Stoke Newington

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Stoke Newington
Stoke Newington Town Hall, built 1935–37 for the Metropolitan Borough of Stoke Newington
Stoke Newington Location within Greater London
OS grid reference	TQ3386
• Charing Cross	5 mi (8.0 km) SW
London borough	Hackney
Ceremonial county	Greater London
Region	London
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	LONDON
Postcode district	N16 N4
Postcode district	E8
Dialling code	020
Police	Metropolitan
Fire	London
Ambulance	London
UK Parliament	Hackney North and Stoke Newington
London Assembly	North East
List of places UK England London 51°34′N 0°05′W / 51.56°N 0.08°W / 51.56; -0.08

Stoke Newington is an area occupying the northwest part of the London Borough of Hackney, England. The area is five miles (eight kilometres) northeast of Charing Cross. The Manor of Stoke Newington gave its name to Stoke Newington the ancient parish.

The historic core on Stoke Newington Church Street retains the distinct London village character which led Nikolaus Pevsner to write in 1953 that he found it hard to see the district as being in London at all.^[1]

Boundaries

The modern

Unlike many London districts, such as nearby Stamford Hill and Dalston, Stoke Newington has longstanding fixed boundaries; however, to many. the informal perception of Stoke Newington has blurred over time, to stretch east of the originally Roman A10 to overlap areas of the former Ancient Parish and subsequent Metropolitan Borough of Hackney.

Formal ancient limits

The Metropolitan Borough largely adopted the Ancient Parish's boundaries, including the eastern boundary which followed the A10 road, though there were minor rationalisations, notably the transfer of areas of Hornsey.

Stoke Newington's northern and western boundaries have become the north-west borders of the modern London Borough. The eastern boundary was formed by the A10 road where it goes by the name Stoke Newington High Street (originally High Street, until a name change in 1937^[2]) and Stoke Newington Road (meaning the road to the hamlet of Stoke Newington), further south.

These boundaries included the sites of the small hamlet of Stoke Newington and part of Newington Green, however it excluded the open space known since the early 20th century as Stoke Newington Common (originally Cockhangar Green), and Stoke Newington railway station was built close to, but just outside this area.

Wider contemporary perception

More recently, Stoke Newington has come to be viewed by many as extending east of the A10 to overlap the AP\MB of Hackney to include West Hackney, an ill-defined area of the N16 postal area which includes Stoke Newington railway station, Rectory Road railway station and Stoke Newington Common.

As a consequence Stoke Newington, like nearby Stamford Hill, has become closely associated with the N16 postcode, though a significant part of western Stoke Newington is covered by the N4 postcode district.

Governance and representation

Administrative history

The Manor (estate) of Stoke Newington was part of a huge block of land around London held by the Diocese of London. This broad area comprised many estates, stretching from the

The Ancient Parish of Stoke Newington was established to serve the area of the Manor with which it was coterminous[4] and, like other parishes would have had its boundaries permanently fixed by the 1180s,^[5] even if the boundaries of the underlying Manor changed (though manor boundaries were generally stable at this early date).

From the Tudor period, parishes were obliged to take on a civil as well as ecclesiastical role, with the administration of the new

In the 17th century, the

The Ancient Parishes provided a framework for both civil (administrative) and ecclesiastical (church) functions, but during the nineteenth century there was a divergence into distinct civil and ecclesiastical parish systems. In London the Ecclesiastical Parishes sub-divided to better serve the needs of a growing population, while the Civil Parishes continued to be based on the same Ancient Parish areas.

The Metropolis Management Act 1855 merged the Civil Parishes of Hackney and Stoke Newington under a new Hackney District. This proved very unpopular, especially in more affluent Stoke Newington and after four unsuccessful attempts the two parishes regained their independence when they were separated by mutual consent under the Metropolis Management (Plumstead and Hackney) Act of 1893.^[6]

The

Stoke Newington was permitted to become an independent Borough, and most of South Hornsey (also a part of the Finsbury Division was transferred to Stoke Newington in order to increase the size of the new authority. Parts of South Hornsey had previously been exclaves which separated southern Stoke Newington from the rest of the area. The Finsbury Division was abolished at that time.

