Haggerston is a locale in

East London East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the ...

, England, centred approximately on Great Cambridge Street (now renamed Queensbridge Road). It is within the

London Borough of Hackney London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major se ...

and is considered to be a part of London's

East End The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have uni ...

. It is about 3.1 miles (5 km) northeast of

Charing Cross Charing Cross ( ) is a junction in Westminster, London, England, where six routes meet. Clockwise from north these are: the east side of Trafalgar Square leading to St Martin's Place and then Charing Cross Road; the Strand leading to the City ...

. The adjacent neighbourhoods are

Dalston Dalston () is an area of East London, in the London Borough of Hackney. It is northeast of Charing Cross. Dalston began as a hamlet on either side of Dalston Lane, and as the area urbanised the term also came to apply to surrounding areas includ ...

(to the north),

Hoxton Hoxton is an area in the London Borough of Hackney, England. As a part of Shoreditch, it is often considered to be part of the East End – the historic core of wider East London. It was historically in the county of Middlesex until 1889. It l ...

(to the west) and

Bethnal Green Bethnal Green is an area in the East End of London northeast of Charing Cross. The area emerged from the small settlement which developed around the Green, much of which survives today as Bethnal Green Gardens, beside Cambridge Heath Road. By ...

(to the south east). Haggerston historically formed part of

Shoreditch Shoreditch is a district in the East End of London in England, and forms the southern part of the London Borough of Hackney. Neighbouring parts of Tower Hamlets are also perceived as part of the area. In the 16th century, Shoreditch was an imp ...

borough, and was divided into the following ecclesiastical parishes: All Saints,

St Chad Chad of Mercia (died 2 March 672) was a prominent 7th-century Anglo-Saxon Catholic monk who became abbot of several monasteries, Bishop of the Northumbrians and subsequently Bishop of the Mercians and Lindsey People. He was later canonised ...

, St Columba, St Mary, St Paul, St Augustine, and St Stephen. In 1965, the Metropolitan Borough of Shoreditch became part of the new London Borough of Hackney. There is an electoral ward called Haggerston within the borough. In the 1990s a number of the area's more rundown housing estates were refurbished and some disused public buildings were privately converted into gated communities. In 2010, Haggerston Railway station re-opened, a little to the north of the original station.

History

Haggerston is first recorded in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

as ''Hergotestane'', possibly of

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

origin, and an outlying hamlet of

. On Rocque's 1745 map of Hackney, the village is shown as ''Agostone'' but by the 19th century it had become ''Haggerstone'', and part of the growing urban sprawl, with factories and streets of workers' cottages lining the canal.

Today

The proximity to

and

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. For the same reason, Haggerston has been attracting tech start ups over Silicon Roundabout in Old Street, with some people calling the area "Hackerston". A shortage of secondary school places has made the area less attractive to families but this is likely to change with the building of The Bridge Academy on Laburnum Street.

Governance

The Haggerston

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to ...

forms part of the Hackney South and Shoreditch constituency. The ward returns three councillors to Hackney Council, with an election every four years. At the election on 6 May 2010, Ann Munn, Jonathan McShane, and Barry Buitekant, all Labour Party candidates, were returned. Turnout was 54 per cent; with 5,006 votes cast. Current councillors (2020) for the Haggerston ward are Ajay Chauhan, Humaira Garasia and Patrick Spence.

Geography

Education

Secondary schools in the area include Haggerston School and The Bridge Academy.

Landmarks

Haggerston School is a Grade II listed building, designed by the modernist architect Ernő Goldfinger and built in 1964–65.

Culture

Besides the

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, north-west of Paddington Basin in the west, to the Limehouse Basin and the River Thames in e ...

Haggerston Park Haggerston Park is an open space in Haggerston, in the London Borough of Hackney. It is bounded by Whiston Road (to the north), Hackney Road (south) and St Saviour's Priory, Queensbridge Road (west) and Goldsmith's Row (east). The park was orig ...

, on the site of a demolished gasworks on Hackney Road, provides much-needed open space in the area. Also in the area is the

Hackney City Farm Hackney City Farm is a city farm and independent alternative school in Haggerston in the London Borough of Hackney. It is situated at the junction of Hackney Road and Goldsmith's Row. The farm was established in 1984 as a community and education ...

. The

Regent Estate Regent Estate is a housing estate in Haggerston in the London Borough of Hackney. The estate is named in reference to the nearby Regent's Canal, which was commissioned by the Prince Regent who later became King George IV. It is adjacent to, bu ...

provides the Regent Estate Pensioners Club/Hall and the Regent Estate Community Centre/Hall which together provide community services and spaces for hire. The Regent Estate Pensioners Hall is also used as a polling station. The

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

Haggerston Pool, designed by

Alfred Cross Alfred William Stephens Cross (1858–1932) was a British architect. From 1889 to 1899 he was in partnership with Henry Spalding as Spalding and Cross, taking part in many competitions for building design. Cross and his son (Kenneth Mervyn B ...

and opened in 1904, was closed in 2000. In June 2009, after a long community campaign, a £5m grant was announced from the Department for Children, Schools and Families to refurbish and reopen the pool. The building would also contain community facilities and a GP surgery. This area of Hackney has a long association with clowning. Holy Trinity Church still hosts an annual clowns' service to commemorate

Joseph Grimaldi Joseph Grimaldi (18 December 1778 – 31 May 1837) was an English actor, comedian and dancer, who became the most popular English entertainer of the Regency era.Byrne, Eugene"The patient" Historyextra.com, 13 April 2012 In the early 1800s, ...

and All Saints Centre at one time housed the Clowns Gallery and Museum, including 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 Wookey Hole is a village in Somerset, England. It is the location of the Wookey Hole show caves. Location Wookey Hole is located in the civil parish of St Cuthbert Out, in Mendip District. It is one mile north-west of the city of Wells, and l ...

