London Borough of Hackney - History

History

The borough was formed in 1965 from the area of the earlier metropolitan boroughs of Hackney, Shoreditch and Stoke Newington. The new council included representative sympols of the predecessor boroughs in its new combined coat of arms: Shoreditch by three bells from Shoreditch Church (from the rhyme Oranges and Lemons..); Stoke Newington by two trees bearing fruit; and Hackney by the eight-pointed Maltese Cross of the principal landowners of the parish in the Middle Ages, the Order of St John of Jerusalem. The shield is surmounted by representation of St Augustine's Tower, part of Hackney's ancient parish church located in the historical centre of Hackney. The motto is Justitia turris nostra (Latin for Being fair is what makes us strong).

The Council displays, in Hackney Town Hall, portrait of HM The Queen, wearing the Most Venerable Order of St John of Jerusalem robes of which she is Patron.

The borough has a rich history; the Roman road, Ermine Street, forms the western edge of the borough. Most of the rest of the land was covered with open oak and hazel woodlands, with marshland around the rivers and streams that crossed the area. Hackney lay within the Catuvellauni tribal territory. The eastern boundary of the borough is marked by the River Lea. This was an ancient boundary between pre-Roman tribes, and in the Roman era, was tidal up to Hackney Wick and continued to be the boundary between the historic counties of Middlesex and Essex.

In the Tudor period the lands of religious orders were seized by the Crown and put up for sale. Thus Hackney became a retreat for the nobility around Hackney Central and Homerton, including Henry VIII's Palace by Lea Bridge roundabout, where BSix Sixth Form College stands today. Sutton House, on Homerton High Street, is the oldest surviving dwelling in Hackney, originally built as Bryck Place for Sir Ralph Sadleir, a diplomat, in 1535. The village of Hackney flourished from the Tudor to late Georgian periods as a rural retreat – brought to an end by the construction of the railway in the 1850s. Notable residents have included Robert Aske, William Cecil, Samuel Courtauld, Samuel Hoare, Joseph Priestley, and Thomas Sutton.

London's first Tudor theatres were built at Shoreditch and the Gunpowder Plot was first exposed nearby in Hoxton too. Many grand houses stood in Stoke Newington and Stamford Hill, with the latter providing a haven for Hackney's many Orthodox Jewish residents from the 1930s. Alfred Hitchcock made many of his first films in Hoxton at the Gainsborough Studios in Poole Street.

After industrialisation, extensive post-war development and immigration, the area's many Georgian and Victorian terraces are being gentrified, warehouses are being converted and new apartments are being built. It was inner London's 'greenest borough' and London Transport's 'best bike borough 2006', with 62 parks and open spaces, covering 815 acres (3.3 km2). Seven Hackney parks have now achieved Green Flag status. One, Abney Park, became scheduled in 2009 as one of Britain's historic park and garden at risk from neglect and decay. Hackney Marshes play host to the largest collection of football pitches in Europe; and was the site of part of the 2012 Summer Olympics.