Stoke Newington lost its independence in 1965, when it merged with the Metropolitan Boroughs of Hackney and Shoreditch to form the new London Borough of Hackney.

Representation

Stoke Newington is part of the Hackney North and Stoke Newington constituency which has been represented by Labour MP Diane Abbott since 1987.

History

Early

Stoke Newington or 'new town in the wood', has been lightly settled for 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.^{[citation needed]}

In the

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 Susanna Corder's novel Quaker school, Newington Academy for Girls. By the mid-19th century, Stoke Newington had "the largest concentration of Quakers in London", including many who had moved up 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 Pauper and Lunatic Asylum.^[8] The Anglican St Mary's Church, designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott in 1854–58, replaced the older parish church (also St. Mary's), which survives on the opposite side of Church Street.

St Mary's Lodge on Lordship Road, the 1843 home of architect and district surveyor

Between 1935 and 1937, the curved brick and Portland stone Town Hall was built for the Metropolitan Borough of Stoke Newington by J. Reginald Truelove.^[9]

Second World War

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 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, Stoke Newington avoided most of the later V-weapon attacks, which fell disproportionately on South London; seven V-1s and two V-2s hit the borough.^{[citation needed]}

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

During the war a substantial amount of residential housing had been destroyed, and in the armath much was demolished, being considered beyond economic repair. Postwar redevelopment has replaced many of these areas with large estates, some more successful than others. Much of this residential redevelopment was planned by Frederick Gibberd, the designer of Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral.

Political radicalism and terrorism

Communist Party meetings were held in the Town Hall in the post-war years. From the 1970s onwards the area has experienced, or been associated with, a number of terrorist acts. The 'Stoke Newington 8' were arrested on 20 August 1971 at 359 Amhurst Road for suspected involvement in The Angry Brigade bombings.

Stoke Newington residents Patrick Hayes and Jan Taylor (not originally from the area) were convicted of two IRA bombings and had substantial links to lorry bombs in the 1990s. Both were arrested, firing at officers in Walford Road and later sentenced to thirty years imprisonment.^{[citation needed]}

Muktar Said Ibrahim was convicted, as the ring leader, on an indictment of conspiracy to murder. He planted a failed bomb on a 26 bus, which misfired later on the Hackney Road on 21 July 2005. In February 2005, police were seeking Ibrahim on an arrest warrant for an outstanding public order offence. After the attack, Ibrahim was seen on the run in Farleigh Road and was later arrested in Dalgrano Gardens. He was sentenced to life imprisonment, to serve a minimum of forty years before being considered for release.^{[citation needed]}

21st century

These days, Stoke Newington is a very multicultural area, with large

Stoke Newington has undergone major gentrification, as have neighbouring Newington Green, Canonbury and Dalston. Church Street includes many independent shops, pubs, bars and cafes.^{[citation needed]}

In 2022 traders formed the Stoke Newington Business Association and launched "See you in Stokey" - a website dedicated to the area including event listings, articles, area guides and much more.

Open space

In the north of the district is the extensive West Reservoir, now a non-working facility, but open for leisure and surrounded by green space. At the entrance is the Castle Climbing Centre, once the main

To the south of these facilities is Clissold Park, which contains a small menagerie, aviary and Clissold Mansion, a Grade II listed building, built in the 1790s for Jonathan Hoare, a local Quaker and brother of Samuel Hoare.^[10]

East from here and past the two Church of England parish churches, both called St Mary's (Stoke Newington decided to retain the

Across the high street to the east is the fragmented Stoke Newington Common, which has had an extensive and diverse programme of tree planting.

