions. A few venues such as Ryans on Stoke Newington Church Street, The Others, above the snooker hall on Manor Road, and Bodrums, farther down the High Street on the same side. The Auld Shillelagh on Stoke Newington Church St. is a well-known Irish pub which hosts a locally famous 'Bowie Bar', Lady Gaga reportedly visited there in 2010. The Vortex Jazz ClubVortex Jazz Club
The Vortex Jazz Club is a London venue that primarily features live contemporary jazz. The club's official website features book reviews and jazz CD reviews by critic Chris Parker....
also used to be on Church Street but has now moved to Dalston.
People associated with Stoke Newington
- Dr Daryll C. McBride, noted theologian, born in Stoke Newington.
- Lady Mary AbneyLady Mary AbneyMary, Lady Abney inherited the Manor of Stoke Newington in the early 18th century, which lies about five miles north of St Paul's Cathedral in the City of London...
, inherited the manor and commissioned the first map-based survey. - William AllenWilliam Allen (Quaker)William Allen FRS, FLS was an English scientist and philanthropist who opposed slavery and engaged in schemes of social and penal improvement in early nineteenth century England.-Early life:...
, quaker, philanthropist, scientist and abolitionist - lived in Stoke Newington. - Anna Lætitia BarbauldAnna Laetitia BarbauldAnna Laetitia Barbauld was a prominent English poet, essayist, literary critic, editor, and children's author.A "woman of letters" who published in multiple genres, Barbauld had a successful writing career at a time when female professional writers were rare...
, writer and poet of the Victorian era, lived at 113 Stoke Newington Church StreetStoke Newington Church StreetStoke Newington Church Street is a road in north London of the borough of Hackney. The road links Green Lanes in the west to Stoke Newington High Street , in the east...
. - Wynne Edwin BaxterWynne Edwin BaxterWynne Edwin Baxter FRMS, FGS LL.B was an English lawyer, translator, antiquarian and botanist, but is best known as the Coroner who conducted the inquests on most of the victims of the Whitechapel Murders of 1888 to 1891 including three of the victims of Jack the Ripper in 1888, as well as on...
, Coroner for several of the Jack the RipperJack the Ripper"Jack the Ripper" is the best-known name given to an unidentified serial killer who was active in the largely impoverished areas in and around the Whitechapel district of London in 1888. The name originated in a letter, written by someone claiming to be the murderer, that was disseminated in the...
murders of 1888 died at his home in Church Street in 1920. - Bad MannersBad MannersBad Manners are an English 2 Tone ska band. They quickly became the novelty favourites of the UK pop scene through their bald outsized frontman's on-stage antics, earning early exposure through their Top of The Pops exploits and an appearance in the live film documentary, Dance Craze.They were at...
come from Stoke Newington. The band were formed at Woodberry Down comprehensive school in 1976. - 80's pop star Buster BloodvesselBuster BloodvesselDouglas Trendle , better known as Buster Bloodvessel, is an English singer and the frontman of the ska revival band Bad Manners...
lived on Batley Road. - Mark 'Bedders' BedfordMark BedfordMark Bedford , nicknamed 'Bedders', is a bass guitarist and former member of the band Madness....
, bass player with MadnessMadness (band)In 1979, the band recorded the Lee Thompson composition "The Prince". The song, like the band's name, paid homage to their idol, Prince Buster. The song was released through 2 Tone Records, the label of The Specials founder Jerry Dammers. The song was a surprise hit, peaking in the UK music charts...
- lives in Stoke Newington. - Violet BerlinViolet BerlinViolet Berlin is a Turkish born English television presenter, writer and producer best known for her coverage of video games.-Career:Berlin began presenting in the early 1990s when she presented WildBunch on BBC One, and Cool Cube on BSkyB...
, television presenter - lives in Stoke Newington with partner Gareth 'Gaz Top' Jones. - Marc BolanMarc BolanMarc Bolan was an English singer-songwriter, guitarist and poet. He is best known as the founder, frontman, lead singer & guitarist for T. Rex, but also a successful solo artist...
