Hackney Wick
Encyclopedia
Hackney Wick is an area straddling the boundary between the London Borough of Hackney
and the London Borough of Tower Hamlets
in east London. It is an inner-city development situated 5 miles (8 km) northeast of Charing Cross
. It is not especially close to Hackney Central
, the historic centre of Hackney Borough.
It is in the far east of the borough on the edge of the planned 2012 Olympic Park
and near the boundary with the London Borough
s of Newham
, Waltham Forest
and Tower Hamlets
.
The Lee Navigation and the Hertford Union Canal
come to a junction at Hackney Wick and it is at the southern tip of Hackney Marshes
. The River Lea is nearby and it forms part of the Lower Lea Valley
.
Prior to 'modern times', Hackney Wick was an area prone to periodic flooding. The construction of the canals and relief channels on the Lea alleviated that and allowed the development of the area. In historic times, the marshes were used extensively for grazing cattle, and there was limited occupation around the 'great house' at Hackney Wick. This area as well as the marshes were historically part of Lower Homerton.
testifies (see picture right) —the lower part of the obelisk
is densely inscribed on all four faces with the names of Wick men who died in that conflict.
When Charles Booth
surveyed Hackney Wick in his London-wide survey of poverty during the 1890s he would have noticed that there were, amid the noxious fumes and noise, areas of lessened deprivation. Streets south of the railway such as Wansbeck and Rothbury Roads were a mixture of comfort and poverty. Kelday Road, right on the canal seemed positively middle class. To the north of the railway, streets either side of Wick Road, e.g. Chapman Road, Felstead Street and Percy Terrace were described as "very poor", with "chronic want". It was no doubt conditions such as these which hastened the involvement of Eton College
about this time to instigate their urban mission in Hackney Wick.
The world's first true synthetic plastic, parkesine
, invented by Alexander Parkes
, was manufactured here from 1866 to 1868, though Parkes' company failed due to high production costs.
In contrast shellac
, a natural polymer was manufactured at the Lea Works by A.F. Suter and Co. at the Victory Works for many years. The factory at nos 83/4 Eastway commenced operation in 1927. Subsequently they relocated to Dace Road in Bow.
For many years Hackney Wick was the location of the oil distiller Carless, Capel & Leonard, credited with introduction of the term petrol in the 1890s. The distinguished chemist and academic Sir Frederick Warner
worked at Carless's Hackney Wick factory from 1948–1956. William J Leonard (1857–1923) was followed by his son Julian Mayard Leonard (1900–1978) into the firm, where he became managing director and deputy chairman.
The firm of Brooke Simpson Spiller at Atlas Works in Berkshire Road had taken over the firm of William Henry Perkin at Greenford Green near Harrow in 1874,but subsequently disposed of some operations to Burt Bolton Heywoodd in Silvertown
. Nevertheless, Brooke Simpson Spiller is the successor company to the founding father of the British Dyestuff Industry. The company employed the brilliant organic chemist Arthur George Green
(1864–1941) from 1885 until 1894, when he left to join the Clayton Aniline Company
in Manchester and ultimately, when the British chemical industry failed his talents, to the chair of Colour Chemistry at Leeds University. At Hackney Wick, Green discovered the important dyestuff intermediate Primuline
. He was a contemporary of the organic chemist Richard John Friswell (1849–1908) who was from 1874 a research chemist, and from 1886 until 1899 director and chemical manager. Perhaps even more distinguished was the Jewish chemist, Professor Raphael Meldola
FRS, who is remembered for Meldola's Blue dye and is commemorated by the Royal Society of Chemistry's Meldola Medal. He worked at Hackney Wick from 1877 until 1885. where Meldola's Blue was discovered. A large collection of Hackney made dyestuffs is on view at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney Australia.
The firm of W.C.Barnes of the Phoenix Works was also engaged in the aniline dye industry at Hackney Wick.
The confectioner Clarnico is synonymous with Hackney Wick. The company, known as Clarke, Nickolls, Coombs until 1946, arrived in Hackney Wick in 1879. Despite being taken over by Trebor Bassett, the name lives on in Bassett's Clarnico Mint Creams and also in the CNC Property company. Just after the second world war, Clarnico was the largest confectioner in Britain but moved further across the Lea to Waterden Road in 1955 where it survived for another 20 years. The company had its own brass band in the early 20th century.
Another pathfinding entrepreneur in Hackney Wick was the Frenchman, Eugene Serre. His father, Achille Serre, who had settled in Stoke Newington, introduced Dry Cleaning
to England. Eugene expanded the business into a former tar factory in White Post Lane and which still carries traces of the firm's name.
is near the scene of the first railway murder. The victim, Thomas Briggs of 5 Clapton Square
, was returning from dining with his niece in Peckham
in July 1864 and had the misfortune to meet his murderer on the train. Two clerks discovered a compartment sticky with blood at Hackney, but Franz Muller had slipped away unnoticed to return to his lodgings at 16 Park Terrace. The victim was discovered on the line between Bow
and Hackney Wick and was brought initially into the Mitford Castle public house (now the Top o'the Morning) in Cadogan Terrace and subsequently taken home where he died. A hat belonging to Muller was discovered in the compartment. In the next few days, a Cheapside
jeweller came forward with Briggs's missing watch and chain, and a description of Muller. The theft was to pay for Muller's emigration to America, and he departed soon after on the Victoria, but the police went to New York by a faster boat and were awaiting his arrival in New York. He was returned to England and hanged at Newgate Prison
.
