Stoke Newington Street Names F. W. Baxter 1927

Kindly transcribed by Leanne Bentley, Joanna Burnett, Paul Treloar and Paddy Eason

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This paper has been prepared on the assumption - which, in the main, has been justified by enquiry - that the names, given to our local habitations, are more than mere air nothings and that the god-parents of our streets made their selections with the intention of preserving some worthy association, or, if commemorating some fact of local or public interest, rather than for their appearance or for the sake of euphony.

It is, of course, patent that the whole of the 150 names, or so, which had to be chosen, could not have been chosen for such logical reasons and that many must have been arbitrarily selected solely because they are unusual names which had not been used before as street-names in the neighbourhood, and so would readily pass the censorship of the authority to whose control such matters have been committed.

A road by any other name would be a street, yet, if it be possible to associate with that name some distinctive fact or idea, it makes it a slightly more interesting and pleasanter place in which to live. For example it is thought that most people would prefer to live in a Queen Elizabeth’s Walk, than a 37th Avenue, and the more so, if they could be certain that the Walk were so named because the Virgin Queen was in some way associated with the place.

The following notes attempt to gather up information on this matter and to trace the origin of the street-names of our Borough. It cannot, however, be expected that this first endeavour is more than tentative, and it is hoped that anyone who possesses any reliable information which will amplify what follows or correct such errors as much inevitably be found there, he will be generous enough to share it with the writer, so that the necessary alterations may be made, and duly accorded.

The year 1864 forms a turning point in the annals of Stoke Newington. In it an Act of Parliament was passed “to enable the Prebendary of the Prebend of Stoke Newton, or Newinton, otherwise Newington, in the County of Middlesex, founded in the Cathedral Church of Saint Paul in London, to grant a Lease of the Manor of Stoke Newton, or Newinton, otherwise Newington, in the said County, parcel of the said Prebend, in manner therein mentioned, and to enable the granting of Sub-Leases for building thereon, and otherwise improving the same and for other purposes”.

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From that time, the little village of Stoke Newington, composed of a few large mansions and other dwelling houses of various sizes which were scattered along its only Street and in the High Road, began to be enmeshed in a network of new roads, and the demolition of the old and picturesque houses was commenced to allow new streets composed of villas, terraces, places and cottages to be formed so as to house the ever increasing population which was concentrating on the Metropolis.

Before that time, as can be seen on the early maps, such as Roque’s “Survey of London” which was made from 1841-1845, or “The Map of the Parish and Prebendal Manor of Stoke Newington in the County of Middlesex from an actual Survey, 1814” forming the frontspiece of Robinson’s History of Stoke Newington, the only houses in the Village were those in Church Street, the group of houeses then known as Paradise Row, groups of houses in the High road from London to Tottenham, north and south of Church Street, another group in the neighbourhood of and opposite to Shacklewell Lane, and a little colony of houses on Newington Green. Several of these houses were mansions occupied by wealthy city merchants and in many cases had attached to them very large grounds.

If it were not for the fact that the New River Company chose for its reservoirs the site between the Green Lanes and the Bethune Road and placed its filter beds on the western side of Green Lanes; that the grounds of the Abney’s house in Church Street were converted into a cemetery; and that the grounds of Mr Crawshay’s Mansion were so wisely acquired for a public park, the whole of the area known as Stoke Newington, no doubt, by this time, would have been completely built over. As it is, there probably is no area so close to the City of London that is so favoured with open spaces. But, alas, the good intentions of those builders, who added to this effect by a liberal allowance of garden ground to each house, is being defeated, by the use of these gardens for the erection of small factories and workshops and the former amenities of the neighbourhood are gradually being destroyed. Get with it all, our airmen are still able to report that flying over Stoke Newington is like passing over a wood.

If we turn our attention to the roads and paths existing when the Act of 1814 was passed, we find that the fields and meadows of Stoke Newington were bounded in the West by a broad lane, a turnpike road, one of the group of roads which were called “the

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Green Lanes” and still preserve that name, while on the East side was a coaching road from London to Cambridge and York.

Across the middle of the Parish from East to West ran Church Street and Paradise Row. Out of Church Street, on its North side, starting on the East side of the “Red Lion” was a lane running northwards, known as Lordship Lane and Red Lion Lane (now Lordship Road), with a footpath crossing the fields to Stamford Hill in almost the same direction as the present Manor Road.

Lordship Lane was extended northwards and turned a right-angle westward (now Woodberry Down) to meet the road from Hornsey Wood House. Meadow Street (now Lordship Terrace) by that time had been built and also Edwards’ Lane. Queen Elizabeth’s Walk is also shown on Robinson’s Map running north to a level with the ponds in the Park and from that spot a footpath is indicated across the “great square meadow” joining the Green Lanes at the point where now are the gates of the Waterworks.

South of Church Street there were several paths through the fields, all of which have been preserved. One from the Church to Newington Green is known today as Church Walk. Another, also running North and South, started from Church Street, by the side of the beerhouse near Defoe Road and is now represented by the Oldfield Road, the Nevill Road and the Wordsworth Road and was formerly known by the several names of Cut Throat Lane, Old Lordship Lane and Pack Horse Road. Out of this ran eastwards a footpath now represented by Kynaston Road and Kynaston Avenue (Pawnbrokers’ Alley). The only other roads to be mentioned as existing in 1814 are those ancient roads which form the Southern boundary of the parish, part of the group called the Green Lanes, but are now in their altered form known as Matthias Road, Boleyn Road and Crossway.

[From this it will be appreciated that at this time (1814) the parish was an area of fields and meadows, cut across by one street only - Church Street - and one or two footpaths.]

It would be too difficult a task to show chronologically how this area was split up into building estates and ‘developed’, but we shall endeavour as far as possible to put on record the reason why some of the roads on these estates received their present names. The result of enquiry in this direction, in many cases, has been disappointing and it is hoped that the publication of these notes will bring back to the memory of some whom the writer has not

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been able to consult, many facts which he has been unable to obtain [from the sources he has tapped].

