Dalston Square is a largely residential complex located just off

Kingsland Road Kingsland Road is the name given to an East London stretch of the A10 road within the London Borough of Hackney in England. The A10 was originally a Roman Road better known as Ermine Street or sometimes the Old North Road. The name ''Kingsla ...

near Dalston Junction station in

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 i ...

, part of the

London Borough of Hackney The London Borough of Hackney ( ) is a London boroughs, London borough in Inner London, England. The historical and administrative heart of Hackney is Mare Street, which lies north-east of Charing Cross. The borough is named after Hackney, Lond ...

. It includes approximately 500 homes, a library, public space, shops and restaurants.

Overview

Dalston Square was originally the site of a former hippodrome and music hall, which opened in 1886 under the name "Dalston Circus". After a series of name changes, the curtain went down on live theatre in 1920 when the venue was changed into a cinema. It operated successfully under a variety of names, the last of which - the Gaumont Theatre - is now remembered in the name of one of the residential towers, until 1960. After a brief stint as a warehouse and car sale room, the building once again opened its doors to entertainment audiences when, in 1966 it was reopened as the Four Aces Club a music and recreational space dedicated to celebrating Afro Caribbean music. It was famous for its Reggae, Roots, Soul and R&B and hosted acts

The Ronettes The Ronettes were an American girl group from Washington Heights, Manhattan, New York City. The group consisted of the lead singer Veronica Bennett (later known as Ronnie Spector), her older sister Estelle Bennett, and their cousin Nedra Ta ...

Desmond Dekker Desmond Dekker (born Desmond Adolphus Dacres; 16 July 1941 – 25 May 2006) was a Jamaican ska, rocksteady and reggae singer-songwriter and musician. Together with his backing group the Aces (consisting of Wilson James and Easton Barrington Ho ...

and Ben E. King. In the 1980s, it changed hands again and became the Labyrinth nightclub It closed its doors for good in 1998 and, despite objections from the local community and a number of conservation organisations, was demolished in 2007. The

London Development Agency The London Development Agency (LDA) was from July 2000 until 2012 the regional development agency for the Greater London, London region in England. A functional body of the Greater London Authority, its purpose was to drive sustainable economic ...

and the landowners –

Hackney Council Hackney London Borough Council, also known as Hackney Council, is the local authority for the London Borough of Hackney, in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in London. The council has been under Labour majority c ...

and

Transport for London Transport for London (TfL) is a local government body responsible for most of the transport network in London, United Kingdom. TfL is the successor organization of the London Passenger Transport Board, which was established in 1933, and His ...

– developed the two sites at Dalston Lane South and Dalston Junction in conjunction with

Barratt Homes Barratt Redrow plc is one of the largest residential property development companies in the United Kingdom operating across England, Wales and Scotland. It is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It was originally based in Newcastle upon Tyn ...

. Located in Dalston Square is the Dalston

C. L. R. James Cyril Lionel Robert James (4 January 1901 – 31 May 1989), Fraser, C. Gerald (2 June 1989)"C. L. R. James, Historian, Critic And Pan-Africanist, Is Dead at 88" ''The New York Times''. . who sometimes wrote under the pen-name J. R. Johnson ...

Library, which was the first library to open in Hackney for 20 years. In 2016,

Telford Homes Telford Homes is a housebuilding company that specialises in developments in non-prime areas of London. History During December 2001, the company was floated on the Alternative Investment Market, raising £4.4 million of investment in the proce ...

redeveloped the Holy Trinity School located at the southeastern edge of Dalston Square into a mixed building called "The Vibe" which incorporates a bigger school as well as 101 flats.

References

{{London-stub Dalston Squares in the London Borough of Hackney