Reservoirs

From the 16th century onwards, Stoke Newington has played a prominent role in assuring a water supply to sustain London's rapid growth. The artificial New River runs through the area and still makes a contribution to London's water. It used to terminate at the New River Head in Finsbury, but since 1946 its main flow has ended at Stoke Newington reservoirs. The river bank, the New River Path,^[12] can be walked for some distance to the north through Haringey and on to its source near Hertford.

Stoke Newington East and West Reservoirs were constructed in 1833 to hold water prior to treatment in the New River Company's filter beds on the other side of Green Lanes, in the area now known as Brownswood Park. Water is now sent from here to the Lee Valley Reservoir Chain for treatment.

The West Reservoir is now a leisure facility, offering sailing, canoeing and other water sports, plus Royal Yachting Association-approved sailing courses. On its western edge stands the former filter house, now set out as a visitor centre with a café; some of the old hydraulic machinery can be viewed in the main hall. The pumping station at the reservoir gates, converted to a climbing centre in 1995 was designed in a distinctive castellated style by Robert Billings under the supervision of William Chadwell Mylne and built in 1854–56.^[13] The site is still used as a pumping station for the Thames Water Ring Main.

Besides the water board facilities and the

33.8% of the ward were Christian, 11.1% Muslim, 3.2% Jewish, 39% had no religion and 10% did not state their religion. [14]

Education

Primary schools

• Benthal Primary
• Betty Layward Primary
• Grasmere Primary
• Grazebrook Primary
• Holmleigh Primary
• Princess May Primary
• Jubilee Primary
• Simon Marks Jewish Primary School^[15][16]
• Sir Thomas Abney
• Saint Mary's Church of England Primary
• Saint Matthias Church of England Primary
• William Patten Primary

Secondary schools

• Stoke Newington School
• Our Lady's Catholic High School
• Skinners' Academy
• Tawhid Boys School

Defunct schools

• Newington Academy for Girls, a Quaker school established 1824 by William Allen
• Fleetwood Primary School
• Palatine School, Palatine Road.
• William Wordsworth Secondary School, Wordsworth Road (but official address Palatine Road). This was the old Palatine School.
• Daniel Defoe Secondary School, Ayresome Road. William Wordsworth Secondary School merged with Daniel Defoe Secondary School in 1965 to become Clissold Park School. Both buildings were used until a new school building was built in Clissold Road. The school merged with Woodberry Down Comprehensive to become Stoke Newington School.

Architecture

Although Stoke Newington contains only one Grade I

Grade II

• Stoke Newington Town Hall (restoration in 2010 won the Wood Awards)^[18]
• Abney Park Chapel
• Newington Green Unitarian Church
• 113 Stoke Newington Church Street, one-time residence of the poet and writer Anna Laetitia Barbauld
• 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

About 1+1⁄2 miles (2.5 kilometres) away, the nearest London Underground station is Manor House on the Piccadilly line.

• Lea Valley Lines (south to north) — from London Liverpool Street
  • Rectory Road railway station
  • Stoke Newington railway station
  • Stamford Hill railway station

It is served by bus routes 67, 73, 76, 106, 141, 149, 243, 276, 341, 393 and 476 and Night Buses N73 and N76. 149, 243 and 341 are 24-hour services.

Entertainment

Stoke Newington is well known for its pubs and bars, lively music scene, including contemporary jazz, and open mic comedy sessions. The Vortex Jazz Club used to be on Church Street but has now moved to Dalston.