Formerly the naming of new Roads and Streets was generally subject only to the idiosyncrasy of the owner and resulted in a bewildering amount of repetition in London street nomenclature, which was a very real inconvenience. To remedy this the Metropolis Local Management Act 1855 which brought into being the Metropolitan Board of Works conferred comprehensive powers on the Board in regard to the naming and numbering of Streets, which powers were taken over by the London County Council when it succeeded the Metropolitan Board of Works in 1889.

The result of the labours of these two bodies has been the abolition of a whole host of subsidiary names in the form of Terraces, Rows, Cottages, Places and Villas, and the continuous numbering of Streets throughout the County. They have also abolished many names - such as Church Streets, New Street, Queen Streets and King Streets - so as to get rid of repetition as far as possible. These changes at times have appeared to be somewhat arbitrary and harsh and to have robbed certain neighbourhoods of cherished place names, but on the whole have they been beneficial.

Placing the control of the naming of our Streets in the hands of a central authority has proved a boon for which the loss of a name or two is not a very great sacrifice. However, the control was begun fifty-years too late. [The stable door was latched after the horse had bolted.] The result has been that it is now very difficult for those, who wish to ascertain where someone has lived in the past, to locate the house. For example, where was the York Place in our own Albion Road?

We can justly complain that this neighbourhood has been robbed of one of our beautiful village names in Meadow Street (Lordship Terrace). This ran below the House Stall at the back of the grounds of the Old Manor House. No objection would be taken had its abolition prevented confusion with other streets of a similar name, but as a matter of fact there is no other Meadow Street in the whole administrative County of London. Lambeth has been permitted to retain Meadow Road, Meadow Place, and Meadow Mews and Newington keeps its Meadow Row, but we must give up our Meadow Street and accept Lordship Terrace in its place.

There are other names, such as Paradise Row and Church Row, the loss of which one would regret, if it were not evident that the utility

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of a continuous numbering has a prior claim. By the abolition of subsidiary names, Stoke Newington has lost something like 150 names. It would be too great task to enumerate them but the fact that the name of a road has been altered will be mentioned in our remarks below.

The class of name the origin of which is most easily traceable is that which is connected with some physical feature, place or building in its immediate neighbourhood, which might be termed Local.

Church Street, Church Walk

The first of these to suggest themselves are those named after the Church, such as Church Street - which requires no explanation - and Church Path or Church Road (now Church Walk). This latter, as we have already seen, was originally a footpath leading over stiles through the fields and meadows from Newington Green to the Church, by the side of various fields and through the Glebe and came out into Church Street, close by the side of the old wooden Rectory.

Paradise Row

There is in our public library an old pencil sketch of it taken from beside a pond in the neighbourhood of the triangle, with the spire of the Old Church showing in the distance. The row of houses facing the Park at the western end of Church Street until their absorbtion [sic: absorption] into Church Street were known as and to the older residents are still known as Paradise Row.

Glebe Place

The four houses to the west of Clissold Road were never part of the Row, but were called Glebe Place and for some reason unknown have been allowed to retain their name. This is fortunate because the northern boundary of the Glebe and Rectory Garden extended from No. 1 Glebe Place to the eastern end of the wall of the New Church grounds. The eastern boundary of the Glebe is marked by the ditch at the end of the gardens of the houses on the West side of Albion Road, the Southern boundary is roughly indicated by the backs of the gardens in Carysfort Road and the Western boundary by the garden wall of “The Grange” continued in a Southerly direction.

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Lordship Park, Lordship Road, Lordship Terrace, Lordship Park Mews, Manor Road

The next group of names to consider is that which appears to relate to the Manor. The part of Stoke Newington north of Church Street was the Demesne of the manor and it is not surprising to find that the fact has been emphasised by the choice of such names as Lordship Grove, Lordship Park, Lordship Road, Lordship Terrace, Lordship Park Mews and Manor Road for some of the roads laid out on this part of the manor estate, though it would be a great mistake to suppose that any of these names have any special significance as marking the confines of the Manor or any part of it or as leading to the Manor house or bear any similar relationship to the manor or manor house. [By way of parenthesis one might mention that the “Manor House Public House” opposite the gates of Finsbury Park probably derives its name from the Manor of Brownswood and not of Newington, although it apparently is situated within the boundaries of our manor.]

Barn Street

Barn Street was one of the earliest streets to be built and probably gets its name from a barn in the neighbourhood - Cows used to be kept there many years ago by a cowkeeper called Richard Brown and the building used by him was very ancient, so, possibly, it may have been a relic of the outbuildings of the old manor house.

Queen Elizabeth’s Walk

This is not the place to discuss the truth of the legend that the Virgin Queen honoured this locality with her presence. For those who wish to prove the theory the name of Queen Elizabeth’s Walk is a street anchor. It would be unbecoming to cast any doubt upon the pleasant idea that Her Majesty planted the old trees which used to form the avenue of this name, or sat under them, whichever of the two is thought to be the more probable. We can only deal with facts, and it is interesting to note that a double row of trees is marked in Roque’s map (1745) in the middle of a field, placed there apparently for no purpose, north of the site of the old manor house and it would be a plausible conjecture that they were planted there to afford a pleasant vista from the Mansion’s windows.

In Bibiotheca Topographica Britannica No. IX (1783) the walk is referred to in the following terms: - “Some years before the expiration “of the lease (I apprehend) he [i.e., Alexander Popham]

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procured “from the prebendar, a new one for three lives, empowering “him to take down the manor house, and let the ground “whereon it stood as building leases, which began about “1667, and in succeeding years a number of houses were “built on the site of it; the garden was converted into “small gardens for the use of those houses, and a terrace “walk between rows of lofty elms, which was christened “Queen Elizabeth’s Walk, was carried across the middle of “the house field, and left by way of promenade for the “inhabitants of those houses, but never having been shut “up, it is become a public walk and a passage to the “adjacent fields, through which are paths to Hornsey, Tottenham, “etc.”

