Visit Hackney Central Places

Welcome to Visit Hackney Central Places
The Walkfo guide to things to do & explore in Hackney Central

  

Hackney Central Places Overview: History, Culture & Facts about Hackney Central

---

Hackney Central history

---

In 1727 Daniel Defoe said of the villages of Hackney, they are so encreas’d in buildings, and so fully inhabited, that there is no comparison to be made between their present and past state.

Early origins

In Roman times Ermine Street passed to the west of what is now Hackney Central. The name Hackney derives from a 5th- or 6th-century Saxon settlement known as Haca’s ey. The settlement was near Hackney Brook, and was probably on the higher ground around St Augustine’s Tower.

Tudor village

Little remains of early Hackney, except the Tudor St Augustine’s Tower, which survives as Hackney’s oldest building. In Tudor times there were a number of fine houses along Church Street, but many Tudor courtiers lived in nearby Homerton.

Georgian period

Hackney, Lower Clapton and Homerton remained separated by fields into the 19th century. By 1724, while still consisting of a single street, there is an unbroken line of buildings, except by the churchyard and by the brook. The 16th-century church, despite galleries being installed, became too small for the needs of the parish, and parliament was petitioned in 1790 for a modern larger church to be built. This began in 1791 but was bedeviled by builders’ bankruptcies and not completed until 1812–1813 when the tower and porches were added.

Victorian Hackney

The change from rural suburb to firmly urban was marked by the arrival of the railway in 1850. During the Victorian era, many of the old buildings were swept away and the estates broken up to form streets of terraced housing. Many older buildings were pulled down to make room for street widening and the railway.

Hackney Central landmarks

Mare Street slices through Hackney’s ‘cultural quarter’ of Town Hall Square. Its north side is dominated by Frank Matcham’s Grade II* listed 1901 Hackney Empire music hall. The east is the 2001 refurbishment of the Central Library and Methodist Hall, combined to form the Ocean Music Venue.

Hackney Central geography / climate

Hackney Central is based on the village that grew up within the pre-existing parish of Hackney which had been in existence, with consistent boundaries, from the medieval period. The term Hackney Proper was often applied to that wider district which also includes Hackney Wick, South Hackney, West Hackney and Homerton. Hackney Town Hall is about 5 miles (8 km) north-east of Charing Cross.

You can visit Hackney Central places with Walkfo Hackney Central to hear history at Hackney Central’s places whilst walking around using the free digital tour app. Walkfo Hackney Central has 927 places to visit in our interactive Hackney Central map, with amazing history, culture & travel facts you can explore the same way you would at a museum or art gallery with information audio headset. With Walkfo, you can travel by foot, bike or bus throughout Hackney Central, being in the moment, without digital distraction or limits to a specific walking route. Our historic audio walks, National Trust interactive audio experiences, digital tour guides for English Heritage locations are available at Hackney Central places, with a AI tour guide to help you get the best from a visit to Hackney Central & the surrounding areas.

“Curated content for millions of locations across the UK, with 927 audio facts unique to Hackney Central places in an interactive Hackney Central map you can explore.”

Walkfo: Visit Hackney Central Places Map
927 tourist, history, culture & geography spots

---

–

Hackney Central historic spots	Hackney Central tourist destinations	Hackney Central plaques	Hackney Central geographic features
Walkfo Hackney Central tourism map key: places to see & visit like National Trust sites, Blue Plaques, English Heritage locations & top tourist destinations in Hackney Central

  

Best Hackney Central places to visit

---

Hackney Central has places to explore by foot, bike or bus. Below are a selection of the varied Hackney Central’s destinations you can visit with additional content available at the Walkfo Hackney Central’s information audio spots:

Statue of Trajan, Tower Hill The statue of Trajan is a bronze sculpture depicting the Roman Emperor Trajan. It is located in front of a section of the London Wall built by Romans, at Tower Hill in London.

Knollys Rose Ceremony The Knollys Rose Ceremony is an annual event led by the Company of Watermen and Lightermen . The ceremony dates to 1381 and is held each year in June . A single red rose is snipped from the garden in Seething Lane, placed on an altar cushion from All Hallows-by-the-Tower .

Seething Lane Seething Lane is named after an Old English expression meaning “full of chaff” Samuel Pepys lived there and is buried in St Olave’s Church at the junction with Hart Street .

East India Arms The East India Arms is located on Fenchurch Street in the City of London . It is next to the place where the East India Company had its headquarters .

Bull and Mouth Street Bull and Mouth Street was a street in the City of London that ran between Edward Street (Hall Lane) and St Martin’s Le Grand . On part of its site stands Postman’s Park .

Memorial to Heroic Self-Sacrifice The Memorial to Heroic Self-Sacrifice is a public monument in Postman’s Park in the City of London . It was first proposed by painter and sculptor George Frederic Watts in 1887, to commemorate the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria . The memorial was unveiled in an unfinished state in 1900, consisting of a 50-foot (15 m) wooden loggia designed by Ernest George .

St. Martin’s Le Grand St. Martin’s Le Grand is a former liberty within the City of London . It is the name of a street north of Newgate Street and Cheapside and south of Aldersgate Street .

Swan with Two Necks, London The Swan with Two Necks was a coaching inn in the City of London . It was one of the principal departure points for travel to the north of England from London . Site was given over in the early 1860s to a goods and parcels depot for a firm of railway agents and carriers .

Blossom’s Inn Blossom’s Inn was a tavern which stood in Lawrence Lane in the City of London from the 14th century until 1855 . It became a substantial coaching inn and was used as a staging post by carriers of goods . In the 19th century, the lease was bought and it became the parcel depot of the Great Eastern Railway .

Guildhall Library The Guildhall Library is a public reference library specialising in subjects relevant to London . It is administered by the Corporation of London, the government of the City of London .

Visit Hackney Central plaques