Haggerston

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search

Coordinates: 51°32′05″N 0°04′36″W / 51.53463°N 0.07663°W / 51.53463; -0.07663

Haggerston
Haggerston2.jpg
Haggerston Pool. Closed in 2000. In the foreground is the southeast Asian refugee centre. Many Vietnamese, Cambodian and Laotian people have formed communities in Haggerston and nearby Shoreditch.
Haggerston is located in Greater London
Haggerston

 Haggerston shown within Greater London
Population 10,376 
OS grid reference TQ335835
    - Charing Cross 3.6 mi (5.8 km)  SW
London borough Hackney
Ceremonial county Greater London
Region London
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town LONDON
Postcode district E2
Dialling code 020
Police Metropolitan
Fire London
Ambulance London
EU Parliament London
UK Parliament Hackney South & Shoreditch
London Assembly North East
List of places: UK • England • London

Haggerston is an area and a electoral ward in the London Borough of Hackney, in northeast London, UK. It is bounded by Hackney Road on the south, Kingsland Road on the west, Middleton Road on the north with London Fields and Broadway Market on the east. In the 1990s a number of the area's more rundown housing estates were refurbished and some disused public buildings were privately converted as gated communities.

The area today has the highest crime rate of the borough of Hackney.[1]

Contents

[edit] Origin

Urban decay: council blocks with boarded up windows

Haggerston is first recorded in the Domesday Book as Hergotestane, possibly of Viking origin, an outlying hamlet of Shoreditch. By Rocque's 1745 map of Hackney, the village is shown as Agostone[2] and had by the 19th century become part of urban sprawl, with streets of workers' cottages and factories lining the canal.

[edit] Today

The proximity to Hoxton and Shoreditch has made the area popular with students and workers in the creative industries, as these nearby areas have grown more expensive. In recent years, escalating property prices have driven commercial art galleries further into east London, which has exacerbated this effect.

A shortage of secondary school places has made the area less attractive to families but this is likely to change with the building of a City Academy on Laburnum Street which runs between Kingsland and Queensbridge Road.

Many Vietnamese, Cambodian and Laotian people have formed communities in Haggerston and nearby Shoreditch. Outside the area, the most visible sign of this is the profusion of Southeast Asian restaurants on nearby Kingsland Road in Shoreditch and on Mare Street in Hackney. There is also a notable Russian community focused on bars and cafés along Kingsland Road.

[edit] Amenities

Haggerston Park. (October 2005)

Besides the Regents Canal, Haggerston Park, on the site of a demolished gasworks on Hackney Road, provides much-needed open space in the area. It is also the home of the Hackney City Farm.

The Grade II listed Haggerston Pool, designed by Alfred Cross and opened in 1904, was closed in 2000, with an uncertain future. In June 2009 — after a long community campaign, a £5m grant was announced from the Department for Children, Schools and Families to refurbish and re-open the pool. The building would also contain community facilities and a GP surgery.[3]

Haggerston School is a Grade II listed building, designed by modernist architect Ernő Goldfinger, in 1964-5.

The All Saints Centre, in Haggerston Road has a long association with clowning; the church hosting an annual "Clowns service" to commemorate Joseph Grimaldi. It housed the Clowns Gallery and Museum, founded in 1960; and the clown archive. This included props and a unique collection of painted eggs, serving as the 'registration' of clowns' make-up. Much of the collection is now on display at Wookey Hole; but the church retains a small exhibition.

[edit] Ward

The Haggerston electoral ward forms part of the Hackney South and Shoreditch constituency.

The ward returns three councillors to Borough Council, with an election every four years. At the previous election on 6 May 2010 Ann Munn, Jonathan McShane, and Barry Buitekant all Labour Party candidates, were returned. Turnout was 54%; with 5,006 votes cast.[4]

[edit] Notable residents

[edit] Education

[edit] Transport

[edit] Railway stations

[edit] Walking and cycling

The Regents Canal towpath is easily accessible to pedestrians and cyclists. It provides access to Victoria Park to the east and Islington to the west.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

People of the book: Haggerston Library (foreground) and Suleymaniye Mosque (background, with minaret). Kingsland Road, September 2005.
Gasometers at Haggerston Gasworks. View from the Regent's Canal, October 2005.
Personal tools
Namespaces

Variants
Actions
Navigation
Interaction
Toolbox
Print/export
Languages