Hoxton
Hoxton | |
---|---|
Hoxton Square | |
Location within Greater London | |
OS grid reference | TQ335835 |
• Charing Cross | 2.7 mi (4.3 km) SW |
London borough | |
Ceremonial county | Greater London |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | LONDON |
Postcode district | E2 |
Postcode district | N1 |
Dialling code | 020 |
Police | Metropolitan |
Fire | London |
Ambulance | London |
UK Parliament | |
London Assembly | |
Hoxton is an area in the London Borough of Hackney, England, and is in northeast London and is part of the East End. It was historically in the county of Middlesex until 1889. It lies immediately northeast of the City of London financial district, and was once part of the civil parish and subsequent Metropolitan Borough of Shoreditch, prior to its incorporation into the London Borough of Hackney.
The area is generally considered to be bordered by Regent's Canal on the north side, Wharf Road and City Road to the west, Old Street to the south, and Kingsland Road to the east.
There is a
History
Origins
The earliest recorded names of the settlement are Hochestone, in the
In 1415, the Lord Mayor of London "caused the wall of the City to be broken towards Moorfields, and built the postern called Moorgate, for the ease of the citizens to walk that way upon causeways towards Islington and Hoxton"[citation needed] – at that time, still marshy areas. The residents responded by harassing walkers to protect their fields. A century later, the hedges and ditches were destroyed, by order of the city, to enable city dwellers to partake in leisure at Hoxton.[citation needed]
Tudor Hoxton
By
Hoxton's public gardens were a popular resort from the overcrowded City streets, and it is reputed that the name of Pimlico came from the publican, Ben Pimlico,[10] and his particular brew.
Have at thee, then, my merrie boyes, and beg for old Ben Pimlico's nut-brown ale.[11]
The gardens appear to have been situated near Hoxton Street, known at that time, as Pimlico Path. The modern area of Pimlico derives its name from its former use in Hoxton.
Gunpowder, treason and a letter
On 26 October 1605 Hoxton achieved notoriety, when a letter arrived at the home of local resident
Almshouses and madhouses
By the end of the 17th century the nobility's estates began to be broken up. Many of these large houses came to be used as schools, hospitals or
Almshouses endowed by
Hoxton House, was established as a private asylum in 1695. It was owned by the Miles family, and expanded rapidly into the surrounding streets being described by Coleridge as the Hoxton madhouse.[16] Here fee-paying 'gentle and middle class' people took their exercise in the extensive grounds between Pitfield Street and Kingsland Road;[17] including the poet Charles Lamb.[18] Over 500 pauper lunatics resided in closed wards,[19] and it remained the Naval Lunatic Asylum until 1818.[16] The asylum closed in 1911; the only remains are by Hackney Community College, where a part of the house was incorporated into the school that replaced it in 1921.
In the late 17th Century, Hoxton Square and Charles Square were laid out, forming a popular area for residents. Non-conformist sects were attracted to the area, away from the restrictions of the City's regulations.[citation needed]
Victorian era and 20th century
In the Victorian era the railways made travelling to distant suburbs easier, and this combined with infill building and industrialisation to drive away the wealthier classes, leaving Hoxton a concentration of the poor with many slums. The area became a centre for the furniture trade.[citation needed]
In the 1860s Hoxton Square became home to the Augustinian Priory, school and Church of St Monica (architect: E. W. Pugin) built 1864-66 and the first Augustinian House in England since the Reformation era.[20]
The character of the whole locality is working-class. Poverty is everywhere, with a considerable admixture of the very poor and vicious ... Large numbers have been and are still being displaced by the encroachment of warehouses and factories ... Hoxton is known for its costers and Curtain criminals, for its furniture trade ... No servants are kept except in the main Road shopping streets and in a few remaining middle class squares in the west.[citation needed]
In Hoxton Street, a
The National Centre for Circus Arts is based in the former vestry of St Leonard Shoreditch Electric Light Station, just to the north of Hoxton Market. Inside, the "Generating Chamber" and "Combustion Chamber" provide facilities for circus training and production. The building was constructed by the Vestry in 1895 to burn local rubbish and generate electricity. It also provided steam to heat the public baths. This replaced an earlier facility providing gas-light, located in Shoreditch.
The Stag's Head, Hoxton was built in 1936 for Truman's Brewery, and designed by their in-house architect A. E. Sewell.[22]
With a new-found popularity, large parts of Hoxton have been gentrified. This has inevitably aroused hostility among some local residents, who believe they are being priced out of the area. Some parts of Hoxton, however, remain deprived, with council housing dominating the landscape.
Today
The geographical distinction between Hoxton and Shoreditch is often confused. The two districts have a historical link as part of the same manor, and in the 19th century both formed part of the Metropolitan Borough of Shoreditch. This was incorporated into the newly created London Borough of Hackney in 1965, but old street signs bearing the name are still to be found throughout the area. Both are also considered to be part of the East End of London.[23][24]
Manufacturing developments in the years after the
By the end of the 20th century, the southern half of Hoxton had become a vibrant arts and entertainment district boasting a large number of bars, nightclubs, restaurants, and art galleries. In this period, the new Hoxton residents could be identified by their obscurely fashionable (or "
The northern half of the district is more residential and contains many
The Hoxton Trust was established in 1983 and exists to make the area of Hoxton and Shoreditch a better place for everyone who lives or works there. The award-winning community garden is a private space for the benefit of everyone who lives and works in the area. It is maintained by our volunteers and community gardener and is not a council-run park.[citation needed]
Property prices have continued to rise steeply since the early years of the 21st century as property developers have moved to cash in on the area's trendy image, central location and transport links. Some galleries have, as a result, moved to nearby
Hoxton Market
Hoxton Market, which is now in Hoxton Street rather than its original site to the west of Hoxton Square, was founded in 1687. This market was the cornerstone of the local community but, from the 1980s onwards, changed from a thriving market to one that lost its trade to the move towards supermarkets and away from the traditional street market meeting all of the community's needs. In 2013 the local business community, working with the council, started work to revive the market and this has attracted great attention and increased trade, complemented by new shops opening along the length of the market.[citation needed]
People
- Charles Bradlaugh, founder of the National Secular Society in 1866, was born in Hoxton.
