Celebrating Hackney’s past, shaping its future – since 1967
Celebrating Hackney’s past, shaping its future – since 1967
From the Tudor courtiers who built grand estates in the “green lungs” of London to the radical thinkers, furniture makers, industrialist and diverse migrant communities who shaped its urban heartbeat, the London Borough of Hackney (incorporating the historic parishes of St John Hackney, St Leonard Shoreditch, and St Mary Stoke Newington, as well as the successor London Metropolitan Boroughs of Hackney, Shoreditch and Stoke Newington) has a story at every corner.
Whether you are a resident curious about your street, a student of social history, or a descendant of a Hackney family, the following resources provide a gateway to centuries of change.
A brief history of Hackney’s heritage is on the London Borough of Hackney website.
Founded in 1967, the Hackney Society works to protect, promote, and celebrate Hackney’s architectural and cultural heritage. As well as campaigning and planning work, it produces many publications, including Spaces, a quarterly newsletter, some great events including lectures and walks, and the annual Hackney History Festival. Also see Hackney Maps which shows the listed buildings and other location information. To join Hackney Society please visit the membership page.
Hackney History — Friends of Hackney Archives
The Friends of Hackney Archives (FoHA) publish the journal Hackney History (23 volumes to date) and the newsletter The Hackney Terrier (three times a year), covering all aspects of the borough’s past. Their website hosts a large archive of articles available to read online, with history overviews, local archive guides, links to local museums, and a historic built environment section.
An extensive online archive of Stoke Newington’s buildings, streets, businesses, and people, built up since 2013 by Amir Dotan. Thousands of posts are publicly searchable and constitute a remarkable public record of the area. The site also hosts Stoke Newington History Talks, a free quarterly event with recordings available online.
Hackney Historic Buildings Trust
A buildings preservation trust that has rescued and restored a number of derelict and at-risk buildings in Hackney, including St Augustine’s Tower and the Round Chapel. An important organisation for the physical heritage of the borough.
The principal repository for the historic records of the London Borough of Hackney and its predecessors. It holds more than 700 metres of material, including 20,000+ pictures and records dating back to 1356.
Don’t Miss: The online catalogue for photos and plans
The principal repository for broader London records, including thousands of documents covering many different aspects of Hackney.
Check Out: The online catalogue to search for the contents of the archive
For pictures: Visit the online The London Picture Archive
The National Archives — Hackney
Essential for national-level records, including parish records, government documents, and legal papers relating to the borough.
Explore: Discovery, the catalogue which lists resources held by other archives as well as those held by the National Archives. A good place to start a search for records.
All three archives (and some local libraries) provide free access to Family Genealogy services like Ancestry (Library Edition).
Victoria County History: Middlesex, Volume X — Hackney Parishon: British History Online
The definitive history of the parish of Hackney, edited by T. F. T. Baker and published in 1995. Covers settlement and building, local government, churches, social history, and more from earliest times to the late twentieth century. Freely available in full online via British History Online.
Victoria County History: Middlesex, Volume VIII — Stoke Newington on British History Online
The VCH volume covering Islington and Stoke Newington parishes (1985), edited by T. F. T. Baker and C. R. Elrington. Includes detailed histories of growth, social and cultural activities, public services, and education in Stoke Newington. Fully available online.
Survey of London: Volume 8 — Shoreditch on British History Online
The Survey of London volume covering the parish of St Leonard, Shoreditch (published 1922), documenting the buildings and streets of the area in meticulous detail, including the church of St Leonard and the Holywell Priory. Freely available online.
Survey of London: Volume 28 — Brooke House, Hackney on British History Online
A dedicated Survey of London monograph (1960) on Brooke House, Hackney — a remarkable fifteenth-century building associated with Thomas Cromwell, later used as a private lunatic asylum from 1759 to 1940, and demolished after bomb damage in 1954–5. Fully available online with plates and documentary evidence.
Survey of London: Volume 27 — Spitalfields and Mile End New Town on British History Online
Covers the western fringe of Shoreditch and the area around Spitalfields, including Christ Church (1714–29). Useful for the southern parts of the historic Shoreditch parish.
Layers of London — Hackney History
An interactive, map-based history website developed by the Institute of Historical Research, showing 16 historic map layers from the 1520s to the present day. Over 300 records from the Friends of Hackney Archives have been digitised and linked to locations on the map, drawn from the Hackney History journal and The Hackney Terrier newsletter. An outstanding tool for exploring how the borough has changed over the centuries.
Historic England — Hackney Local Heritage Hub
Historic England’s dedicated Hackney page, offering old photographs, information on listed and historic buildings, and videos. Hackney has 1 medieval list entry, 473 post-medieval entries, and 65 twentieth-century entries on the National Heritage List for England.
Historic England — Heritage at Risk Register (Hackney)
31 of Hackney’s listed heritage assets currently appear on Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Register. A useful resource for tracking the most vulnerable historic buildings in the borough.
National Library of Scotland — Ordnance Survey Maps
Historic Ordnance Survey maps covering Hackney, Islington, Shoreditch, and Stoke Newington (First Editions, c. 1850s). An invaluable resource for tracing the borough’s Victorian and Edwardian development.
A Vision of Britain through Time — Hackney from University of Portsmouth
Historical maps, census statistics, administrative boundary data, and historical gazetteer descriptions for Hackney parish (3,297 acres; population 163,681 in the 1891 census). Also has pages for sub-places: Homerton, Stamford Hill, Shacklewell, South Hackney, Kingsland, Newington Green.