In Kearsley’s Entertaining Guide Through Britain (2nd Edn. 1803) p.40, it is said of Stoke Newington: The Church is a small gothic building behind which is a pleasant grove of small trees to which the inhabitants resort and which is known by the name of queen Elizabeth’s walk”. And this description of the walk is supported by an extant engraving of the date of which shows three young ladies on a seat in the walk under the shade of trees of quite moderate growth. On the hole therefore one reluctantly comes to the conclusion that the “Queen of the eagle eye” never saw these particular trees, even as [seedling?] saplings.

The late W. George Kin, [as the result of an industrious search for association between Charles Lamb and Stoke Newington,] has called the attention of the readers of the Recorder to a footnote in W. Percy Fitzgerald’s edition of Talfourd’s Memoirs of Charles Lamb”, published in 1892, in which there is a little sketch of Lamb’s life in Islington, which contains this passage: - In the Autumn of 1823, after dinner at Colebrooke Cottage with him and Robert Bloomfield [author of ‘The Farmer’s Boy’] I accompanied the two poets to the celebrated ‘Queen Elizabeth’s Walk’ at Stoke Newington, which had lately become Lamb’s favourite promenade in summer for its wild flowers, upon which he could never tread with indifference; for its seclusion and shade”. This walk in these times only extended northwards, not quite as far as the end of Clissold Park, the remainder is a recent continuation and has taken the name of the older portion.

Boleyn Road

A somewhat similar name occurs near Newington Green in King Henry’s Walk in Islington, due to the tradition that King Henry VIII frequented the neighbourhood where he is supposed to have had a hunting lodge, which is identified by some as the old half-

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timber house formerly known as Bishop’s Place. It therefore requires no imagination to see why the name of Boleyn Road was selected when a name for the road nearby which at one time was known as the “Back Road Kingsland” or “Coach & Horses Lane”.

Granecourt Road, Grovelodge Yard

Such a name was Grangecourt Road appears to be only misleading, for there does not appear to have been in the vicinity any ‘grange’ or a building known as ‘Grange Court’. The same remark apparently is equally true of Grovelodge Yard.

Clissold Road

Old deeds show that it was the intention originally to call Clissold Road, Glebe Road; and that it was in fact for a short time called Park Road, which name, however, was abolished in 1890 and the name Clissold Road substituted.

This name of Clissold, of course, is that of Augustus Clissold well known to the followers of Swedenborg. It is strange how this Gloucestershire name has fixed itself in the minds of the public. The Dalston telephone area actually has been called “Clissold”. The Mansion and grounds which is variously marked in the maps as “The Park” and “Newington Park” was built and occupied by Grantham Hoare and afterwards purchased by Mr. Crawshay and was often known as Crawshay’s Farm. After the death of W. Crawshay, Augustus Clissold, then a curate of this parish, married, in 1855, Miss Eliza Crawshay and became tenant for life of the property through his wife, and it was occupied by them for some time.

Mrs. Clissold predeceased her husband and the property went back to the Crawshay family after Mr Clissold's death in 1882, and for many years was uninhabited. In these circumstances it is somewhat surprising that the name of Clissold rather than that of Crawshay should have become attached to the Park.

If it were not for the fact that the name 'Glebe' had been used in other parts of London the original name of Glebe Road for Clissold Road would have been more appropriate, for it runs north and south through the whole extent of the Glebe Road and passes right through its centre. Park Crescent, Park Lane

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As Park Crescent faces the Park, one does not have to look far for the reason why it was so called; but it is otherwise with Park Lane, for that ran round a large estate which was formerly occupied with "The Willows" (now "Kennaway Hall"). It probably runs through the lands which were formerly in the hands of the Pulteney family and was known as Lady Bath's farm. On some of the earlier maps published by Millar the crescent formed by the present Albion Road and Park Lane is called "Albion Road" throughout its length. Park Street Park Street

Some may have wondered why Park Street being some distance from and disconnected with Clissold Park should have been so called. The explanation is that it was laid out on the grounds of a house occupied by a Mr Crouch, standing in Church Street, which at the time was known as Newington Park, and the original intention appears to have been to call itself Newington Park. Finsbury Park Road/Matthias Road/St. Andrew's Road The Road leading up to Finsbury Park called Finsbury Park Road also explains itself, as do such roads as Matthias Road and St. Andrew's Road which had past churches of the same name. Grazebrook Road The Hackney Brook entered Stoke Newington on the West at Clissold Park and flowed by the north side of the present ponds in the Park which were originally excavated for clay to make bricks for building Jonathan Hoare's House. After leaving the Park, roughly speaking, it followed along the Grazebrook Road and Grayling Road, round by the south of the houses in Listria Park, and across the foot of Stamford Hill, where it entered the Parish of Hackney. There is authority for saying that the name of Grazebrook Road is a compound of the idea of the brook flowing through grazing land, though by the time the road was formed, the brook, having been little more than an open sewer for many years (much like the Dollis Brook of today probably) was enclosed in a subterranean channel. Before it was given the name of Grazebrook Road it was called Brook Road which with the subsidiary names of Oak Villas and Brook Terrace, was abolished in 1883.

