Victoria Park, London
Victoria Park (or 'Vicky' Park, as locally known) is a large open space that stretches out across part of the East End of London, England bordering parts of Bethnal Green, Hackney, and Bow, such as along Old Ford Road, London E3. The park is entirely within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.
Origins
218 acres were purchased by the Crown Estate, and laid out by notable London planner and architect Sir James Pennethorne between 1842 and 1846. A part of the area was known as Bonner Fields, after Bishop Bonner, the last lord of the manor of Stepney. The land had originally been parkland, associated with the Bishop's Palace, but by the mid-1800s had been spoiled by the extraction of gravel, and clay for bricks.
It was opened to the public in 1845. This large park is reminiscent of Regent's Park (not least because the latter was designed by Pennethorne's teacher John Nash), though much less busy, and is considered by some as the finest park in the East End. It is bounded on two sides by canals: the Regent's Canal lies to the west, while its branch, once known as the Hertford Union Canal runs along the Southern edge of the park. There is a gate named after Edmund Bonner. Guarding the main entrance at Sewardstone Road are the now badly damaged Dogs of Alcibiades which have stood here since 1912.
Two pedestrian alcoves, surviving fragments of the old London Bridge, demolished in 1831, are located at the east end of the park near the Hackney Wick war memorial where they were placed in 1860. They were part of the 1760 refurbishment of the 600 year old bridge, by Sir Robert Taylor and George Dance the Younger, and provided protection for pedestrians on the narrow carriageway. The insignia of the Bridge Association can be seen inside these alcoves. The alcoves have been Grade II listed, since 1951[2].
The People's Park
In the latter half of the 19th Century, Victoria Park became an essential amenity for the working classes of the East End. For some East End children in the 1880s, this may have been the only large stretch of uninterrupted greenery they ever encountered. Facilities like the Bathing Pond (picture right) —later superseded by the park lido—would have introduced many to swimming in an era when many public baths (like that at Shacklewell) were still simply communal washing facilities.
Victoria Park's reputation as the 'People's Park' grew as it became a centre for political meetings and rallies of all stripes, perhaps exceeding in importance the more well-known Hyde Park in this regard. The park occupies the interface between Tower Hamlets — sunk in poverty in the 19th century and with a strong tradition of socialist and revolutionary agitation — and Hackney, more genteel, but heir to a centuries-old legacy of religious dissent and non-conformism that led to its own fierce brand of reformism. So it should come as no surprise that the scene at the numerous Speaker's Corners was a lively one.
Although any one could set up their own soapbox, the biggest crowds were usually drawn to 'star' socialist speakers such as William Morris and Annie Besant.
This description by J H Rooney, correspondent for Harper's Magazine (February 1888) evokes a scene that seems to prefigure the Internet:
- "On the big central lawn are scattered numerous groups, some of which are very closely packed. Almost all the religious sects of England and all the political and social parties are preaching their ideas and disputing [...]
- "On this lawn the listener, as his fancy prompts him, may assist on Malthusianism, atheism, agnosticism, secularism, Calvinism, socialism, anarchism, Salvationism, Darwinism, and even, in exceptional cases, Swedenborgianism and Mormonism. I once heard there a prophet, a man who professed to be inspired by the Holy Ghost; but this prophet ended by being locked up in an asylum, where he will have to convert the doctor before he can recover his liberty."[4]
Truly a marketplace of ideas, and an important one, in an era that had still not achieved universal literacy, particularly in the less wealthy parts of the East End.
The tradition of public speaking in the park continued until well after the Second World War, and was still later reflected in politically oriented rock concerts, such as those held by Rock Against Racism and the Anti-Nazi League in the 1970s and 1980s. And it is still not uncommon for marches or demonstrations to begin or end in Victoria Park.
Second World War
During the war, Victoria Park was largely closed to the public and effectively became one huge Ack-Ack (anti-aircraft) site, also including a POW camp for, at first, Italian, then German prisoners. The gun emplacements conveniently straddled the path of German bombers looping north west after attacking the docks and warehouses further south in what is now Tower Hamlets, and so the park was of some strategic importance.
The plotting rooms for the gun sites were in underground bunkers at the bottom of Cassland Road, Hackney Wick. A Hackney resident of the time says:
- "When in the Army in 1952, I was driven to these operation rooms, to help shut them down to be eventually demolished.
- "To my surprise, in all my years of living no more than five minutes walk away I never knew they were there, besides, bombs had dropped all around in that vicinity and that place was missed. Nevertheless the plotting operation rooms were far below ground."
Given the obscurity of this war room at the time, it is doubtful if any evidence of a deep shelter can be spotted now.[original research?]
More controversially, anti-aircraft activity in the park has been implicated in the panic that caused the Bethnal Green tube disaster of 1943. Some eyewitness accounts have led to the suggestion that, after several air raid alerts, the panic run for shelter was caused by a gigantic explosion of noise from the direction of the park. A BBC documentary on the event[5] suggests that this was due to the first firing of the new Z-Battery anti-aircraft rockets. The UK Ministry of Defence, however, disputes this account.
Modern times
In recent times, Victoria Park became noted for its open-air music festivals, often linked with a political cause. The 1980 rock docudrama Rude Boy features The Clash playing at an Anti-Nazi League event in the park. Radiohead played two concerts in the park on the 24th and 25th June 2008.
Victoria Park is very popular with children and is host to: a One O'Clock Club for under-fives; a herd of deer and goats; and a programme of summer activities. And an excellent children's play park also includes a paddling pool.
The oldest model boat club in the world,[6] the Victoria Model Steam Boat Club, founded in the Park on 15 July 1904, is still active today and holds up to 17 of their Sunday regattas a year. The VMSB Club runs straight-running boats just as they did 100 years ago but have also progressed to radio control and hydroplanes. The first Regatta is traditionally held on Easter Sunday and the Steam Regatta is always held on the first Sunday in July.
The Park is also the home of Victoria Park Harriers & Tower Hamlets Athletics Club, which has its headquarters at St. Augustine's Hall located at the N.E. corner of the Park. The Club celebrated its 80th Anniversary in 2006.
During the summer cricket is played every evening on the park's three all-weather wickets, organised by the Victoria Park Community Cricket League. The park also has a popular three-lane cricket net, free to use at all times. It was refurbished to a high standard at the end of 2005, paid for by a grant from the England and Wales Cricket Board.
The park is open daily from 6:00am to dusk.
References and notes
- ^ Victoria Park lakes
- ^ English Heritage listing details accessed 27 Mar 2007
- ^ English Heritage listing details accessed 27 Mar 2007
- ^ William J. Fishman, East End 1888, Duckworth, 1988, 0-9541059-0-7. Page 267. [The author's Politics chapter, from which the Harpers quote is taken, reports on many significant political events in Victoria Park. Fishman himself goes on to say "[...]As a boy I went to such meetings there, albeit over forty years later, and the scenes so marvellously evoked by this narrator remained very much the same."]
- ^ Bethnal Green - disaster at the tube Homeground (BBC Broadcast 24 Sep 2003) accessed 20 Dec 2006
- ^ Guinness Book of Records
- A Pictorial History of Victoria Park, London E3. Published by the East London History Society, ISBN 0-9506258-1-7