Hackney has been home to many reformers and protestors – this informal but well researched blog explores many of the radical pioneers who lived, worked and protested in Hackney.
A fun site that accounts the horrible histories of the London Borough of Hackney overing crime, punishment, and darker aspects of the borough’s past Museums and similar places
Hackney Museum at the Technology & Learning Centre, 1 Reading Lane, E8, tells the story of the borough from prehistory to the present, with particular emphasis on the diverse communities who have made Hackney their home. An online collections database allows you to browse objects, photographs, and ephemera.
Museum of the Home (formerly the Geffrye Museum)
Located in the former Geffrye Almshouses (1714) on Kingsland Road in Shoreditch, now the Museum of the Home, this Grade I listed building is one of the finest early eighteenth-century architectural ensembles in London and an important part of Shoreditch’s history.
One of London’s last remaining Tudor houses, Sutton House was built in 1535 by Sir Ralph Sadleir as his family home, and is now the oldest house in Hackney. It is run by the National Trust.
Abney Park in Stoke Newington is one of Londonʼs “Magnificent Seven” garden cemeteries, a woodland memorial park and a Local Nature Reserve. Abney Park Trust works with Hackney Council on the parkʼs heritage, ecology and community life.
Climb the 135 steps of Hackney’s oldest building and enjoy panoramic views of East London and the City.
Hackney: An Uncommon History in Five Parts — Margaret Willes (Hackney Society, 2012)
Six historians examine the borough across five eras — 1612, 1712, 1812, 1912, and 2012 — taking vivid snapshots of Hackney’s social, economic, and cultural life. Published by the Hackney Society. Available via the Hackney Society.
Hackney History – Journal
The annual journal of the Friends of Hackney Archives, covering all three historic parishes. Back issues are summarised on the FoHA website and many articles are available to read online, mapped via Layers of London.
Hackney and Stoke Newington Past: A Visual History – Isobel Watson, (Historical Publications,1990)
Watson records how the farms and nursery gardens of these two old villages gave way to terraces for City workers in the 19th century, covering topics including the creation of Victoria Park and the significant local presence of Protestant dissenting movements. Famous residents include Samuel Rogers, John Howard, General Booth and George Gilbert Scott.
Strength in the Tower: An Illustrated History of Hackney – David Mander, (Sutton Publishing, 1998)
This is the third book in David Mander’s history of the London Borough of Hackney, drawing on the documentary sources and visual collection of Hackney Archives Department. It tells the story of Hackney from Roman times to the present, describing how Hackney changed from a country parish to today’s rich and diverse community.
More Light, More Power: An Illustrated History of Shoreditch – David Mander, (Sutton Publishing, 1996)
The main modern local history; cited in genealogy guides and held by Hackney Archives.
Hackney, That Rose-Red Empire: A Confidential Report -Iain Sinclair, (Hamish Hamilton, 2009)
Sinclair’s personal record of the area of north-east London where he lived for forty years — a documentary fiction seeking to capture the spirit of place before Hackney’s transformation. Unconventional but richly historical, drawing on decades of walking and research in the borough.
The Environs of London – Daniel Lysons
Published in the 1790s, but the section of Hackney (pages 450-516 of Volume 2) is available on line at British History Online.
The History and Antiquaries of the Parish of Hackney – William Robinson
Published in 1842 and is available from the Internet Archive.
The History and Antiquaries of the Parish of Stoke Newington – William Robinson
Second edition published in 1842 and is available from the Internet Archive.
The History and Antiquities of the Parish of St. Leonard Shoreditch, and Liberty of Norton Folgate- Henry Ellis
Published in 1798 the foundational parish history, and available at the Internet Archive.
Guided and self-guided walks covering 20 different areas of Hackney, led by Sean Gubbins who has been running local history walks since 2002. A practical way to connect the documentary history with the streets and buildings that survive today. Self-guided walks are available free on the website.
Hackney Society Walking Guides
Offers a series of downloadable walking guides that you can follow, including guides for Clapton, Central Hackney, Stoke Newington, Shoreditch & Hoxxton, Kingsland & Dalstone, The Hearth of Hackney, Hackney Wick, Clapton Common, and Haggerston.
If you are interested in learning more you could apply to take the Hackney Guiding Course, and learn how to become and effective guide and earn the qualification in tour guiding accredited by the Hackney Society.
Not sure where to begin? Follow these paths:
“I want to research my house/street”
1. Download Hackney Houses from the Hackney Society website
2. Check the Hackney Society Maps and the National Library of Scotland collection of OS maps to learn more about the period
3. Search the Hackney Archives, the London Archives and the National Archives for documents and photos
4. Look for your area in the Victoria County History.
“I want to see history for myself”
1. Book a tour with Walk Hackney
2. Download one or more of the Hackney Society Walking Guides
3. Check the Hackney Society Events page for upcoming talks and guided heritage walks.
“I want to read about radical Hackney”
1. Visit the Radical History of Hackney blog
2. Purchase Hackney: An Uncommon History from the Hackney Society shop
The history of Hackney is still being written, and we need your help to preserve it.
Join Us: Become a member of the Hackney Society to support our work and receive our newsletter.
Share Your Research: If you have discovered something fascinating about the borough’s past, consider contributing to our publications.
Stay Connected: Follow Hackney Society on social media and attend the next Hackney History Festival.