Victoria Park railway station was on the North London Railway
to Poplar, which closed to passengers in 1943 and to goods in the early 1980s. It was on the site of the present East Cross Route
and opened in 1866 at the former junction of the Stratford and Poplar lines
, replacing a short-lived station of 1856 on the north side of Wick Lane (now Wick Road). No trace of either remains. The redundant viaduct carrying the former goods line to the Millwall docks over the East Cross Route was removed in the 1990s. The present Hackney Wick railway station
was built on the 1854 spur from the original North London Line to Stratford. The entrance poles to the former Hackney Wick Goods and Coal Depot (a site now occupied by housing) are still to be seen beside the Kenworthy Road bridge.
gradually extended it eastwards to reach Hackney Wick by 1914. A peak hour 64 service, later numbered 26, was introduced in the 1920s to connect with Waterloo, later becoming the 6A. In the 1929 General map of London, the 30 route is shown connecting Putney Heath and Hackney Wick. Traffic congestion and privatisation caused the loss of most long-distance cross-city routes by the 1990s. The present 26 is a derivative of the 6A. In addition the circuitous single-deck 236 service, established in inter-war period between Leyton and Finsbury Park still travels to Finsbury Park as it did in the 1930s. The 208A was the first ever to travel along Carpenters Road (closed on 2 July 2007 for construction of the 2012 Summer Olympics
), running as a single-deck route between Clapton Pond and Stratford from 1941. Many journeys terminated at Hackney Wick, serving the numerous factories there. In 1959 the 208A was converted to double deck, and renumbered 178, but a low bridge under the Great Eastern Railway
necessitated the use of a special low-height London Transport vehicle through Hackney Wick, the RLH, which ran until April 1971. This bus also served the works of Lesney Products
in Lee Conservancy Road. It was partly replaced by the single-deck S3 route which only ran initially as far west as Hackney Wick. This transient service was subsequently extended to Hackney Central and later Stoke Newington, to mutate into the 278 between Stoke Newington and Victoria and Albert Docks in 1982, via Carpenters Road. This service itself became the 276 in late 1984, serving variously Beckton and the Woolwich Ferry (including midibus operation) until settling on Newham Hospital as the terminus. The 208 service dating from 1933 connected Cadogan Terrace with Bow and Clapton Pond until 1970 when it was replaced by the present S2. The new N11 night bus was introduced in 1984 from Turnham Green and Trafalgar Square with its eastern terminus gradually reaching Hackney Wick. This service has also disappeared to be partly replaced by the N26 to Chingford, although a night bus still terminates at the Wick, the 236.
and Eastway (the western part was then known as Gainsborough Road) or the masses of small terraced houses. Many of the street names have permanently vanished due to later redevelopment. Part of the Wick was redeveloped in the 1960s to create the Greater London Council
's Trowbridge Estate, which consisted of single-storey modern housing at the foot of seven 21-storey tower blocks. The estate's housing conditions deteriorated quickly and despite an attempt to regenerate the tower blocks, much of the housing in the estate was replaced between 1985 and 1996. The artist Rachel Whiteread
made screenprints of photographs of the former Trowbridge estate which are in the Tate Collection as part of her series Demolished.
The Atlas Works of 1863, backing onto the Lee Navigation, was demolished to make way for housing in the 1990s. In the 1930s it had been the home of the British Perforated Paper Co, famous for inventing toilet paper
in 1880.
Further along Eastway, the 2012 Olympic site has claimed industrial premises formerly used by British Industrial Gases (later British Oxygen Company, BOC) to manufacture oxygen and acetylene
and Setright Registers Limited who made between the mid 1950s and mid 1960s the famous bus ticket issuing Setright Machine
used throughout the country and abroad.
The historic Hackney Wick Stadium
, well-known throughout the East End for greyhound racing and speedway, became derelict in late 1990s and closed in 2003. However, it will become the site for the new 2012 Olympic media and broadcast centre and, after the Games, will be turned over for commercial use.
There are many other signs of revival. Not only should the area benefit from the future 2012 Olympics development, but London's artistic community, increasingly forced out of the old warehousing and industrial zones to the south of Hackney borough and in Tower Hamlets
by rising rents, are taking an interest in the more affordable industrial buildings out at the Wick. Hackney Wick's first arts festival, Hackney Wicked, took place from the 8th to the 10 August 2008. The festival weekend included show openings from a series of the Wick's local art venues, including Mother Studios
, Elevator Gallery
, The Residence, Decima Gallery
, Schwartz Gallery, Show Dome, Mainyard Gallery, Top and Tail Gallery, and Wallis Studios. 2009 saw the staging of a second 'Hackney Wicked' arts festival, which took place from Friday 29 July to Sunday 1 August.