Since 2010, Stoke Newington has also had its own

A Stoke Newington

People associated with Stoke Newington

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Historic

• Lady Mary Abney
  (1676–1750), inherited the manor and commissioned the first map-based survey.
• William Allen (1770–1843), Quaker, philanthropist, scientist, abolitionist, and pioneer of girls' education – lived most of his life in Stoke Newington.
• Anna Laetitia Barbauld (1743–1825), writer and poet, lived at 113 Stoke Newington Church Street
• Wynne Edwin Baxter (1844–1920), coroner for several of the Jack the Ripper murders of 1888, died at his home in Church Street in 1920.
• John Bransby (1784–1857), educator, minister, and headmaster of the Manor School on Church Street which included Edgar Allan Poe among its pupils.
• Catherine Mary Buckton (1826-1904), campaigner and writer.
• Joseph Conrad (1857–1924), author of Heart of Darkness, lived in Stoke Newington.
• Susanna Corder (1787–1864), educationist and Quaker biographer
• Daniel Defoe (c. 1660–1731), writer—born and lived on Church Street.
• Charles Fleetwood (1618–1692), Parliamentary General during the English Civil War, later Lord Deputy of Ireland and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces lived in Stoke Newington.
• Joseph Jackson Fuller (1825–1908), Jamaican missionary to precolonial West Africa.
• Leopold George Hill (1866-1922), English medical missionary to South China
• Samuel Hoare (1751–1825), Quaker and abolitionist lived in Paradise Row, Stoke Newington.
• John Howard (1726–1790), founding father of the prison reform movement, lived in Stoke Newington.
• Joseph John Jefferson (1795–1882), pacifist, minister for Abney Park Chapel and cemetery.
• Joseph Lister
  ; spent his early married life in Stoke Newington.
• Thomas Manton (1620–1677), appointed minister of St Mary's Church 1644/5; a forthright defender of Reformed principles and one of Oliver Cromwell's chaplains.
• Marguerite Merington (1857–1951), writer, was born in Stoke Newington.
• Samuel Morley MP (1809–1886), businessman, statesman, philanthropist and abolitionist—lived in Stoke Newington.
• Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), American writer – attended Rev’d. John Bransby's Manor School on Church Street about 1818 while his Scottish-born foster parents visited the United Kingdom.
• John Scott (1757–1832), evangelical pacifist, one of the founders of the Peace Society moved to Stoke Newington in 1826.
• Scout Leader and medic
  was born in 1867 in Stoke Newington.
• James Stephen (1758–1832), slavery abolitionist—his father moved the family home to Stoke Newington in 1774.
• Isaac Watts (1674–1748), theologian, logician and hymnwriter—lived and died at Abney House.
• Joseph Woods (1776–1864), Quaker, botanist and architect, son of a founding abolitionist by the same name.
• John Young (architect) (1797–1877), a Suffolk man who settled in the area and moved in lofty professional circles, but retained his link with the earth through highly creative brickwork.