. Other Anglican churches in Haggerston are All Saints, Haggerston Road; St Columba, Kingsland Road; and Sts Mary and Chad, Nichols Square. The

Little Sisters of Jesus The Little Sisters of Jesus are a community of Catholic religious sisters inspired by the life and writings of Charles de Foucauld, founded by Little Sister Magdeleine of Jesus (Madeleine Hutin). Little Sister Magdeleine of Jesus 1898 - 1989 ...

have had a community of sisters within Fellows Court, Haggerston, since 1990. 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 Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...

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. Haggerston is home to The Free Association improvised comedy theatre and school.

Transport

Railway stations

* Haggerston station, served by

London Overground London Overground (also known simply as the Overground) is a suburban rail network serving London and its environs. Established in 2007 to take over Silverlink Metro routes, (via archive.org). it now serves a large part of Greater London as w ...

Walking and cycling

The

Regents 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, north-west of Paddington Basin in the west, to the Limehouse Basin and the River Thames in ea ...

towpath is easily accessible to pedestrians and cyclists. It provides access to Victoria Park to the east and

Islington Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ...

to the west.

Public art

The condemned Haggerston and Kingsland Estate was scheduled for demolition in the 1990s but the process did not get underway for another 20 years. In 2009 the artists Andrea Luka Zimmerman and Lasse Johansson, who lived on the Haggerston Estate on Dunston Road, created the I AM HERE project, placing on the building large portrait photographs of the current estate residents who were about to be moved out so the building could be demolished. These faced the Regent's Canal and were popular with passersby. The project came down in April 2014. A feature film ''Estate, a Reverie'' (83 mins, Zimmerman) about the Haggerston estate was completed in 2015. Filmed over seven years, ''Estate, a Reverie'' reveals and celebrates the resilience of residents who are profoundly overlooked by media representations and wider social responses. The film was nominated for several awards, including the 2015 Grierson awards. On the Kingsland Estate in Whiston Road, Egyptian painter Nazir Tanbouli created the "King's Land" project where, in the space of four months, he covered all of the buildings of the condemned estate with murals. The Kingsland Estate was demolished in late 2013.

Little Sisters of Jesus

The

are a Roman Catholic community of religious sisters inspired by the life and writings of Charles de Foucauld, founded in Algeria in 1939 by Little Sister Magdeleine of Jesus (Madeleine Hutin). They have had a community of Sisters at their council flat on the 13th Floor of Fellows Court Tower Block in Weymouth Terrace, Haggerston since 1989.

Notable people

Kray Twins Ronald Kray (24 October 193317 March 1995) and Reginald Kray (24 October 19331 October 2000) were identical twin brothers, gangsters and convicted criminals. They were the foremost perpetrators of organised crime in the East End of London, Engl ...

, criminals, and perpetrators of organised crime, born in Haggerston in 1933. *

Frank Buttle Frank Buttle (19 October 1878 – 11 February 1953), was a priest of the Church of England and the founder of Buttle UK. Early life William Francis Buttle was born in Brixton on 19 October 1878. He was a son of William Buttle, a solicitor, ...

, Vicar of St Chad's Haggerston (1937-1953), founder of the National Adoption Society and The Frank Buttle Trust *

William Randal Cremer Sir William Randal Cremer (18 March 1828 – 22 July 1908) usually known by his middle name "Randal", was a British Liberal Member of Parliament, a pacifist, and a leading advocate for international arbitration. He was awarded the Nobel Peace ...

Liberal MP for Haggerston (1885-1895 and 1900–1908), winner of the 1903

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Chemistry, Physics, Physiolo ...

* Edmund Halley,

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, moons, comets and galaxies – in either ...

, was born here in 1656 * Iain Sinclair, writer * Nazir Tanbouli, artist *

Andrea Luka Zimmerman Andrea Luka Zimmerman is a Jarman Award winning artist, filmmaker and cultural activist whose work focuses on aspects of working class experience, and that of people margnalised by mainstream society, that are seldom seen or discussed. Andrea work ...

, artist, transforming the Haggerston estate with the large-scale public art / photography 'i am here' project (2009–14) * Lasse Johansson, artist, transforming the Haggerston estate with the large-scale public art / photography 'i am here' project (2009–14) * Rachel Whiteread, sculptor,

References

External links

Haggerston Community Centre

Hackney City Farm

Haggerston ward profile

Labour Party profile of Jonathan McShane

Labour Party profile of Barry Buitekant

The Clowns' Gallery, Museum and Archive

London Natural History Society website
''"one of the largest societies of its kind anywhere in the world"''
Terrence Mahoney's Wartime memories of Haggerston
{{LB Hackney Districts of the London Borough of Hackney Areas of London