The notable 59 Club
for motorcyclists was founded at the Eton Mission church in 1959 in Hackney Wick.
that run from here to Canning Town
and the horse brigade tower located south east.
Due to its proximity to the Olympic Park
, Hackney Wick is receiving (2006, onwards) community and public realm development grants. The Draft Phase 1 Hackney Wick Area Action Plan was developed for consultation in November 2009 by Hackney Council as a strategy to guide and manage future change in the area. This should further contribute to improvements in the area, although there are fears that development may price many residents, particularly artists, out of the area.
Conversely, concerns have been raised over some of the local effects of the Olympic Park development, including the potential impact to the future of the century-old Manor Garden Allotments
, which has inspired a vocal community campaign.
The nearest London Overground station
is Hackney Wick
. The 388 route to Blackfriars is the only double-deck service operated in the colours of CT Plus,the fleetname of Hackney Community Transport. This service was one of several introduced to coincide with the start of the Congestion Charge zone in London. Both the 30 bus, involved in the 7 July 2005 London bombings
, and the 26 bus, involved in the 21 July 2005 London bombings
were heading to Hackney Wick. The 276 service, formerly continuing along Carpenters Road from Hackney Wick, now travels to Stratford via Bow. The 236 service runs from the Eastway on Trowbridge Estate to Finsbury Park station.
linking the area with the Blackwall Tunnel
(1960s).
The area has one of the few River Lea crossing points, and this leads to severe congestion at times of the day. Parking is likely to become more restrictive, both during the construction phase, and during the Olympic games.
walking route, much of which is accessible to cyclists. The River Lee Navigation
, and other local canals, have a tow path which is accessible for both walking and cycling. The Hertford Union Canal
is accessed via a ramp from Wick Road, near St Marks Gate. From here, eastward, the Lea provides a continuous route to Hertfordshire
for the particularly determined. Westwards, the towpath proceeds to the Hertford Union junction with the Regent's Canal
; to the south this proceeds to Limehouse Basin
, and to the north-west provides a route through north London to Islington
, Camden
and Paddington
.
Some towpaths in the area may have restricted use during construction and the period of the Olympic games
London Borough of Hackney
The London Borough of Hackney is a London borough of North/North East London, and forms part of inner London. The local authority is Hackney London Borough Council....
and the London Borough of Tower Hamlets
London Borough of Tower Hamlets
The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London borough to the east of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It is in the eastern part of London and covers much of the traditional East End. It also includes much of the redeveloped Docklands region of London, including West India Docks...
in east London. It is an inner-city development situated 5 miles (8 km) northeast of Charing Cross
Charing Cross
Charing Cross denotes the junction of Strand, Whitehall and Cockspur Street, just south of Trafalgar Square in central London, England. It is named after the now demolished Eleanor cross that stood there, in what was once the hamlet of Charing. The site of the cross is now occupied by an equestrian...
. It is not especially close to Hackney Central
Hackney Central
Hackney Central is the central district of the London Borough of Hackney in London, England. It comprises the area roughly surrounding, and extending north from Mare Street. It is situated north east of Charing Cross...
, the historic centre of Hackney Borough.
It is in the far east of the borough on the edge of the planned 2012 Olympic Park
2012 Summer Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the "London 2012 Olympic Games", are scheduled to take place in London, England, United Kingdom from 27 July to 12 August 2012...
and near the boundary with the London Borough
London borough
The administrative area of Greater London contains thirty-two London boroughs. Inner London comprises twelve of these boroughs plus the City of London. Outer London comprises the twenty remaining boroughs of Greater London.-Functions:...
s of Newham
London Borough of Newham
The London Borough of Newham is a London borough formed from the towns of West Ham and East Ham, within East London.It is situated east of the City of London, and is north of the River Thames. According to 2006 estimates, Newham has one of the highest ethnic minority populations of all the...
, Waltham Forest
London Borough of Waltham Forest
The London Borough of Waltham Forest is in northeast London, England. Officially, it forms part of Outer London as it borders Essex. However, it can be seen that the NE London boundary does not extend far compared to elsewhere in the city...
and Tower Hamlets
London Borough of Tower Hamlets
The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London borough to the east of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It is in the eastern part of London and covers much of the traditional East End. It also includes much of the redeveloped Docklands region of London, including West India Docks...
.
The Lee Navigation and the Hertford Union Canal
Hertford Union Canal
The Hertford Union Canal or Duckett's Canal is a short stretch of canal in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in east London. It connects the Regent's Canal to the Lee Navigation. It was opened in 1830 but quickly proved to be a commercial failure...
come to a junction at Hackney Wick and it is at the southern tip of Hackney Marshes
Hackney Marshes
Hackney Marshes is an area of grassland on the western bank of the River Lea in the London Borough of Hackney. It was incorporated into the Lee Valley Park in 1967...
. The River Lea is nearby and it forms part of the Lower Lea Valley
Lower Lea Valley
The Lower Lea Valley is the southern end of the Lea Valley, surrounding the River Lea , which runs along the boundary of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets on its western bank and the London Boroughs of Waltham Forest and Newham on its eastern bank, into the River Thames. The river forms the...
