Springfield Park is a park in

Upper Clapton Clapton is a district of East London, England, in the London Borough of Hackney. Clapton is divided into Upper Clapton, in the north, and Lower Clapton to the south. Clapton railway station lies north-east of Charing Cross. Geography and orig ...

in the London Borough of Hackney. Spring Hill Recreation Ground, immediately to the north of the park, is an additional amenity. The Recreation Ground is also managed by the local authority and together they comprise a continuous public open space. Springfield Park was formed in 1905 from the grounds of three private houses, one of which still survives as a cafe. It is a local nature reserve.

Topography and environs

The park occupies and slopes from the high ground on the edge of

Stamford Hill Stamford Hill is an area in Inner London, England, about 5.5 miles north-east of Charing Cross. The neighbourhood is a sub-district of Hackney, the major component of the London Borough of Hackney, and is known for its Hasidic community, the ...

to the towpath of the

River Lee Navigation The Lee Navigation is a canalised river incorporating the River Lea (also called the River Lee along the sections that are navigable). It flows from Hertford Castle Weir to the River Thames at Bow Creek; its first lock is Hertford Lock and i ...

on the River Lea. Situated on the other side of the river/navigation to the park is Springfield Marina, a large basin for narrow boats. The park is also adjacent to the Lea Rowing Club and Spring Hill Recreation Ground, which is used by Hackney Rugby Club. The higher ground of the park affords views over Walthamstow Marshes to

Walthamstow Walthamstow ( or ) is a large town in east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London and the ancient county of Essex. Situated northeast of Charing Cross, the town borders Chingford to the north, Snaresbrook and Sou ...

and

Epping Forest Epping Forest is a area of ancient woodland, and other established habitats, which straddles the border between Greater London and Essex. The main body of the forest stretches from Epping in the north, to Chingford on the edge of the Londo ...

History

The Georgian era Springfield House stands near the main entrance to the park on a road known simply as Springfield. It was a private residence well before the surroundings were given over to housing in the mid-Victorian period. The park area remained intact as a private estate until 1902 when the house and land went up for sale.Crowe, Andrew — ''The Parks and Woodlands of London'' (Fourth Estate, 1987) A group of local businessmen saved the park when it went up for auction and eventually the

London County Council London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today kno ...

took over responsibility for the park and it opened to the public on 5 August 1905. Roman sarcophagi were found during building and landscaping work in the nineteenth century at the park along with pottery and other burials. The Hackney Boat, being the remains of a late

Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country ( Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the No ...

logboat were found close by in 1987. The original boat and replica are on display in

Hackney Museum Hackney Museum is a local history museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scienti ...

. As well as Springfield House, there were two other large houses on the estate, 'Springhill House' and 'The Chestnuts'. They had to be demolished due to their deteriorating condition when the council took them over. A road called Spring Lane ran through the estate but this was re-routed along the Lee and now forms part of the tow-path walk. The area now occupied by the park formerly included a feature known as 'Giles Dock' which may have been associated with nearby tile yards. This facility is visible on an Estate Map of 1774, still present in the 1868 Ordnance Survey map but had been filled in by 1896 - possibly as part of the 1876 works to straighten the river in this area.

Facilities

Sports facilities include five tennis courts, a bowling green and grounds for rugby, cricket and other sports on the wide flat area by the river. The park is home to Hackney Rugby Club, and planning has begun on a replacement for the rugby side's clubhouse, which was burnt down in April 1999. The Spark Cafe is housed in Springfield House, now known locally as the White House Mansion. Near the house is a large conservatory which was open to the public but has since been closed. There is a large pond and ornamental gardens with fountains and a children's playground as well as a bandstand. Th
Springfield Park Restoration Project
aims to restore and improve many aspects of the park, with work due to start in summer 2019. The Capital Ring, a circular walking route around London, passes through the park on the section from

Stoke Newington Stoke Newington is an area occupying the north-west part of the London Borough of Hackney in north-east London, England. It is northeast of Charing Cross. The Manor of Stoke Newington gave its name to Stoke Newington the ancient parish. T ...

Hackney Wick Hackney Wick is a neighbourhood in east London, England. The area forms the south-eastern part of the district of Hackney, and also of the wider London Borough of Hackney. Adjacent areas of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets are sometimes ...

, and the distinctive green signs can be seen in the park. Another walking route, the Lea Valley Walk, is close by and can be accessed via the River Lee towpath. The park received a

Green Flag award The Green Flag Award is an international accreditation given to publicly accessible parks and open spaces, managed under licence from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, a UK Government department, by Keep Britain Tidy ...

in July 2008.''Hackney Today'' 188 21 July 2008

Springfield Park community orchard

The small

community orchard A community orchard is a collection of fruit trees shared by communities and growing in publicly accessible areas such as public greenspaces, parks, schools, churchyards, allotments or, in the US, abandoned lots. Such orchards are a shared res ...

contains varieties of local apple trees, including examples rescued from Hackney gardens. There is also a

medlar ''Mespilus germanica'', known as the medlar or common medlar, is a large shrub or small tree in the rose family Rosaceae. The fruit of this tree, also called medlar, has been cultivated since Roman times, is usually available in winter and eat ...

tree and an

olive tree The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'', meaning 'European olive' in Latin, is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. When in shrub form, it is known as ''Olea europaea'' ' ...

References

External links

Hackney Rugby Club

Lea Rowing Club

Spark Cafe
{{coord, 51.571, -0.058, type:landmark_region:GB-HCK, display=title Parks and open spaces in the London Borough of Hackney Local nature reserves in Greater London Nature reserves in the London Borough of Hackney Clapton, London