(born, Mark Feld), musician - lived on Stoke Newington Common until age 15. - William BoothWilliam BoothWilliam Booth was a British Methodist preacher who founded The Salvation Army and became its first General...
and his wife CatherineCatherine BoothCatherine Booth was the wife of the founder of The Salvation Army, William Booth. Because of her influence in the formation of The Salvation Army she was known as the 'Army Mother'....
, founders of The Salvation ArmyThe Salvation ArmyThe Salvation Army is a Protestant Christian church known for its thrift stores and charity work. It is an international movement that currently works in over a hundred countries....
, are buried in Abney Park CemeteryAbney Park CemeteryAbney Park in Stoke Newington, in the London Borough of Hackney, is a historic parkland originally laid out in the early 18th century by Lady Mary Abney and Dr. Isaac Watts, and the neighbouring Hartopp family. In 1840 it became a non-denominational garden cemetery, semi-public park arboretum, and...
. - Eric BristowEric BristowEric Bristow MBE is a British darts player, whose skill at the game in the 1980s helped turn it into a worldwide spectator sport.- Early career :...
, retired darts player, 5 times world professional darts champion, born in Stoke Newington. - Asa ButterfieldAsa ButterfieldAsa Maxwell Thornton F. Butterfield is an English actor, best known for starring in the Holocaust film The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas , as Norman in the 2010 film Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang, and playing the title role in Martin Scorsese's 2011 fantasy Hugo.-Life and career:Butterfield was born...
, child actor, goes to Stoke Newington Middle School, lives in IslingtonIslingtonIslington is a neighbourhood in Greater London, England and forms the central district of the London Borough of Islington. It is a district of Inner London, spanning from Islington High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the area around the busy Upper Street...
. - Clem CattiniClem CattiniClem Cattini , is an English rock and roll drummer who was a member of The Tornados before becoming well known for his work as a session musician...
, musician - born in Stoke Newington. - Joseph ConradJoseph ConradJoseph Conrad was a Polish-born English novelist.Conrad is regarded as one of the great novelists in English, although he did not speak the language fluently until he was in his twenties...
, writer - lived in Stoke Newington. - Sir Horace CutlerHorace CutlerSir Horace Walter Cutler OBE was a British politician and Leader of the Greater London Council from 1977 to 1981. He was noted for his showmanship and flair for publicity, although sceptical of the merits of the authority he was in charge of.-Origin:Cutler was born in Stoke Newington, London into...
, politician - born in the district. - Elton DeanElton DeanElton Dean was an English jazz musician who performed on alto saxophone, saxello and occasionally keyboard....
, experimental jazz saxophonist from BluesologyBluesologyBluesology was a 1960s English R&B group, best remembered as being the first professional band of which Reggie Dwight - later known as Elton John - was a member.-History:...
lived in Stoke Newington. - John DiamondJohn Diamond (journalist)John Diamond was a British broadcaster and journalist.- Education and training :Diamond was the son of a biochemist and a fashion designer. He grew up in Upper Clapton and Woodford Green, he then attended the City of London School and trained as an English teacher at Trent Park College of...
, journalist and radio presenter - born in Stoke Newington. - Daniel DefoeDaniel DefoeDaniel Defoe , born Daniel Foe, was an English trader, writer, journalist, and pamphleteer, who gained fame for his novel Robinson Crusoe. Defoe is notable for being one of the earliest proponents of the novel, as he helped to popularise the form in Britain and along with others such as Richardson,...
, writer - born and lived on Church Street. His gravestone can be seen in the Hackney Museum. - DJ DextrousDJ DextrousDJ Dextrous, Dextrous or Dex is the stage name of composer, producer and DJ Errol Francis. Born and bred in North London's Stoke Newington area, at Brooke House Boy's School he associated with DJ Hype as well as Smiley and PJ from the group Shut Up and Dance, DJed at school discos, played trumpet...
, Ivor Novello & BAFTA awards winning Producer/DJ - born in Stoke Newington. - Rupert EvansRupert EvansRupert Evans is an English actor, who is well known in the United Kingdom for his television career.Evans was born in Staffordshire, England. He attended Milton Abbey School, in Dorset, and went on to train at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art...
