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London Fields is a park in Hackney,
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, although the name also refers to the immediate area in Hackney surrounding it and London Fields station. It is
common land Common land is collective land (sometimes only open to those whose nation governs the land) in which all persons have certain common rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect wood, or to cut turf for fuel. A person ...
adjoining the
Hackney Central Hackney Central is a sub-district of Hackney, London, Hackney in the London Borough of Hackney in London, England and is four miles (6.4 km) northeast of Charing Cross. The Hackney Central area is focused on Mare Street and the retail area ...
area 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 ...
. The park covers an area of , and includes sporting and recreation facilities. The park's history is recorded as early as the 13th century, and it has been known as London Fields since the mid-16th century. __TOC__


History

In 1275, the area now known as London Fields was recorded as common pasture land adjoining Cambridge Heath. The park was first recorded by name in 1540; in the singular as 'London Field'. Still common ground, it was used by drovers to pasture their livestock before taking them to market in London. By the late 19th century the name had become pluralised to 'London Fields' and parts of the Fields were being lost to piecemeal development. There was a threat of comprehensive development of the park in 1860 but this threat was averted. In WW2 the park hosted an anti-aircraft battery in the south-west corner (the tarmac is still visible under the grass) and a bomb shelter in the vicinity of the tennis courts. The area was heavily bombed during
the Blitz The Blitz (English: "flash") was a Nazi Germany, German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom, for eight months, from 7 September 1940 to 11 May 1941, during the Second World War. Towards the end of the Battle of Britain in 1940, a co ...
and houses along the northern and eastern edges of the park were among those destroyed. These houses had been built on land that was originally part of London Fields and the land was subsequently restored to the park. The previous boundary is marked by a wide arc of Plane trees.


Sport and facilities

London Fields features a
cricket pitch A cricket pitch is the rectangular central strip of a cricket field between the two wickets, where most of the action takes place. It is long (1 Chain (unit), chain) and wide. The surface is flat and is normally covered with extremely sh ...
, a heated 50m
lido Lido may refer to: Geography * Lido (Belgrade), a river beach on the Danube in Belgrade, Serbia * Venice Lido, an 11-kilometre-long barrier island in the Venetian Lagoon, Venice, Italy * Ruislip Lido, a reservoir and artificial beach in Ruisl ...
and lido cafe, grass areas, a small
BMX BMX, an abbreviation for bicycle motocross or bike motocross, is a cycle sport performed on BMX bikes, either in competitive BMX racing or freestyle BMX, or else in general street or off-road recreation. History BMX began during the ea ...
track,
tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...
courts, a
table tennis Table tennis (also known as ping-pong) is a racket sport derived from tennis but distinguished by its playing surface being atop a stationary table, rather than the Tennis court, court on which players stand. Either individually or in teams of ...
table, toilet blocks and two children's play areas. In 2013 the Council turned a sandy, gritty area of London Fields into a pictorial meadow the size of a football pitch. There is a public house called the ''Pub on the Park'' on the east side of the park; this was opened in 1855 and known as the Queen Eleanor until 1992 . London Fields 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 A much-used cycle path runs from the ''Pub on the Park'' to Broadway Market. A document in Hackney library records a game of cricket to have been played on the park''Copy of 1802 scorecard''
(London Fields Cricket Club) accessed 19 September 2009
as early as 1802, and the cricket square on London Fields continues to host competitive games throughout the summer (late April – mid September). Several teams use the park as their home pitch, most notably London Fields CC, based at the Pub on the Park. During the summer the park can be extremely busy with many people combining an afternoon's picnic with watching the cricket. The Turley End of the ground is a popular vantage point for those watching the cricket. The park is used as the starting point for an annual night-time cycle ride called the Dunwich Dynamo. The park is a training and competition base for Hackney Aquatics Club, the London Fields Triathlon Club and Team London Fields Running Club.


Crime

The area has been connected with instances of gun crime. Members of the London Fields gang which operates in and around the area were convicted on 12 April 2011 for the shooting of 16-year-old Agnes Sina-Inakoju at a chicken shop in Hoxton in April 2010. There have been multiple accidental bystander shootings including 2010 and 2019. In August 2022, a man was shot at close range while sitting in his vehicle at the junction of Shrubland Road and Albion Drive, roughly 100 meters from the parks east entrance. On August 10th & 11th, 2023, two consecutive shootings took place at London Fields Lido and Stoke Newington High Street, in the second incident a man suffered a gunshot injury to the arm and was taken to hospital. On November 14th, 2024, a man was doused in a corrosive substance suspected to be bleach in an attack at the Broadway Market.


Governance

The surrounding area to the west has, since 2014, formed part of a new London Fields electoral ward, electing three councillors to
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 ...
.


Education

There is also a primary school named after the area, London Fields Primary School, opposite one of the south entrances to London Fields park. There is also a second primary school, Gayhurst Primary School, located by London Fields Lido opposite one of the western entrances to the park.


Housing

The area includes several
housing estate A housing estate (or sometimes housing complex, housing development, subdivision (land), subdivision or community) is a group of homes and other buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to count ...
s., Hackney Council. Retrieved 12 October 2011. One of the largest, the Holly Street Estate, is undergoing regeneration, and the new development by United House won Apartment Building of the Year at the ''Daily Mail'' British Homes Awards in 2009. During the 1950s much of the original Georgian and Victorian housing stock in the area had been intended for demolition as part of a plan to remove what was considered slum housing. Due to a successful legal challenge made by some of the local residents, most of the planned demolitions were prevented and it is this housing stock that principally makes up what is now London Field Conservation Area.


Transport

London Fields railway station is a
London Overground London Overground (also known simply as the Overground) is a Urban rail in the United Kingdom, suburban rail network serving London and its environs. Established in 2007 to take over Silverlink Metro routes, it now serves a large part of Greate ...
station close to the park which links the area to Liverpool Street in the City.


References


External links


Hackney Council's London Fields informationNorth East London Cricket League

London Fields Cricket Club

London Fields Farmers' Market



GLL's London Fields Lido information

London Fields User Group
;History links
''Hackney: Mare Street and London Fields''
(British History online)
''Hackney: Hackney Village''
(British History online) * http://jonmartindesigns.com/Mike/Londonfieldshistory/09.4%20A%20History%20of%20London%20FieldsS%5B1%5D.pdf * http://www.jonmartindesigns.com/Mike/Londonfieldshistory/09.6%20zLF%20LIDO%20HISTORY+ATT%20S.pdf {{LB Hackney Districts of the London Borough of Hackney Areas of London Parks and open spaces in the London Borough of Hackney Common land in London Swimming venues in London Hackney, London