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Grayling Road It is imagined that Grayling Road was suggested by Grazebrook Road and is purely a fancy name. It must not be thought that the name is any evidence that the fish 'grayling' disported themselves in the brook, for one has the authority of so eminent a fisherman as the late Mr A.E. (?) Jackson for saying that grayling is a fish which delights only in clear and swift-running water over a clean gravelly bottom, in which there is an ….. of mud; furthermore, the name was given long after the brook had ceased to exist. These two names, however, serve the useful purpose of roughly indicating the course of the brook through the parish. Stamford Hill and Bridge About a century before the brook was closed in, it flowed under a brick bridge at the foot of Stamford Hill marked in some of the maps as Stamford Bridge. Remains of this bridge under the present road were exposed on the western side of the road showing that the arch was of some twelve footspan and the present wall at the side of the road is said to be part of the structure. On the eastern side of the road was a double arch with a central pier suggesting that the original bridge had at some time been widened. The opinion held by most antiquaries is that at this point there was from ancient times a ford over the brook and that it was either paved with stones under the water or that there were stepping stones for foot passengers and that consequently it became known as the stane ford or stone ford, which eventually took the form of Stamford. If this be so, one would suppose that the name was of very early origin in view of its Saxon derivation. Mr J.E.B. Gover, in his "Place-names of Middlesex" (1922) gives a reference to the name in the Calendar of Feet of Fives (?) for London and Middlesex (Ed. Hardy and Page, 1892-3) for the year 1321. The earliest reference which the writer has come across occurs in the Diary of Henry Machyn under the year 1557. The entry is somewhat quaint, and it may be of interest to set it out at length. It is as follows:- "The xvj day of June my yong duke of Norfoke rod abrod, and at Stamford-hylle my lord havying a dage (dogge) hangying on his sadylle-bow, and by myssefortune did shutte (shoot) yt, and yt on (but one) of yo man that ryd (rode) afor, and so by mysse-forten yo horse dyd flying, and so he hangyd

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by on of yo sterope(s), and so that the horse knokyd yo brayns owt with flyngyng owt yo leges". When excavations were being made for the high-level main sewer, there were discovered at this spot the fossil remains of some antediluvian monster, and also a collection of weapons, pikes, swords etc. which, it is thought, had been cast away by the unfortunate citizens of London who had espoused the cause of Warwick, the king-maker, who was defeated and killed, fighting on foot, at the Battle of Barnet (not 12 miles away), on Easter Eve, 1471. Edward IV returned to the City of London, victorious, and those of the citizens who had sided with Henry VI, having escaped with their lives, flung away their arms, lest they should meet with the vengeance of the conquering king. It is argued by others that the name of Stamford Hill is due to the fact that it is on the high-road to Stamford in Lincolnshire, as well as to that other locality in Yorkshire, notorious for the fearful battle of Stamford Bridge which was fought there on the 25th September 1066. Of course, Stamford, in Lincolnshire, at one time was a very great wool-producing centre and there may have been considerable traffic with London along this road in consequence, but it seems unlikely that this little eminence should be named after a place so far away. The road led also to Tottenham, Edmonton, Broxbourne, Ware, York and even to Edinburgh and might as easily been named after any one of those places. [Stamford Hill Practically the whole of the east side of Stamford Hill and part of the west i.e. the upper portion is Amhurst property – Messr's. (?) Lawrence whose clerk says that S.H. was so called because the family owned property at Stamford in Yorkshire. The names of most of the roads on their estate (?) are connected with the family or their estates (?) or places belonging to or connected with them. This is probably Yorkshire (?) because Stamford Hill was so named (?) in the 14th century.] It is possible, by the disclaimer of the present Earl of Stamford, to rebut the suggestion that the name is due to the ownership of land in the neighbourhood by the Stamford family. Sandbrook Road The Sandbrook Road, which was built on the brickfields lying at the back of the Albion Road partly owned by the Webb family, does not appear to owe its name to any brook which flowed in the

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neighbourhood, though one has been informed that the soil in this part of Stoke Newington is composed of loamy clay and a considerable amount of sand. Springdale Road Springdale Road, a somewhat similar name, occurs in the road leading from the Green Lanes to Pack Lane, and was formerly known as Aden Grove North, but there is nothing on the maps to suggest the presence of a stream in the locality at any time, and until one has evidence to the contrary it must be assumed to be merely a fancy name. Oldfield Road As Oldfield Road, passes through the brickfields we have just mentioned, it probably owes its name to them and serves as a reminder to future generations that a very large proportion of the bricks used in building their houses were made more or less on the spot. There are, however, other roads in the Borough which have reference to a stream, which, though artificial, is old enough to be regarded as a watercourse, namely that which, after having been in existence for more than three centuries is still called the New River. Formerly, this stream before entering Clissold Park, opposite to the Highbury Tavern, made a loop to the west from the spot where the gates of the Waterworks are now. In doing so, it passed over the Hackney Brook in a wooden trough, and this part of the River, which ran parallel to the Blackstock Road was usually referred to as the Boarded River. The inconvenience of this arrangement was such that eventually a great bank of clay was made for the River to pass over. This bank was pierced with a hole for the Brook to flow through. When pipes became a possibility, the river was at this point taken under the ground and made to rise again to its former level at the entrance to Clissold Park. It must not be forgotten that the tortuous route of the New River, which to many may seem so unnecessary, is due to the fact that the 17th century engineers were obliged to carry the stream along a course which maintained a uniform level. If the boarded river had not been carried across this depression, formerly known as Danes bottom, it would have been necessary to add