, film and theatre actor lived in Stoke Newington. - Paloma FaithPaloma FaithPaloma Faith is a British singer-songwriter and actress. In 2009, she released her debut single "Stone Cold Sober", then her debut album, Do You Want the Truth or Something Beautiful?, which was certified Platinum by the British Phonographic Industry. Her debut album stayed within the top 40 album...
, singer and actress- raised in Stoke Newington. - Charles FleetwoodCharles FleetwoodCharles Fleetwood was an English Parliamentary soldier and politician, Lord Deputy of Ireland from 1652–55, where he enforced the Cromwellian Settlement. At the Restoration he was included in the Act of Indemnity as among the twenty liable to penalties other than capital, and was finally...
, Parliamentary General during the English Civil War, later Lord Deputy of Ireland and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces lived in Stoke Newington. - Paul FootPaul FootPaul Mackintosh Foot was a British investigative journalist, political campaigner, author, and long-time member of the Socialist Workers Party...
, political activist and writer - born in Palestine, lived in Stoke Newington. - Jonathan FreedlandJonathan FreedlandJonathan Saul Freedland is a British journalist, who writes a weekly column for The Guardian and a monthly piece for the Jewish Chronicle. He is also a regular contributor to The New York Times and The New York Review of Books, and presents BBC Radio 4’s contemporary history series,...
, journalist and author - lives in Stoke Newington. - Joseph Jackson FullerJoseph Jackson FullerThe Rev. Joseph Jackson Fuller , Baptist missionary to the pre-colonial African Chiefdoms of the Cameroons was one of the earliest slaves to be freed in Jamaica who went on to become well-educated and travel internationally...
, Jamaican missionary to pre-colonial West Africa - Samuel HoareSamuel Hoare JrSamuel Hoare Jr was a wealthy British Quaker merchant and abolitionist born in Stoke Newington, the north of London. He was one of the twelve founding members of the Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade.-Background:...
, Quaker and abolitionist lived in Paradise Row, Stoke Newington. - John HowardJohn Howard (prison reformer)John Howard was a philanthropist and the first English prison reformer.-Birth and early life:Howard was born in Lower Clapton, London. His father, also John, was a wealthy upholsterer at Smithfield Market in the city...
, founding father of the prison reform movement, lived in Stoke Newington. - Hugh Gater Jenkins, Baron Jenkins of Putney, representative 1958–1965 of the Stoke Newington & Hackney constituency on the London County Council.
- Gareth JonesGareth Jones (presenter)Gareth Jones is a Welsh television presenter and celebrity. He began his broadcasting career under the name Gaz Top....
, aka Gaz Top, TV presenter and producer - lives in Stoke Newington. - Stewart LeeStewart LeeStewart Lee is an English stand-up comedian, writer and director known for being one half of the 1990s comedy duo Lee and Herring, and for co-writing and directing the critically acclaimed and controversial stage show Jerry Springer - The Opera...
, comedian and writer - lives in Stoke Newington. - Michael Levy, Baron LevyMichael Levy, Baron LevyMichael Abraham Levy, Baron Levy, is President of Community Service Volunteers Jewish Care, Jewish Free School and Jewish Lads' and Girls' Brigade ....
, impresario and political fund raiser - born in Stoke Newington. - Bernard LewisBernard LewisBernard Lewis, FBA is a British-American historian, scholar in Oriental studies, and political commentator. He is the Cleveland E. Dodge Professor Emeritus of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University...
, foremost historian of Islam and the Middle East, born in 1916 in Stoke Newington. - Joseph Jackson ListerJoseph Jackson ListerJoseph Jackson Lister, FRS was an amateur British opticist and physicist and the father of Joseph Lister.-Ancestry:...