.
History
Early history
In Roman times the River Lea was a wide, fast flowing river, and the tidal estuary stretched as far as Hackney Wick. In 894, a force of Danes sailed up the river to Hertford; Alfred the Great saw an opportunity to defeat the Danes and ordered the lower reaches of the Lea drained, at Leamouth. This left the Danes' boats stranded, but also increased the flow of the river and caused the tidal head to move downriver to Old Ford.Prior to 'modern times', Hackney Wick was an area prone to periodic flooding. The construction of the canals and relief channels on the Lea alleviated that and allowed the development of the area. In historic times, the marshes were used extensively for grazing cattle, and there was limited occupation around the 'great house' at Hackney Wick. This area as well as the marshes were historically part of Lower Homerton.
Industrial history
During the 19th and (early) 20th centuries, the Wick was a thriving well-populated industrial zone, as the Hackney Wick First World War memorial in Victoria ParkVictoria Park, East London
Victoria Park is 86.18 hectares of 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 and Victoria Park Road E9. The park is entirely within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets...
testifies (see picture right) —the lower part of the obelisk
Obelisk
An obelisk is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape at the top, and is said to resemble a petrified ray of the sun-disk. A pair of obelisks usually stood in front of a pylon...
is densely inscribed on all four faces with the names of Wick men who died in that conflict.
When Charles Booth
Charles Booth (philanthropist)
Charles Booth was an English philanthropist and social researcher. He is most famed for his innovative work on documenting working class life in London at the end of the 19th century, work that along with that of Benjamin Seebohm Rowntree influenced government intervention against poverty in the...
surveyed Hackney Wick in his London-wide survey of poverty during the 1890s he would have noticed that there were, amid the noxious fumes and noise, areas of lessened deprivation. Streets south of the railway such as Wansbeck and Rothbury Roads were a mixture of comfort and poverty. Kelday Road, right on the canal seemed positively middle class. To the north of the railway, streets either side of Wick Road, e.g. Chapman Road, Felstead Street and Percy Terrace were described as "very poor", with "chronic want". It was no doubt conditions such as these which hastened the involvement of Eton College
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
about this time to instigate their urban mission in Hackney Wick.
The world's first true synthetic plastic, parkesine
Parkesine
Parkesine is the trademark for the first man-made plastic. It was patented by Alexander Parkes in 1856. In 1866 Parkes formed the Parkesine Company to mass produce the material. The company, however, failed due to poor product quality as Parkes tried to reduce costs...
, invented by Alexander Parkes
Alexander Parkes
Alexander Parkes was a metallurgist and inventor from Birmingham, England. He created Parkesine, the first man-made plastic.-Biography:...
, was manufactured here from 1866 to 1868, though Parkes' company failed due to high production costs.
In contrast shellac
Shellac
Shellac is a resin secreted by the female lac bug, on trees in the forests of India and Thailand. It is processed and sold as dry flakes , which are dissolved in ethyl alcohol to make liquid shellac, which is used as a brush-on colorant, food glaze and wood finish...
, a natural polymer was manufactured at the Lea Works by A.F. Suter and Co. at the Victory Works for many years. The factory at nos 83/4 Eastway commenced operation in 1927. Subsequently they relocated to Dace Road in Bow.
For many years Hackney Wick was the location of the oil distiller Carless, Capel & Leonard, credited with introduction of the term petrol in the 1890s. The distinguished chemist and academic Sir Frederick Warner
Frederick Warner (engineer)
Sir Frederick Edward Warner FRS, FREng was a British chemical engineer. He was knighted in 1968, FRS 1976, Leverhulme Medal 1978, Buchanan Medal 1982. He was a founding Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering....
worked at Carless's Hackney Wick factory from 1948–1956. William J Leonard (1857–1923) was followed by his son Julian Mayard Leonard (1900–1978) into the firm, where he became managing director and deputy chairman.
The firm of Brooke Simpson Spiller at Atlas Works in Berkshire Road had taken over the firm of William Henry Perkin at Greenford Green near Harrow in 1874,but subsequently disposed of some operations to Burt Bolton Heywoodd in Silvertown
Silvertown
Silvertown is an industrialised district on the north bank of the Thames in the London Borough of Newham. It was named after Samuel Winkworth Silver's former rubber factory which opened in 1852, and is now dominated by the Tate & Lyle sugar refinery and the John Knight ABP animal rendering...
. Nevertheless, Brooke Simpson Spiller is the successor company to the founding father of the British Dyestuff Industry. The company employed the brilliant organic chemist Arthur George Green
(1864–1941) from 1885 until 1894, when he left to join the Clayton Aniline Company
Clayton Aniline Company
The Clayton Aniline Company Ltd. was a British manufacturer of dyestuffs, founded in 1876 by Charles Dreyfus in Clayton, Manchester.-Early history:...
in Manchester and ultimately, when the British chemical industry failed his talents, to the chair of Colour Chemistry at Leeds University. At Hackney Wick, Green discovered the important dyestuff intermediate Primuline
Primuline
Primuline is a dye containing the benzothiazole ring system. Primuline itself is also known as Direct yellow 7, Carnotine, or C.I...