- Frank Chapple, union leader, was born and raised in Hoxton. He was ennobled as Lord Chapple of Hoxton in 1985.
- Peter Dean, who played Pete Beale in EastEnders from 1985 to 1993, was born in Hoxton in 1939.
- Jason Donovan, actor and singer, lived in Hoxton whilst appearing in numerous West End shows.
- Sir Gainsborough Studios.
- Reggie and Ronnie Kray – East End gangsters born in Stean Street, Hoxton (Haggerston) (1933)
- Bryan Magee, philosopher and politician, born in Hoxton in 1930
- Marie Lloyd – music hall star, was born Matilda Alice Victoria Wood here on 12 February 1870, the eldest of nine children. She and her sisters longed to go on the stage, and haunted the local Royal Eagle Tavern music hall, on City Road (where their father also worked, as a waiter). Seven of her siblings went on to professional stage careers, adopting the surname Lloyd, apart from Daisy, who had a successful career as Daisy Wood.
- 4-Skins
- Lenny McLean, actor, bouncer, bare-knuckle boxer was born here
- Fifteen restaurantin Hoxton in 2002
- James Parkinson, physician and researcher on Parkinson's disease, was a resident of Hoxton Square
- Jason Pierce, of the band Spacemen 3 and Spiritualized lives in Hoxton.
- Hoxton Academy
- George Sewell, TV actor was born in Hoxton.
- Mary Wollstonecraft, social reformer, writer and mother of Mary Shelley, was born and spent her early years here.
Education
Transport
- Nearest stations
References and notes
- ^ Bird, James, ed. (1922). "Historical introduction: Hoxton, east of Kingsland Road". Survey of London. Vol. 8: Shoreditch. London: British History Online. p. 40. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
- Longmans, Green and Co.p. 50. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
- ^ Bird, James, ed. (1922). "Historical introduction: General". Survey of London. Vol. 8: Shoreditch. London: British History Online. p. 1. Retrieved 28 September 2009.
- ^ [1] Archived 30 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Haberdashers". Haberdashers.co.uk. Retrieved 21 January 2014.
- ^ The ambassador was possibly Anthony de Castillo, who was linked to the Tudor spymaster Francis Walsingham through the Portuguese double agent, Dr Hector Nunes. "Toleration" of the chapel may have been linked to this flow of intelligence. in Turmoil: The Abject Life of a Portuguese Alien in Elizabethan England, by Charles Meyers Archived 27 June 2006 at the Wayback Machine accessed: 23 November 2006
- ^ The Embassy Chapel Question, 1625–1660, William Raleigh Trimble, Journal of Modern History, Vol. 18, No. 2 (Jun., 1946), pp. 97–107
- recusants by Raffe Typpinge of Hoxton. Raffe, and the Tipping family would subsequently feature in the arrest and death of Christopher Marlowe. (see Seaton, "Marlowe, Poley and the Tippings" in Review of English Studies [1929] os-V, p.273-287)
- ^ Map of Hoxton Fields – showing archery marks from Historical introduction: Hoxton, to the west of Hoxton Street, Survey of London: volume 8: Shoreditch (1922), pp. 72–88. accessed: 28 September 2009
- ^ British History on-line, disagrees on this point, and considers the derivation lost in the past; it is however probable that it refers to an individual.
- ^ "Brewer, E. Cobham. Dictionary of Phrase & Fable. Pimlico (London)". Bartleby.com. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
- ^ [2] Archived 17 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Robert Hooke". Roberthooke.org.uk. Retrieved 21 January 2014.
- ^ Brown, Mark (27 November 2019). "Geffrye to reopen as Museum of the Home after £18m overhaul". The Guardian.
- ^ "Sir Robert Geffrye: Museum of the Home wants statue moved". BBC News. 16 November 2021.
- ^ a b "West London asylums in 19th century literature". Studymore.org.uk. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
- ^ "Historical introduction - Hoxton, between Kingsland Road and Hoxton Street | Survey of London: volume 8 (pp. 47-72)". British-history.ac.uk. 22 June 2003. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
- ^ "A Biographical Sketch by blupete: Charles ("Elia") Lamb (1775–1834)". Blupete.com. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
- ^ The Mad-house Keepers of East London, Encyclopædia Britannica
- ^ 'Hoxton - St Monica's Priory Archived 5 October 2018 at the Wayback Machine' in Taking Stock: Catholic Churches of England and Wales, online resource, accessed 28 December 2016
- ^ "Hackney Live – Visiting Hackney – Shoreditch and Hoxton Shoreditch and Hoxton". 2 January 2008. Archived from the original on 2 January 2008.
- ^ Historic England. "The Stag's Head public house, Hoxton (1427212)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 30 August 2015.
- ISBN 0-7195-5666-X.
- ISBN 9789042024540.
- ^ "St. John Hoxton". Stjohnshoxton.org.uk. Retrieved 21 January 2014.
- ^ "Archived version of Hoxton Ward profile from 2010" (PDF). webarchive.org.uk. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
- ^ Rose, Steve (15 January 2001). "Where the lady vanished". The Guardian.
External links
- Hoxton Hall Unique Grade II* listed building Victorian Music hall – now used for community arts
- Where have all the cool people gone? The Guardian 2003-11-21
- St John's Hoxton website