, amateur opticistOptical engineeringOptical engineering is the field of study that focuses on applications of optics. Optical engineers design components of optical instruments such as lenses, microscopes, telescopes, and other equipment that utilizes the properties of light. Other devices include optical sensors and measurement...
and physicistPhysicistA physicist is a scientist who studies or practices physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning all length scales: from sub-atomic particles of which all ordinary matter is made to the behavior of the material Universe as a whole...
, inventor of the modern microscopeMicroscopeA microscope is an instrument used to see objects that are too small for the naked eye. The science of investigating small objects using such an instrument is called microscopy...
and the father of Joseph ListerJoseph Lister, 1st Baron ListerJoseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister OM, FRS, PC , known as Sir Joseph Lister, Bt., between 1883 and 1897, was a British surgeon and a pioneer of antiseptic surgery, who promoted the idea of sterile surgery while working at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary...
- born in Stoke Newington. - Ken LivingstoneKen LivingstoneKenneth Robert "Ken" Livingstone is an English politician who is currently a member of the centrist to centre-left Labour Party...
, former Mayor of London was the representative for Stoke Newington on the Greater London CouncilGreater London CouncilThe Greater London Council was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council which had covered a much smaller area...
between 1977 - 1981. - Zöe LuckerZöe LuckerZöe Elizabeth Lucker is an English actress best known for playing the roles of Tanya Turner on ITV's Footballers' Wives and Vanessa Gold in EastEnders.-Career:...
, actress in HolbyblueHolbyBlueHolbyBlue was a British police drama series that aired on BBC One from 2007 to 2008. Produced by the BBC, Red Planet Pictures and Kudos for BBC One, it is a spin-off of the successful BBC One medical drama Holby City, itself a spin-off of the long-running series Casualty.The first series was...
& Footballers Wives lives in Stoke Newington. - Thomas MantonThomas MantonThomas Manton was an English Puritan clergyman.-Life:Thomas Manton was baptized March 31, 1620 at Lydeard St Lawrence, Somerset, a remote southwestern portion of England. His grammar school education was possibly at Blundell's School, in Tiverton, Devon...
, appointed minister of St Mary's Church 1644/5; a forthright defender of Reformed principles and one of Oliver Cromwell's chaplains - Jean MarshJean MarshJean Lyndsey Torren Marsh is an English actress, occasional screenwriter, and co-creator of the television series Upstairs, Downstairs and The House of Eliott....
, actress and writer for television, co-creator of Upstairs, DownstairsUpstairs, DownstairsUpstairs, Downstairs is a British drama television series originally produced by London Weekend Television and revived by the BBC. It ran on ITV in 68 episodes divided into five series from 1971 to 1975, and a sixth series shown on the BBC on three consecutive nights, 26–28 December 2010.Set in a...
. - Kevin MacNeilKevin MacNeilKevin MacNeil is a British novelist, poet and playwright born and raised in the Outer Hebrides. His novels, A Method Actor's Guide to Jekyll and Hyde and best-selling debut, The Stornoway Way , were both published to widespread critical acclaim...
, Hebridean-born novelist, poet and playwright, lives in Stoke Newington. - Warren MitchellWarren MitchellWarren Mitchell is an English actor who rose to initial prominence in the role of bigoted cockney Alf Garnett in the BBC television sitcom Till Death Us Do Part , and its sequels Till Death... and In Sickness and in Health , all of which were written by Johnny Speight...
, actor - born in the district. - Samuel Morley MPSamuel Morley (MP)Samuel Morley , was an English woollen manufacturer, philanthropist, dissenter , abolitionist, political radical, and statesman.-Introduction:...
, businessman, statesman, philanthropist and abolitionist - lived in Stoke Newington. - David Farren, bassist with Bad MannersBad MannersBad Manners are an English 2 Tone ska band. They quickly became the novelty favourites of the UK pop scene through their bald outsized frontman's on-stage antics, earning early exposure through their Top of The Pops exploits and an appearance in the live film documentary, Dance Craze.They were at...
was born in Stoke Newington. - Robert Oakeshott, champion of worker co-operatives. Obituary in The EconomistThe EconomistThe Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
. Funeral in St. Mary's Old Church, on 29th June, 2011. - David O'LearyDavid O'LearyDavid Anthony O'Leary is an Irish football manager and former player. His managerial career began at Leeds United and later he managed Aston Villa. He most recently worked as the manager of Al-Ahli Dubai...