. He was a contemporary of the organic chemist Richard John Friswell (1849–1908) who was from 1874 a research chemist, and from 1886 until 1899 director and chemical manager. Perhaps even more distinguished was the Jewish chemist, Professor Raphael Meldola
Raphael Meldola
Raphael Meldola FRS was a British chemist and entomologist. He was Professor of Organic Chemistry in the University of London, 1912–5.- Life :...
FRS, who is remembered for Meldola's Blue dye and is commemorated by the Royal Society of Chemistry's Meldola Medal. He worked at Hackney Wick from 1877 until 1885. where Meldola's Blue was discovered. A large collection of Hackney made dyestuffs is on view at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney Australia.
The firm of W.C.Barnes of the Phoenix Works was also engaged in the aniline dye industry at Hackney Wick.
The confectioner Clarnico is synonymous with Hackney Wick. The company, known as Clarke, Nickolls, Coombs until 1946, arrived in Hackney Wick in 1879. Despite being taken over by Trebor Bassett, the name lives on in Bassett's Clarnico Mint Creams and also in the CNC Property company. Just after the second world war, Clarnico was the largest confectioner in Britain but moved further across the Lea to Waterden Road in 1955 where it survived for another 20 years. The company had its own brass band in the early 20th century.
Another pathfinding entrepreneur in Hackney Wick was the Frenchman, Eugene Serre. His father, Achille Serre, who had settled in Stoke Newington, introduced Dry Cleaning
Dry cleaning
Dry cleaning is any cleaning process for clothing and textiles using a chemical solvent other than water. The solvent used is typically tetrachloroethylene , abbreviated "perc" in the industry and "dry-cleaning fluid" by the public...
to England. Eugene expanded the business into a former tar factory in White Post Lane and which still carries traces of the firm's name.
Murder and the railways
Hackney Wick stationHackney Wick railway station
Hackney Wick railway station is on the North London Line in the London Borough of Hackney, on the northern side of the boundary between Hackney and the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, in east London. It is in Travelcard Zone 2. The station and all trains serving it are operated by London Overground...
is near the scene of the first railway murder. The victim, Thomas Briggs of 5 Clapton Square
Clapton Square
The Clapton Square Conservation Area, Hackney, was designated in 1969 and extended in 1991 & 2000. It is protected by Acts of Parliament as a London Square. It is dominated by the Church of St John-at-Hackney built in 1792-97, and St John’s Gardens. Its made up of listed late Georgian terraces on...
, was returning from dining with his niece in Peckham
Peckham
Peckham is a district in south London, England, located in the London Borough of Southwark. It is situated south-east of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London...
in July 1864 and had the misfortune to meet his murderer on the train. Two clerks discovered a compartment sticky with blood at Hackney, but Franz Muller had slipped away unnoticed to return to his lodgings at 16 Park Terrace. The victim was discovered on the line between Bow
Bow, London
Bow is an area of London, England, United Kingdom in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is a built-up, mostly residential district located east of Charing Cross, and is a part of the East End.-Bridges at Bowe:...
and Hackney Wick and was brought initially into the Mitford Castle public house (now the Top o'the Morning) in Cadogan Terrace and subsequently taken home where he died. A hat belonging to Muller was discovered in the compartment. In the next few days, a Cheapside
Cheapside
Cheapside is a street in the City of London that links Newgate Street with the junction of Queen Victoria Street and Mansion House Street. To the east is Mansion House, the Bank of England, and the major road junction above Bank tube station. To the west is St. Paul's Cathedral, St...
jeweller came forward with Briggs's missing watch and chain, and a description of Muller. The theft was to pay for Muller's emigration to America, and he departed soon after on the Victoria, but the police went to New York by a faster boat and were awaiting his arrival in New York. He was returned to England and hanged at Newgate Prison
Newgate Prison
Newgate Prison was a prison in London, at the corner of Newgate Street and Old Bailey just inside the City of London. It was originally located at the site of a gate in the Roman London Wall. The gate/prison was rebuilt in the 12th century, and demolished in 1777...
.
Victoria Park railway station was on the North London Railway
North London Railway
The North London Railway was a railway company that opened lines connecting the north of London to the East and West India Docks. The main east to west route is now part the North London Line. Other lines operated by the company fell into disuse, but were later revived as part of the Docklands...
to Poplar, which closed to passengers in 1943 and to goods in the early 1980s. It was on the site of the present East Cross Route
East Cross Route
East Cross Route is a dual-carriageway road constructed in east London as part of the uncompleted Ringway 1 as part of the London Ringways plan drawn up the 1960s to create a series of high speed roads circling and radiating out from central London...
and opened in 1866 at the former junction of the Stratford and Poplar lines
London and Blackwall Railway
Originally called the Commercial Railway, the London and Blackwall Railway was a railway line in east London, England. It ran from the Minories to Blackwall via Stepney, with a branch line to the Isle of Dogs, thus connecting central London to many of London's docks in the 19th and 20th centuries...