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another 4 or 5 miles to its length so as to carry it round the head of the valley. Those who have seen trunks of trees with a hole bored through them, which formerly served the purpose of waterpipes, must have had it impressed on their minds how recently the manufacture of cast-iron pipes has been practicable. Riversdale Road A portion of the submerged New River to the West of Highbury Tavern flows under a road, part of which marks the boundary of the Borough, and is appropriately called the Riversdale Road, and the ground to which the river was brought from the other side of the dip was named the Mountgrove Road. Blackstock Road It is believed that the Blackstock Road owes its name to the fact that on the river side of the road, or lane as it then was, there was a tarred paling (?), but it is quite possible that the name may have some other significance. It is an old road and was formerly known as Blackstock Lane, Boarded River Lane and anciently Dane Bottom Lane and is so mentioned in the time of Henry II. Mr Edward Bolus, the antiquarian, who has published an article on the course of the Hackney Brook, says that the depression known as Danes Bottom evidently commemorates the slaughter and defeat of a retiring band of Danes, who he suggests may have come up the Lea and worked their way, in small boats, up the Hackney Brook to this spot where the stream became too shallow to take them further. He also reminds us that the site of the engagement may have been determined by the fact that the Saxons had a kind of fortress on Highbury Hill. Woodberry Down/Woodberry Grove In the Survey and Valuation of the Manor of Stoke Newington, taken in 1649, when the prebendal estate was sequestrated and sold to Col. Popham, there appears the following item:- "One parcel of Wood Ground, called by the name of Berrie Down Wood, in the occupation of Col. Alexander Popham, abutting on the New River on the North, containing by estimation 5 acres, which we value to be worth per annum 35s." The site of this copse clad eminence is now marked by the names of Woodberry Grove. It would be idle to surmise the precise origin of the use of the word

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"berry" in this connection, but in view of the fact that other fields on the estate were given such names as Lark field, Primrose Meadow, and Cowslip meadow, it is not unlikely that it was for the simple reason that these thickets were those to which the inhabitants resorted for their supply of blackberries. But such matters are always uncertain and it is not impossible that so homely an explanation is wrong and that Berry may prove to have been some person's name. Palatine Road The Palatine Road preserves two historical associations which should be of interest to every Stoke Newingtonian. It and the neighbouring roads are built on a piece of ground, six acres in extent, which from time to time has been variously known as the Church Field, Stowsfield (?), the Gravel Pit Field, and the Palatine Estate, the income from which was formerly used by the Parish Church, but is now distributed between the New Parish Church and the various daughter churches in the old Parish of Stoke Newington for the "payment of the reparations, ornaments, and other necessary occasions of the parish church of each district parish, including the salaries of the sexton, verger and organ tuner, and of the persons employed in cleaning and maintaining the fabric of the church, but excluding the organist, assistant organist and bell-ringer." It seems strange that there should be any doubt as to the manner in which the parish became entitled to this piece of land, but it is a fact that, if the tradition that it was left by a Mr John Stocker (?) is tested by looking up his Will, it does not appear that he made any bequest of lands in Stoke Newington, and, unless it was a gift made by him in his lifetime, it is impossible to say to whom the Church is indebted for this valuable piece of land. All that we know for certain is that an Inquisition, in the 14th year of the reign of Charles I, found that the churchwardens of the Parish of Stoke Newington and their predecessors had been seised (?) of it for the time whereof the memory of man runneth not to the contrary. Perhaps the greatest anomaly about the field (?) is that the Church to which it was originally bequeathed – the Old Mother church is not allowed to benefit from it. Palatine Avenue

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The property covers the ground occupied by the Palatine Road and Nos. 91 to 107 (odd numbers) Stoke Newington Road and such houses as are in the Avenue. Most of the latter formerly known as the Palatine Houses have been removed as well as the buildings which were formerly used as baths. The question why the Parish Field should be masquerading under the name of the Palatine Estate naturally suggests itself. The answer is in no way connected with the Counties Palatine of England but with the Palatinate of the Rhine. The Elector palatine Frederick V had married Elizabeth the daughter of James I of England. The Palatinate was horribly ravaged by the Bavarian General Tilly in 1622 when he expelled Christian of Brunswick from the Palatinate and in 1688 it was attacked by the French. In 1709, great numbers of poor Palatines, Swabians, and other Germans, most of them Protestants, being driven from their habitations either by the oppressive exactions of the French, or, the desolation of their country, occasioned by the calamities of war, began to come over to this country. Totally destitute, the Queen ordered a daily allowance to be given to them and a sufficient number of tents to be delivered out of the Tower for their encamping on Blackheath and a large field near Camberwell, and means had to be devised for their accommodation. The Catholics were sent back; of such that remained many were sent to Ireland with a grant of £24,000, a few to Carolina and over two thousand to New York, where they appear to have been unwelcome and to have eventually settled in Pennsylvania. Others were entertained in private families in this country and others disposed of to several parishes, which were allowed for them £5 per head. There is an entry in our Parish Register of 1709, August 15, "Agreed, That the parish is willing to settle four families of the Palatines, to the number not exceeding 20 persons, at the rate of £5 per head, provided that other parishes do the same", and apparently four houses were built on the Gravel Pit field for their accommodation. There are still the remains of two houses in Palatine Avenue with the name of the Palatine Houses but it is not likely that they are the original houses of that name. A plan of the Palatine Estate hangs in the Vestry of the Old Parish Church. The Avenue today has become a very dirty and untidy builders yard. It is hoped that this interesting piece of history will be preserved for all time in the name of Palatine Road.

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Seven Sisters Road The road which commences at Gloucester Gate, Regents Park and under various names proceeds to the Holloway Road and by the name of Seven Sisters Road continues as far as the High Road at Tottenham, is partly in Stoke Newington. It was made by the "Commission of the Metropolis Roads, north of the Thames" and opened to the public in 1833. Through some part of its length it follows the course of the old Heame (pronounced Hem) Lane. It derives its name – as did the old Inn at Tottenham – from a circle of seven Elm trees, which stood at the entrance from the high road on the east side of the highway at Page Green, said by Robinson in his History of Tottenham (1840) to be upwards of five hundred years old. By naming this road after them, his prophecy "They are now fast going into decay, and in a very few years they will be gone and forgotten altogether", has been defeated. The planting of trees in groups in this fashion, appears to have been more or less common, though, of course, so prosaic an explanation is not entertaining enough for public consumption and it has been necessary to spin a little romance around them. Bedwell, in his ancient history of Tottenham, describes these seven Elms as having in their midst a walnut tree, and he says:- "This tree hath this many years stod there, and it is observed yearely to live and beare leaves, and yet to stand at a stay, that is, to grow neither greater nor higher. The people do commonly tell the reason to bee, for that there was one burnt upon that place for the profession of the Gospel" but who it was or when, there is no account on record. This tree was low in its growth and smaller than the seven sisters, and when the last of the seven sisters died the walnut tree perished also. All this and more is recorded in a Poem called "Tottenham" written in 1820 by J. Heraut, to which those who required fuller and more details are referred. Brownswood Road The Brownswood Road, which practically follows the same course as the old Brownswood Lane which is marked in Rocque's map of 1745, roughly indicates the position of the Manor of Brownswood. This was, like Stoke Newington one of the Prebendal Manors of the Church of St. Paul, London, [the prebendary of which holds the