20th and 21st centuries

• Diane Abbott, MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington and first black, woman MP, lived in Palatine Avenue.
• George Maxwell Alagiah
  , Ceylonese-born British newsreader, journalist and television presenter.
• Bad Manners come from Stoke Newington. The band were formed at Woodberry Down comprehensive school in 1976.
• Richard Bebb, actor, theatre historian, music archivist—lived in St Mary's Lodge, Lordship Road, as a child.
• Mark 'Bedders' Bedford, bass player with Madness—lives in Stoke Newington.
• Ronan Bennett, writer of BBC Dramas Hidden and C4's Top Boy, born in Ireland, lives in Stoke Newington.
• Violet Berlin, television presenter and script writer for interactive/immersive experiences —lives in Stoke Newington
• Buster Bloodvessel, 1980s pop star, lived on Batley Road.
• Marc Bolan (born, Mark Feld), musician—lived at 25a Stoke Newington Common until age 15 and went to William Wordsworth Secondary School.
• Richard Boon, the former manager of Buzzcocks, lives in Stoke Newington and formerly worked at Stoke Newington Library.
• Eric Bristow, five times world professional darts champion—born in Stoke Newington and lived at 97 Milton Grove.
• Saffron Burrows, actress, grew up in Stoke Newington and attended Stoke Newington School.
• Asa Butterfield, actor, attended Stoke Newington School, lives in Islington.
• Clem Cattini, musician—born in Stoke Newington.
• Ralph Cooperman (1927–2009), Olympic fencer born in Stoke Newington.
• Sir Horace Cutler, politician—born in the district.
• Fyfe Dangerfield, lead singer of Guillemots lives in Stoke Newington.
• John Diamond, journalist and radio presenter—born in Stoke Newington.
• Elton Dean, experimental jazz saxophonist from Bluesology lived in Stoke Newington.
• BAFTA
  awards winning Producer/DJ—born in Stoke Newington.
• Rupert Evans, film and theatre actor, lives in Stoke Newington.
• Paloma Faith, singer and actress, raised in Stoke Newington.
• Caroline Flack, TV presenter, died in Stoke Newington
• Paul Foot, political activist and writer—born in Palestine, lived in Stoke Newington.
• Reginald Fox, actor, was born in Stoke Newington on 22 December.
• Jonathan Freedland, journalist and author—lives in Stoke Newington.
• Rebecca Front, actress, was born in Stoke Newington.
• Nick Grimshaw, Radio and Television personality lives in Clissold Crescent, Stoke Newington.
• Maurice Hope, professional boxer, went to William Wordsworth Secondary School, Stoke Newington.
• Gareth Jones, aka Gaz Top, TV presenter and producer—lives in Stoke Newington.
• Paul Jones, lead singer with Manfred Mann (now solo) lived at 110 Milton Grove.
• Hugh Gater Jenkins, Baron Jenkins of Putney, representative 1958–1965 of the Stoke Newington & Hackney constituency on the London County Council.
• Labrinth, singer, went to Stoke Newington School.
• Led by Donkeys
  founders James Sadri, Oliver Knowles, Will Rose and Ben Stewart came up with their idea in Stoke Newington.
• Stewart Lee, comedian and writer – lives in Stoke Newington.
• Michael Levy, Baron Levy, impresario and political fundraiser—born in Stoke Newington.
• Bernard Lewis, historian of Islam and the Middle East, born in Stoke Newington.
• Ken Livingstone, former Mayor of London, was the representative for Stoke Newington on the Greater London Council between 1977 and 1981.
• Footballers Wives
  lives in Stoke Newington.
• Jean Marsh, actress and writer, was born in Stoke Newington.
• Sheila MacLeod, novelist and reviewer, and ex-Wife of singer Paul Jones, lived at 110 Milton Grove, Stoke Newington.
• The Sex Pistols
  , brought up at 49 Carysfort Road, Stoke Newington.
• Warren Mitchell, actor—born in the district.
• Kevin MacNeil, Hebridean-born novelist, poet and playwright, lives in Stoke Newington.
• Queen's Park Rangers FC
  lived in Palatine Road, Stoke Newington as a child.
• Arsenal
  as a 16-year-old apprentice, lived at 51 Church Walk.
• Thurston Moore, musician—lives in Stoke Newington.
• Arsenal
  appearance record holder—born in Stoke Newington.
• Roy Pack, footballer – Arsenal and Portsmouth, born in Stoke Newington and lived at 9 Shelley House, Shakespeare Walk, Stoke Newington.
• Professor Green, (real name Stephen Manderson), rapper, went to Stoke Newington Secondary School.
• Pauline Quirke, actress, born in Hackney, brought up at 79 Gibson Gardens, Stoke Newington.
• Andrew Ranken, drummer in The Pogues
  lives in Stoke Newington.
• Maverick Sabre, singer-songwriter, was born in Stoke Newington.
• Cornershop
  , lives in Stoke Newington.
• Chris Singleton, Irish singer-songwriter, lives in Stoke Newington.
• Felix Swinstead, pianist and composer, was born in Stoke Newington.
• Carry On films
  —born in Shoreditch but grew up in Stoke Newington living in Yoakley Road and Bouverie Road.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Stoke Newington.

• "Stoke Newington" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 25 (11th ed.). 1911.
• Time Out Stoke Newington area guide Archived 16 January 2013 at the Wayback Machine