, replacing a short-lived station of 1856 on the north side of Wick Lane (now Wick Road). No trace of either remains. The redundant viaduct carrying the former goods line to the Millwall docks over the East Cross Route was removed in the 1990s. The present Hackney Wick railway station
Hackney Wick railway station
Hackney Wick railway station is on the North London Line in the London Borough of Hackney, on the northern side of the boundary between Hackney and the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, in east London. It is in Travelcard Zone 2. The station and all trains serving it are operated by London Overground...
was built on the 1854 spur from the original North London Line to Stratford. The entrance poles to the former Hackney Wick Goods and Coal Depot (a site now occupied by housing) are still to be seen beside the Kenworthy Road bridge.
History of bus services
Before the reopening of the railway station, good bus services were vital for the functioning of Hackney Wick as a place of work or of residence. A bus station existed in Eastway, now the bus park, and several famous routes bore the name Hackney Wick as their destination through central London: the 6 from Kensal Rise and the 30 from Roehampton. The 6 route was instigated by the Vanguard Omnibus in 1906 from Kensal Green to Liverpool Street. London GeneralLondon General
London General is a bus company operating in Surrey ang Greater London. It is owned by the Go-Ahead Group and operates most buses under contract to London Buses...
gradually extended it eastwards to reach Hackney Wick by 1914. A peak hour 64 service, later numbered 26, was introduced in the 1920s to connect with Waterloo, later becoming the 6A. In the 1929 General map of London, the 30 route is shown connecting Putney Heath and Hackney Wick. Traffic congestion and privatisation caused the loss of most long-distance cross-city routes by the 1990s. The present 26 is a derivative of the 6A. In addition the circuitous single-deck 236 service, established in inter-war period between Leyton and Finsbury Park still travels to Finsbury Park as it did in the 1930s. The 208A was the first ever to travel along Carpenters Road (closed on 2 July 2007 for construction of the 2012 Summer Olympics
2012 Summer Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the "London 2012 Olympic Games", are scheduled to take place in London, England, United Kingdom from 27 July to 12 August 2012...
), running as a single-deck route between Clapton Pond and Stratford from 1941. Many journeys terminated at Hackney Wick, serving the numerous factories there. In 1959 the 208A was converted to double deck, and renumbered 178, but a low bridge under the Great Eastern Railway
Great Eastern Railway
The Great Eastern Railway was a pre-grouping British railway company, whose main line linked London Liverpool Street to Norwich and which had other lines through East Anglia...
necessitated the use of a special low-height London Transport vehicle through Hackney Wick, the RLH, which ran until April 1971. This bus also served the works of Lesney Products
Lesney Products
Lesney Products & Co. Ltd. was a British manufacturing company responsible for the conception, manufacture, and distribution of die-cast toys under the "Matchbox" name.-History:...
in Lee Conservancy Road. It was partly replaced by the single-deck S3 route which only ran initially as far west as Hackney Wick. This transient service was subsequently extended to Hackney Central and later Stoke Newington, to mutate into the 278 between Stoke Newington and Victoria and Albert Docks in 1982, via Carpenters Road. This service itself became the 276 in late 1984, serving variously Beckton and the Woolwich Ferry (including midibus operation) until settling on Newham Hospital as the terminus. The 208 service dating from 1933 connected Cadogan Terrace with Bow and Clapton Pond until 1970 when it was replaced by the present S2. The new N11 night bus was introduced in 1984 from Turnham Green and Trafalgar Square with its eastern terminus gradually reaching Hackney Wick. This service has also disappeared to be partly replaced by the N26 to Chingford, although a night bus still terminates at the Wick, the 236.
The present
In recent post-industrial times, Hackney Wick has lost most of its industry and much of its population. Very little remains of the inter-war street pattern between the Hertford Union CanalHertford Union Canal
The Hertford Union Canal or Duckett's Canal is a short stretch of canal in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in east London. It connects the Regent's Canal to the Lee Navigation. It was opened in 1830 but quickly proved to be a commercial failure...
and Eastway (the western part was then known as Gainsborough Road) or the masses of small terraced houses. Many of the street names have permanently vanished due to later redevelopment. Part of the Wick was redeveloped in the 1960s to create the Greater London Council
Greater London Council
The Greater London Council was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council which had covered a much smaller area...
's Trowbridge Estate, which consisted of single-storey modern housing at the foot of seven 21-storey tower blocks. The estate's housing conditions deteriorated quickly and despite an attempt to regenerate the tower blocks, much of the housing in the estate was replaced between 1985 and 1996. The artist Rachel Whiteread
Rachel Whiteread
Rachel Whiteread, CBE is an English artist, best known for her sculptures, which typically take the form of casts. She won the annual Turner Prize in 1993—the first woman to win the prize....
made screenprints of photographs of the former Trowbridge estate which are in the Tate Collection as part of her series Demolished.
The Atlas Works of 1863, backing onto the Lee Navigation, was demolished to make way for housing in the 1990s. In the 1930s it had been the home of the British Perforated Paper Co, famous for inventing toilet paper
Toilet paper
Toilet paper is a soft paper product used to maintain personal hygiene after human defecation or urination. However, it can also be used for other purposes such as blowing one's nose when one has a cold or absorbing common spills around the house, although paper towels are more used for the latter...
in 1880.
