Talks at the Tower 2015

15-19 June 2015, 7.30pm

Hackney Historic Buildings Trust has organised a series of talks from 15 to 19 June. Apart from Iain Sinclair on 15 June in the Round Chapel, the talks will be held in St Augustine’s Tower. Other speakers are Simon Inglis on Sport in Hackney, Linda Wilkinson on Thomas Fairchild, Sean Gubbins on Rhodes Town and Andrew Carr and Eva Griffith on Shakespeare in Shoreditch.

All talks start at 7.30,pm with doors open for a preliminary glass of wine from 7.00.  St Augustine’s Tower including the roof, will be open before and after all of the talks scheduled to take place at the Tower.

All talks are free (though donations are welcomed) but must be booked by calling Hackney Historic Buildings Trust on 020 8986 0029 or by e-mail at info@hhbt.org.uk 

Monday 15th June at the Round Chapel

Iain Sinclair 'Expeditions in Hackney Subterranea. With a few diversions around the circuit of the Overground Railway.'

 

Iain Sinclair’s new book “Overground” is a meditation on a circular tour of London following the London Overground.  His talk will explore Hackney above and below ground including the Mole Man of Hackney and the basement excavators of Finsbury Park with some diversions above ground along the “Ginger Line”.

 

 

Tuesday 16th June at St Augustine’s Tower

Simon Inglis – Played in Hackney

 

Sport has played an integral part in Hackney life for centuries. In an illustrated talk, Simon Inglis, author of Played in London – Charting the Heritage of a City at Play (published by English Heritage) revisits cricket at the Spotted Dog, rowing on the Lea, pedestrians at the Wick, football on the Marshes and cycle speedway at the Rec, and explains why a skate park in Essex has recently been listed.

 

 

Wednesday 17th June at St Augustine’s Tower

Linda Wilkinson – Thomas Fairchild: Lost but not Forgotten

 

Linda’s family has been in the East End for at least 400 years. Her recent book on Columbia Road, where she was born, featured not only the Flower Market, but Thomas Fairchild, father of plant hybridisation.

Fairchild’s body lies in an unmarked grave somewhere beneath a derelict piece of land on Hackney Road. His body may be lost, but his legacy to the world is notable. Linda will discuss the man, his work and the Hoxton in which he lived in the 1600’s.

 

Thursday 18th June at St Augustine’s Tower

Sean Gubbins – Rhodes Town

 

In 1789 the Rhodes family bought 140 acres of Lamb Farm in south Dalston. Within 70 years they had transformed it into the pattern of streets we recognize today. Using his recent research, Sean Gubbins will tell us about the area’s development, the landowners, the builders, the architecture and the first inhabitants: an example of Hackney’s (and London’s) expansion in the 19th century.

 

Friday 19th June at St Augustine’s Tower

Andrew Gurr and Eva Griffith – Shakespeare in Shoreditch

 

The first purpose-built amphitheatre playhouses were built in Shoreditch, and significant plays by William Shakespeare were first publicly performed there. What do we know about William Shakespeare - the playwright and actor - while he was associated with Shoreditch? Andrew Gurr, professor emeritus of Reading University and author of The Shakespearean Stage will talk on the subject along with Eva Griffith, seventeenth-century theatre historian."

 

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This page was added on 03/04/2015.