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16th stall on the right hand side of the Choir]. In spite of and perhaps because of its antiquity the origin of the name of Brownswood is not known. Though Lyeons states that it was called after Roger Brun one of the Prebendaries, it does not however appear that there was any Prebendary of that name, and it seems idle to speculate further. [We can say little more of the manor than that it was co-extensive with the east-side of the southern part of the Parish of Hornsey.] The late Councillor A.W. Mackenzie, brother of Sir Morrell Mackenzie, wrote a small pamphlet on the History of Brownswood, in which he states that the …... and Court Baron of this Manor were held at the "Manor House" at Finsbury Park, though Tomlins, in his Perambulations of Islington (1858) says "The place where the Manor Court is held is Hornsey Wood House, a tea house formerly much frequented". Both may be correct. We have, up to now, been considering such roads as may be said to derive their names from certain physical features of the neighbourhood. We will now turn our attention to another group of names, which can be associated with existing buildings or which mark the spot where some house or building stood. Fleetwood Street The name of Fleetwood Street reminds us that in Church Street there once lived a celebrity who just missed becoming Protector of England; namely, General Charles Fleetwood. At the Restoration he was prevented from ever again holding office and he retired to the seclusion of Stoke Newington to spend the rest of his life privately amongst friends. He died here in 1698 and was buried in Bunhill Fields. The house in which he lived was a large rambling old Mansion on the North side of the eastern end of Church Street. It is supposed, by some, to be the house described by Edgar Allan Poe in his story "William Wilson". After the death of Fleetwood it became the house of the Hartopps and the Hurlocks, of Nathaniel Gould, a Turkey Merchant and Governor of the Bank of England, and also of Mr Cooke who likewise was a Turkey Merchant, and Governor of the Bank of England. All of these were related by marriage. The house was purchased by George Perrott (?), one of the Barons of the Exchequer, who lived there for several years. After his death it was

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divided into two parts. It had large grounds connected with it, some of which form part of the present Abney Park Cemetery where some of the old cedar trees planted in Fleetwood's time eke out a precarious existence. Summerhouse Road Summerhouse Road Quite close to Fleetwood House, far back from the road, and facing west, stood a house called "The Summerhouse", which is of interest because for some years it sheltered Mr and Mrs Stephen*, the ancestors of the eminent family of lawyers of that name. Their family vault is in the old Churchyard, and had he not been buried in Westminster Abbey, William Wilberforce would have found his last resting place in their tomb. *Sarah (Mrs James Stephen) was Wilberforce's sister (see cuttings box 761314 ?) Chapel Place It is difficult to understand why the little court out of the High Street, bearing the name of Chapel Place, is so called, unless it has to do with its builder, for there appears to be no record of any chapel having been near Enquiries have been made of Sir Herbert Grimond JP to whom the property belonged + he is unable to suggest any explanation. It is curious to note that in Millars Maps there is a Chapel Yard, leading out of the High Road on the north side of Church Street, which has since been demolished. Hermitage Road The Hermitage Road is said by the owner to have been so called because it is built on the site of an occupation road leading from the Green Lanes to a house called “The Hermitage”, formally in the occupation of a Mr Churchman. This house was demolished when the road was built and the road continued into St Anne’s Road. It is possible that the house was named The Hermitage in recollection of the Hermitage + Chapel of St Anne which used to be in Tottenham, not so very far away, an ancient foundation dependent upon the monastery of Holy Trinity in London.

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Rochester Place One is not surprised to find that some roads occasionally have their origin in the titles of public houses = vice versa. We have in Stoke Newington our Rochester Place, evidently connected with the Rochester Castle. White Hart Court Then there is White Hart Court by the side of the old hostelry “The White Hart” and we used to have Cock + Castle, have afterwards called Castle Street but now known as Crossway, marking the site of the old inn called the ‘Cock & Castle’. On the other hand it seems pretty obvious that some public houses have either taken their titles from the roads in which they are situated, or have been named at the same time. Of these one would mention the Albion Hotel, the Brownswood Park (p.27) Tavern, the Earl of Warwick, the Finsbury Park Hotel, the Highbury Tavern, the Howard Arms, the Londesborough Arms + the Nevill Arms. Another class of names is that which perpetuates persons of local interest, public celebrities + builders = numbers of their families. Of these, of course, we have many. Defoe Road The memory of Daniel Defoe, sufficiently famous not to require any identification – is preserved in Defoe Road, he having lived in a house in Church Street, the garden wall of which still stands in Painsthorpe Road. Eade Road Eade Road retains the name of William and Joseph Eade, the lessees of the Manor when the building in Stoke Newington commenced. Howard Road Possibly Howard Road preserves the name of John Howard the philanthropist and prison reformer who lived for a while at 168 Church Street, but there appears to be no evidence confirming this.