, football manager and Arsenal FC appearance record holder - born in Stoke Newington. - Alexei SayleAlexei SayleAlexei David Sayle is a British stand-up comedian, actor and author. He was a central part of the alternative comedy circuit in the early 1980s. He was voted the 18th greatest stand-up comic on Channel 4's 100 Greatest Stand-ups in 2007...
, comedian - wrote a famous stand up sketch about Stoke Newington. - Tjinder Singh, lead singer of CornershopCornershopCornershop are a British indie rock band formed in 1991 by Wolverhampton-born Tjinder Singh , his brother Avtar Singh , David Chambers and Ben Ayres , the first three having previously been members of Preston-based band General Havoc, who released one single in 1991...
, currently lives in Stoke Newington. - Chris Singleton, the Irish singer-songwriter, currently lives in Stoke Newington; his 'Twisted CityTwisted CityTwisted City is a 2006 album by Dublin singer-songwriter Chris Singleton. A self-engineered and produced album, it took two and a half years to complete. The album was conceived as a tube journey through London; every song was a 'stop on the line' and dealt with Chris' experiences of the city, both...
' album cover features a girl walking in Abney Park Cemetery. - James Richardson SpensleyJames Richardson SpensleyDr James Richardson Spensley was an English doctor, footballer, manager, Scout Leader and medic from Stoke Newington, London. He is considered to be one of the "Fathers of Italian football", due to his association with Genoa CFC and his contribution to the modern day variation of the game in Italy...
, doctor, Genoa CFC footballer, manager, Scout LeaderScout LeaderA Scout Leader or Scouter generally refers to the trained adult leader of a Scout unit. The terms used vary from country to country, over time, and with the type of unit.-Roles:...
and medicMedicMedic is a general term for a person involved in medicine, especially emergency or first-response medicine, such as an emergency medical technician, paramedic, or a military member trained in battlefield medicine. Also the term is used toward a Nurse in pre-hospital care and/or emergency...
was born in 1867 in Stoke Newington. - James Stephen, slavery abolitionist - his father moved the family home to Stoke Newington in 1774.
- Edgar Allan PoeEdgar Allan PoeEdgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective...
, writer - attended Manor School on Church Street around 1820. (His stay in the area provides the background for the popular 2004 novel, The American Boy, by Andrew TaylorAndrew Taylor (author)Andrew Taylor is a British author best known for his crime novels, which include the Dougal series, the Lydmouth series, the Roth Trilogy and the historical novel The American Boy.-Biography:...
). His story "William WilsonWilliam Wilson (short story)"William Wilson" is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1839, with a setting inspired by Poe's formative years outside of London. The tale follows the theme of the doppelgänger and is written in a style based on rationality...
" featured a character based on the school's headmaster Rev Dr Bransbury. - Isaac WattsIsaac WattsIsaac Watts was an English hymnwriter, theologian and logician. A prolific and popular hymnwriter, he was recognised as the "Father of English Hymnody", credited with some 750 hymns...
, theologian, logician and hymnwriter - lived and died at Abney House. - Barbara WindsorBarbara WindsorBarbara Ann Windsor, MBE , better known by her stage name Barbara Windsor, is an English actress. Her best known roles are in the Carry On films and as Peggy Mitchell in the BBC soap opera EastEnders....
, actress in EastEndersEastEndersEastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
& the Carry On filmsCarry On filmsThe Carry On films are a series of low-budget British comedy films, directed by Gerald Thomas and produced by Peter Rogers. They are an energetic mix of parody, farce, slapstick and double entendres....
- born in Shoreditch but grew up around Amhurst Road and lived in Yoakley Road. - Joseph WoodsJoseph WoodsJoseph Woods FLS FGS 24 August 1776-1864 was an English Quaker architect, botanist and geologist born in the village of Stoke Newington, a few miles north of the City of London...
