Mare Street is a street in 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 has existed since the 15th century, when it was one of the first roads at the centre of the parish. It was then known as ''Merestret''. The word ''mere'' was either the Old English ''mǣre'' meaning a boundary — referring to the boundary with the parish of

Stepney Stepney is an area in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in the East End of London. Stepney is no longer officially defined, and is usually used to refer to a relatively small area. However, for much of its history the place name was applied to ...

— or mere, a large pond which was fed by Hackney Brook.

Location

Mare Street runs north–south through the centre of Hackney. It starts in Lower Clapton at the junction of Dalston Lane with the Lower Clapton Road and runs south to the Regent's Canal at

Bethnal Green Bethnal Green is an area in London, England, and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in east London and part of the East End of London, East End. The area emerged from the small settlement which developed around the common la ...

. The northernmost section is a largely traffic-free shopping street, known as The Narroway. South of the North London Line at Hackney Central railway station, Mare Street follows the A107 to the canal in

, where it becomes the Cambridge Heath Road at the junction with Vyner Street.

History

Mare Street was established by 1593 when the Flying Horse Inn was a staging post for travellers. By 1720, it was the most populous part of Hackney. In the 18th century, St Thomas’ Hospital was developed on Mare Street, followed by a

Congregational Congregationalism (also Congregational Churches or Congregationalist Churches) is a Reformed Christianity, Reformed Christian (Calvinist) tradition of Protestant Christianity in which churches practice Congregationalist polity, congregational ...

chapel. The

Great Eastern Railway The Great Eastern Railway (GER) was a pre-grouping British railway company, whose main line linked London Liverpool Street to Norwich and which had other lines through East Anglia. The company was grouped into the London and North Eastern R ...

came to Mare Street in 1872, bringing more residential development, as well as institutions including Morley Hall, later the Electric Cinema, Lady Eleanor Holles School (on the site later used by Cordwainers College) and St Joseph's hospice. After the First World War, the area became more industrial, and after World War II, a mixture of bomb damage and

slum clearance Slum clearance, slum eviction or slum removal is an urban renewal strategy used to transform low-income settlements with poor reputation into another type of development or housing. This has long been a strategy for redeveloping urban communities; ...

led to building of housing estates and Hackney Technical College. In 1945, the Cordwainers' College moved from

Clerkenwell Clerkenwell ( ) is an area of central London, England. Clerkenwell was an Civil Parish#Ancient parishes, ancient parish from the medieval period onwards, and now forms the south-western part of the London Borough of Islington. The St James's C ...

to 182 Mare Street (formerly Lady Holles's School and the Dalston county school).

Mary Wollstonecraft Mary Wollstonecraft ( , ; 27 April 175910 September 1797) was an English writer and philosopher best known for her advocacy of women's rights. Until the late 20th century, Wollstonecraft's life, which encompassed several unconventional ...

, author of '' A Vindication of the Rights of Woman'', pioneer of women's rights and mother of

Mary Shelley Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley ( , ; ; 30 August 1797 – 1 February 1851) was an English novelist who wrote the Gothic novel ''Frankenstein, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' (1818), which is considered an History of science fiction# ...

, lived at what is now 373–375 Mare Street in 1784.

Notable buildings

The 14th century St Augustine's Tower on the Narroway, is a remnant of Hackney parish's medieval church which was replaced by the present St. John at Hackney church in 1797. The Hackney Empire is at 291 Mare Street. Built by Frank Matcham in 1901 as a music hall, it was later used as a television studio and a bingo hall, before reopening as a theatre in 1986. Next to the Hackney Empire is

Hackney Town Hall Hackney Town Hall is a municipal building in Hackney, London. The town hall, which is the headquarters of Hackney London Borough Council, is a Grade II listed building. History The original town hall in Hackney was a private house, erected i ...

, a stone-faced 1930s

art deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

building, set back from Mare Street with a landscaped forecourt. The

London College of Fashion The London College of Fashion is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London, a public art university in London, England. The college offers undergraduate and postgraduate study, short courses, study-abroad courses and business t ...

is at 182 Mare Street, having incorporated the former Cordwainers' College. The Ash Grove bus garage is at Mare Street, being operated only by Stagecoach London. The Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities, Fine Art & Natural History is located in a former call center on Mare Street. File:Hackney Empire, Mare Street.JPG, The Hackney Empire is a prominent Victorian

music hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was most popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850, through the World War I, Great War. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as Varie ...

. File:Trough mare street hackney.jpg, A drinking trough provided by the Metropolitan Drinking Fountain and Cattle Trough Association

References

{{Coord, 51, 32, 48.63, N, 0, 3, 18.07, W, scale:1563_region:GB, display=title Streets in the London Borough of Hackney 15th-century establishments in England Hackney, London