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Amhurst Park Amhurst Park is named after the Tyssen Amhurst family, large landowners in the district especially in Hackney. It is not unnatural for the builder of a road to give his own name to it + it is possible that many street names preserve the name of the builder in some cryptic form. Edwards Lane The oldest of this kind is Edwards’ Lane which is named after Job (?) Edwards who built several of the houses in Church Street, formerly known as Church Row, as well as the [unclear] houses which stood where the Library Hall has been erected. Statham Grove Statham Grove is named after Frank Statham Hobson, Surveyor of Coleman(?) Street. Adolphus Road and Henry Road Adolphus Road and Henry (p.28) Road bear the forenames of the builders who erected them – Henry Adolphus Wicks. Paget Road and St. Kilda’s Road Edward Paget Nunn, who was responsible for the erection of so many of the well built houses to the North of Church Street has his memory here served in Paget Road and that of his friend Mr Kelday (who lived at St Kilda’s near Brook House) in St Kilda’s Road. Walford Road There is an estate west of the High Street comprising Walford, Nevill, Clonbrook, Osterley, Knebworth, Londesborough, Broughton, Sandbrook, Harecombe, Oldfiel +Arthur Road = possibly the Warwickshire Road (formerly called the Warwick Road) which was developed by the Walford family, who under the name of Willisford (?), claims pedigree to before the Conquest. The greater part of the property came to the family from a Martha Carr, the Walford Road portion being purchased afterwards.

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Nevill Road and Arthur Road Enquiries have been made of a member of the family, Mr Hugh S. Walford, who is a solicitor in Bolton Street, Piccadilly, with an aristocratic connection, and he is unable to give any reason why most of the roads in the estate received their names, except that Nevill is an old family surname and that Arthur Road was called after a member of the family with Arthur as his Christian name. In view of Mr Walford’s want of information it is rather useless to make any suggestion on the subject but it seems possible that some of the names may have been suggested by those of the families(?) clientele, but one has no authority for saying so + it is merely conjecture. (p.29) Clonbrook It is interesting to note that Clonbrook is the title of the Dillon family, taken from the place of that name in County Galway. Osterly Road The Earl of Jersey has a seat at Osterley Park, Isleworth. Londesborough Road Viscount Knebworth is the title of the heir to the Earl of Lytton, William Henry Forester(?) D?? when made a Baron in 1850 took the name of his seat at Londesborough, near Market Weighton, Yorks. Broughton Road The Broughtons are a family of Nantwich Baronets and large landowners there. Warwick Road The name of Warwick Road does not require any special explanation, nor that of Gainsboro’. It would therefore appear that none of these names have any local significance. Barrett’s Grove

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There does not appear to be any indication on the maps that any grove of trees ever existed on the site of Barrett’s Grove; on the contrary, Rocque’s map suggests that the road had been built over fields. It is probable that Barrett was the name of the owner or of the builders. On the other hand in Robinson’s map a foot way is marked on this spot, but whether this footway led to any house in the occupation of a Barrett does not appear. One has been told that a man named Studd “squatted” on some portion of this property + built some cottages on it, the name being still preserved in Studd’s buildings. It would seem that there is more to be learnt about Barrett’s Grove for at one time the estate in the immediate neighbourhood was known as the Barrett’s Grove estate + this suggests that the Grove existed before the houses were built. Chalmers Terrace Chalmers Terrace probably owes its name either to the (p.30) the man who built or owned it. Trumans Road and Mason’s Place Similarly Trumans Road may be named after the proprietor, but such a name as Mason’s Court or Mason’s Place suggests the alternative that there have been a mason’s yard in the neighbourhood. Watson Street It is said that Watson Street is called after the maiden name of the wife of the builder, who was probably the Mr Whitcomb mentioned below. Shipway Terrace Shipway Terrace, one is told, was named after a Tax collector at Swiss Cottage, whose name was Shipway + who owned the terrace. Digby Road Digby Road probably owes its name also to its owner or builder.

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Lancell Street An old resident, who lived all her life in Stoke Newington, but who, alas, is no longer with us, informed the writer that Lancell Street was named after the youngest son of Mr F.J Hammel(?), the senior Churchwarden of Stoke Newington in 1865, who wrote a book, which deals incidentally with the parochial troubles of that time, called “Protestantism in peril”, [next section crossed out] but whether the the boy’s names was Lancell or Lancelot one does not know.[to here] Leonard Place Leonard Place also has the appearance of being a Christian name, [next section crossed out] but of whom one does not know[to here]. Bouverie Road The ownership of the Manor by the Charity Commissioners is commemorated in the name Bouverie Road. Mr Downing, the Secretary of the Commission, has taken considerable trouble to confirm this + he agrees that it may be assumed that this road, which was commenced in the years 1860-1, derives its name from the Rt. Hon Edward Pleydell Bouverie, who was a Church Estates Commissioner (appointed by the (p.31) Crown) and therefore an Ecclesiastical Commissioner and a member of the Estates Committee of the Commission, from 1859-1865. He was later (1869) again appointed an Ecclesiastical Commissioner and held the office until his death in 1829. Bethune Road Mr. Downing has not been able to confirm the suggestion of an old resident that Bethune Road was also named after a Commissioner, nor has he been able to make any suggestion as to the reason for the selection of the name. The road covers ground formerly known as the Cowslip Meadow, and in consequence there was serious talk of calling it Cowslip Road.

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Adam Place, Cressington Road, Hamilton Place and possibly Hewling Street, Lavell Street, Merton Road, Millard Road, Pellerin Road and Wilberforce Road

Other roads appear to bear the names of individuals but it seems impossible to connect them with anyone in particular and one just mentions them in alphabetical order, namely - Allerton Road, Adam Place, Cressington Road, Hamilton Place and possibly Hewling Street, Lavell Street, Merton Road built on the site of Wentworth house, Millard Road, Pellerin Road and Wilberforce Road.