, Quaker, botanist and architect, son of a founding abolitionist by the same name. - Fyfe DangerfieldFyfe DangerfieldFyfe Antony Dangerfield Hutchins is an English musician and songwriter, best known as the founding member of the indie rock band Guillemots.-Early life:...
, lead singer of Guillemots lives in Stoke Newington - Andrew RankenAndrew RankenAndrew Ranken is an English drummer, best known as the percussionist for the English-Irish band The Pogues.He joined the band in 1983 and appeared on all of their recordings and tours until their breakup in 1996. He went on to join the bands Metropolitan Waterboard and Kippers, fronted by...
, drummer in The PoguesThe PoguesThe Pogues are a Celtic punk band, formed in 1982 and fronted by Shane MacGowan. The band reached international prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s. MacGowan left the band in 1991 due to drinking problems but the band continued first with Joe Strummer and then with Spider Stacy on vocals before... - Actor Jack Guinness, from drama 'London Fields' lives near Church Street
- Louis Alphonso (Louis Cook), guitarist with Bad MannersBad MannersBad Manners are an English 2 Tone ska band. They quickly became the novelty favourites of the UK pop scene through their bald outsized frontman's on-stage antics, earning early exposure through their Top of The Pops exploits and an appearance in the live film documentary, Dance Craze.They were at...
, was born in the district. - Rocker Josh Hayward, of The Darkness, lives in Stoke Newington
- Drummer, Brian Tuitt, of Bad MannersBad MannersBad Manners are an English 2 Tone ska band. They quickly became the novelty favourites of the UK pop scene through their bald outsized frontman's on-stage antics, earning early exposure through their Top of The Pops exploits and an appearance in the live film documentary, Dance Craze.They were at...
went to school in Stoke Newington. - Winston Bazoomies (Alan Sayag) of Bad MannersBad MannersBad Manners are an English 2 Tone ska band. They quickly became the novelty favourites of the UK pop scene through their bald outsized frontman's on-stage antics, earning early exposure through their Top of The Pops exploits and an appearance in the live film documentary, Dance Craze.They were at...
was born and still lives in Stoke Newington. - Paul Hyman, trumpet player with Bad MannersBad MannersBad Manners are an English 2 Tone ska band. They quickly became the novelty favourites of the UK pop scene through their bald outsized frontman's on-stage antics, earning early exposure through their Top of The Pops exploits and an appearance in the live film documentary, Dance Craze.They were at...
, was born in Stoke Newington. - Maverick SabreMaverick SabreMaverick Sabre is an English/Irish vocalist and rapper, born in Hackney, London in England. Associated with genres such as R&B and Folk, Sabre is known for his eerie vocals and guitar playing. In January 2011, Sabre appeared on Professor Green's single Jungle, which peaked at number 31 on the UK...
(musician) Singer-Songwriter was born in Stoke Newington. - Ronan BennettRonan BennettRonan Bennett is a Northern Irish novelist and screenwriter. He was raised in a devout Roman Catholic family headed by William H. and Geraldine Bennett at 420 Merville Garden Village in the Whitehouse area of Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland. Since its development in the late-1940s, Merville has...
(author) writer of BBC Drama's HiddenHiddenHidden or The Hidden can refer to:* Concealment, keeping things from notice or view* L'Encobert , a mysterious rebel leader in the Revolt of the Brotherhoods in Valencia in 1522...
and C4's Top BoyTop BoyTop Boy is a British television drama series, which was first broadcast on Channel 4. The four episodes were broadcast over consecutive nights, from 31 October to 3 November 2011. Set on the fictional Summerhouse housing estate in Hackney, North London, the series follows the lives of a group of...
, originally from Ireland, now lives in Stoke Newington.
External links
- Abney Park Trust
- Alexandra Theatre With archive images and History.
- Newington Green Unitarian Church
- The Reservoirs Nature Society (TeRNS) Wildlife Group information from Stoke Newington reservoirs.
- Saint Mary's Church, Stoke Newington
- Saint Mary's Lodge, Lordship Road
- The annual Stoke Newington festival (usually held in June)