Further along Eastway, the 2012 Olympic site has claimed industrial premises formerly used by British Industrial Gases (later British Oxygen Company, BOC) to manufacture oxygen and acetylene
Acetylene
Acetylene is the chemical compound with the formula C2H2. It is a hydrocarbon and the simplest alkyne. This colorless gas is widely used as a fuel and a chemical building block. It is unstable in pure form and thus is usually handled as a solution.As an alkyne, acetylene is unsaturated because...
and Setright Registers Limited who made between the mid 1950s and mid 1960s the famous bus ticket issuing Setright Machine
Setright Machine
A Setright Machine is a machine operated by a conductor or guard for issuing bus tickets from a blank paper roll.- Technology :A Setright can print any value and could easily deal with changes in fares...
used throughout the country and abroad.
The historic Hackney Wick Stadium
Hackney Wick Stadium
Hackney Wick Stadium, Waterden Road, in the London Borough of Hackney, was opened in 1932 and was mainly used for greyhound racing and speedway.In 1994, a £12M stand and restaurant was built and the stadium was renamed the London Stadium, Hackney...
, well-known throughout the East End for greyhound racing and speedway, became derelict in late 1990s and closed in 2003. However, it will become the site for the new 2012 Olympic media and broadcast centre and, after the Games, will be turned over for commercial use.
There are many other signs of revival. Not only should the area benefit from the future 2012 Olympics development, but London's artistic community, increasingly forced out of the old warehousing and industrial zones to the south of Hackney borough and in Tower Hamlets
London Borough of Tower Hamlets
The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London borough to the east of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It is in the eastern part of London and covers much of the traditional East End. It also includes much of the redeveloped Docklands region of London, including West India Docks...
by rising rents, are taking an interest in the more affordable industrial buildings out at the Wick. Hackney Wick's first arts festival, Hackney Wicked, took place from the 8th to the 10 August 2008. The festival weekend included show openings from a series of the Wick's local art venues, including Mother Studios
Mother Studios
Mother Studios is an organisation which provides work spaces for artists in London.It was founded in August 2001 by Joanna Hughes for artists of multiple disciplines. The studios are based in Hackney Wick, along the River Lea and immediately opposite to the Olympic Site. The building, originally...
, Elevator Gallery
Elevator Gallery
Elevator Gallery is a contemporary art venue associated with Mother Studios , located on the fifth floor of a former chocolate factory in Hackney Wick, Hackney, east London, England. It was opened on 20 October 2007, with its opening show 'Magical Thinking'. Since then it has mainly been curated by...
, The Residence, Decima Gallery
Decima gallery
Decima Gallery is a London-based arts projects organisation with a reputation for irreverent projects, according to a 2008 article in The London Paper:...
, Schwartz Gallery, Show Dome, Mainyard Gallery, Top and Tail Gallery, and Wallis Studios. 2009 saw the staging of a second 'Hackney Wicked' arts festival, which took place from Friday 29 July to Sunday 1 August.
The notable 59 Club
59 Club
The 59 Club, also written as The Fifty Nine Club and known as "the '9", is a British motorcycle club with members internationally.The 59 Club started as a Church of England-based youth club founded in Hackney Wick on 2 April 1959, in the East End of London, then an underprivileged area suffering...
for motorcyclists was founded at the Eton Mission church in 1959 in Hackney Wick.
The future
The first stage in preparing the area for use as the 2012 Olympic Park will be the removal of the pylonsElectricity pylon
A transmission tower is a tall structure, usually a steel lattice tower, used to support an overhead power line. They are used in high-voltage AC and DC systems, and come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes...
that run from here to Canning Town
Canning Town
Canning Town is an area of east London, England. It is part of the London Borough of Newham and is situated in the area of the former London docks on the north side of the River Thames. It is the location of Rathbone Market...
and the horse brigade tower located south east.
Due to its proximity to the Olympic Park
Olympic Park, London
The Olympic Park in London is a new sporting complex currently under construction, adjacent to the Stratford City development in Stratford, Bow, Leyton & Homerton in East London for the 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics....
, Hackney Wick is receiving (2006, onwards) community and public realm development grants. The Draft Phase 1 Hackney Wick Area Action Plan was developed for consultation in November 2009 by Hackney Council as a strategy to guide and manage future change in the area. This should further contribute to improvements in the area, although there are fears that development may price many residents, particularly artists, out of the area.
Conversely, concerns have been raised over some of the local effects of the Olympic Park development, including the potential impact to the future of the century-old Manor Garden Allotments
Manor Garden Allotments
Manor Garden Allotments were allotment gardens occupying between the River Lea and the Channelsea River in Hackney Wick, London, England. They are also sometimes referred to as Eastway Allotments, particularly in the 2012 Summer Olympics planning application documents...
, which has inspired a vocal community campaign.
Transport
London Overground
London Overground is a suburban rail network in London and Hertfordshire. It has been operated by London Overground Rail Operations since 2007 as part of the National Rail network, under the franchise control and branding of Transport for London...
is Hackney Wick
Hackney Wick railway station
Hackney Wick railway station is on the North London Line in the London Borough of Hackney, on the northern side of the boundary between Hackney and the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, in east London. It is in Travelcard Zone 2. The station and all trains serving it are operated by London Overground...
Bus
The area is also a local public transport hub with several bus routes, including the 388, terminating near to Hackney Wick railway stationHackney Wick railway station
Hackney Wick railway station is on the North London Line in the London Borough of Hackney, on the northern side of the boundary between Hackney and the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, in east London. It is in Travelcard Zone 2. The station and all trains serving it are operated by London Overground...
. The 388 route to Blackfriars is the only double-deck service operated in the colours of CT Plus,the fleetname of Hackney Community Transport. This service was one of several introduced to coincide with the start of the Congestion Charge zone in London. Both the 30 bus, involved in the 7 July 2005 London bombings
7 July 2005 London bombings
The 7 July 2005 London bombings were a series of co-ordinated suicide attacks in the United Kingdom, targeting civilians using London's public transport system during the morning rush hour....
, and the 26 bus, involved in the 21 July 2005 London bombings
21 July 2005 London bombings
On 21 July 2005, four attempted bomb attacks disrupted part of London's public transport system two weeks after the 7 July 2005 London bombings. The explosions occurred around midday at Shepherd's Bush, Warren Street and Oval stations on London Underground, and on a bus in Shoreditch...
were heading to Hackney Wick. The 276 service, formerly continuing along Carpenters Road from Hackney Wick, now travels to Stratford via Bow. The 236 service runs from the Eastway on Trowbridge Estate to Finsbury Park station.
Road
Hackney Wick is connected to the National Road Network, with the A12 Eastway (completed late 1990s), and East Cross RouteEast Cross Route
East Cross Route is a dual-carriageway road constructed in east London as part of the uncompleted Ringway 1 as part of the London Ringways plan drawn up the 1960s to create a series of high speed roads circling and radiating out from central London...
linking the area with the Blackwall Tunnel
Blackwall Tunnel
The Blackwall Tunnel is a pair of road tunnels underneath the River Thames in east London, linking the London Borough of Tower Hamlets with the London Borough of Greenwich, and part of the A102 road. The northern portal lies just south of the East India Dock Road in Blackwall; the southern...
(1960s).
The area has one of the few River Lea crossing points, and this leads to severe congestion at times of the day. Parking is likely to become more restrictive, both during the construction phase, and during the Olympic games.
Walking and cycling
Hackney Wick is on the Capital RingCapital Ring
The Capital Ring is a strategic walking route that is being promoted by London's 33 local councils, led by the City of London Corporation in partnership with the Greater London Authority and its functional body for regional transport, Transport for London, through which much of the funding is...
walking route, much of which is accessible to cyclists. The River Lee Navigation
River Lee Navigation
The Lee Navigation is a canalised river incorporating the River Lea . Its course runs from Hertford Castle Weir all the way to the River Thames at Bow Creek. The first lock of the navigation is Hertford Lock the last being Bow Locks....
, and other local canals, have a tow path which is accessible for both walking and cycling. The Hertford Union Canal
Hertford Union Canal
The Hertford Union Canal or Duckett's Canal is a short stretch of canal in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in east London. It connects the Regent's Canal to the Lee Navigation. It was opened in 1830 but quickly proved to be a commercial failure...
is accessed via a ramp from Wick Road, near St Marks Gate. From here, eastward, the Lea provides a continuous route to Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
for the particularly determined. Westwards, the towpath proceeds to the Hertford Union junction with the Regent's Canal
Regent's Canal
Regent's Canal is a canal across an area just north of central London, England. It provides a link from the Paddington arm of the Grand Union Canal, just north-west of Paddington Basin in the west, to the Limehouse Basin and the River Thames in east London....
; to the south this proceeds to Limehouse Basin
Limehouse Basin
The Limehouse Basin in Limehouse, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets provides a navigable link between the Regent's Canal and the River Thames, through the Limehouse Basin Lock. A basin in the north of Mile End, near Victoria Park connects with the Hertford Union Canal leading to the River Lee...
, and to the north-west provides a route through north London to Islington
London Borough of Islington
The London Borough of Islington is a London borough in Inner London. It was formed in 1965 by merging the former metropolitan boroughs of Islington and Finsbury. The borough contains two Westminster parliamentary constituencies, Islington North and Islington South & Finsbury...
, Camden
London Borough of Camden
In 1801, the civil parishes that form the modern borough were already developed and had a total population of 96,795. This continued to rise swiftly throughout the 19th century, as the district became built up; reaching 270,197 in the middle of the century...
and Paddington
Paddington
Paddington is a district within the City of Westminster, in central London, England. Formerly a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965...
.
Some towpaths in the area may have restricted use during construction and the period of the Olympic games
External links
- History of Hackney Wick (at British History Online)
- The Motorway Archive
- Hidden London-Hackney Wick