Albion Road

The class of road which next presents itself is that which, for want of a better word, may be described as Patriotic. The first of these is the Albion Road. It was built by W. Cubitt in 1830. It will be found that all “Albion” Roads or Streets [therearound were completely rejuvenated] about this time. The name is a reflex of the wave of patriotism which spread over the country owing to the threat of invasion of this country by Napoleon. The popularity of the expression was probably an ironical appreciation of the “Le perfide Albion”, which perhaps was stimulated by some popular song. It is, of course, the ancient name of Britannia and in later poetic use, has been restricted to England and refers to our chalk cliffs.

Kings Road, Queens Road and Princes Road, Victoria Grove, Coronation Avenue, Imperial Avenue, Prince George and Princess Mary Roads

Loyalty to Royalty is expressed in such names as Kings Road, Queens Road and Princes Road, Victoria Grove, Coronation Avenue and Imperial Avenue. The mother of the present King gives us the name of Alexandra Road, while the engagement of the present King to Princess Victoria Mary of Teck, which caused so much interest at the time is celebrated in Prince George and Princess Mary Roads and also Wiesbaden Road. The Duke of Teck being associated with Wiesbaden.

Belgrade Road

It will be remembered that during the War there was a general feeling against German names, and the King himself deemed it wise to change his family name to that of Windsor. At the same

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time, many streets were renamed, amongst them Wiesbaden Road was rechristened Belgrade Road.

Gordon Road

The Gordon Road probably intended to keep alive the memory of the famous general of that name, Sirdar of Khartoum. It was built by a W. Busby, whose daughter (Mrs. Vale) succeeded her parents as proprietors of the Walford Arms.

Aden Grove Terrace

[Aden, an important military position, coaling station, and port of call for P. & O. Steamships, was taken by the British in 1809, and in spite of various attacks upon it by the Arabs, has ever since remained under British rule. [no recollection] It is presumed that Aden Grove (formerly Aden Grove South) and Aden Terrace have been so called because they were built about the time of the capture of Aden.

Burma Road

Similarly, when the name Grange Road was abolished in February 1886, the unit of Upper and Lower Burmah in one province under W. C. Bernard, the Chief Commission was being effected. The name Burma Road was probably suggested by the event.]

Hornsey Place

There is an estate - once known as Albert Town - between the Albion Road and the Neville Road, the freehold of which was purchased by the British Land Company and sold off in plots. It occupies roughly the more southerly of the two square pieces of land which, with a strip of the Albion Road, were extra-parochial portions of Hornsey - a fact of which one is reminded by the little turning out of Matthias Road called Hornsey Place.

Shakespeare Road, Milton Road, Spencer Road, Cowper Road, Wordsworth Road and Goldsmith Road

Many of the houses on this estate were built by a W. Whitcourt the grandfather of our former rate-collector W. Barnes. Whoever was responsible for suggesting the names of the streets on the estate chose the names of several of our most eminent poets, but it does not appear clear why some are taken and others left. They probably fairly represent the poets whose names would have come

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uppermost in the mind of the man in the street early in the 19th century. They are as follows: - Shakespeare, Milton, Spencer, Cowper, Wordsworth and Goldsmith.

Howard Road

At the north and south of these roads run the Allen Road and Howard Road, respectively. It is hoped that the latter was named after our local celebrity, John Howard, the philanthropist and prison reformer.

Allen Road

One wonders who is the Allen whose name is perpetuated in Allen Road. Can it be that of the well-known Quaker William Allen who lived the greater part of his life in Church Street and Paradise Row?

Dumont Road, Kynaston Road, Dynevor Road, Kersley Road, Brodia Road, Chesholm Road and Lavers Road

Another estate to the north of the Walford Estate has allotted to it a group of curious out-of-the-way road names, comprising Dumont Road, Kynaston Road, Dynevor Road, Kersley Road, Brodia (formerly Brodie) Road, Chesholm Road and Lavers Road. Without some inside information it is almost impossible to say why these names were selected. They all appear to be surnames, but whether they have been selected for any particular reason, it would not be possible to say unless one could get into touch with someone connected with the person who made the selection. Kynaston Avenue, of course, was formerly known as Pawnbroker’s Alley.

Hawkesley Road, Woodlea Road and Lillian Street

The Furneaux Estate, which includes the site of “The Laurels” where Twells, the banker, used to live and the nurseries which once were in the Albion Road, comprises Hawkesley Road, Woodlea Road and Lillian Street, and the family also own the western bus-yard in Church Street and also Summerhouse Road.

W. Furneaux, Senior, who was the original owner of the estate died recently leaving his sons Sidney Herbert and Henry John his executors, Lillian Street, formerly Hawkesley Terrace, and Lillian Terrace were named after their sister. [Hawkesley - so spelt - does not appear to be the name of any place in the United Kingdom, but

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there is a town near Colchester called Great Hawkesley. Similarly Woodleigh and Woodley are to be found as place names, but it is not known whether our roads are called after either of them. Neither name has been given to any other road in the County of London. A part of Hawkesley Road until 1890 was known as Grove Road. The names are probably only manufactured and the proximity of the Falcon Public House may have suggested them.

Woodland Road

In the Oldfield Road there is a Woodland Road, though the maps all suggest that the ground there was open pasture.

Fairholt Road

Fairholt Road also is probable only an invented name which may have been suggested by the presence of a few trees in the neighbourhood, for in Lady Abney’s time there was a meadow there called the Woodland Piece.

Somerfield Road

Somerfield Road may also be a fairly manufactured word and may signify little else than that it was built over a meadow; on the other hand it may have been chosen to perpetuate the name of Somers or some similar name.]

Shelgrove Road

[In the absence of evidence to the contrary, Shelgrove Road must be assumed to be a fictitious name, made up for the purpose, for it does not appear to be the name of any place or person.]

Petherton Road

Petherton Road, which owes its breadth to the fact that the New River flows beneath it in a duct under the site where in former days it meandered through the meadows with a pleasant path by the side of it, is part of the Highbury New Park Estate of the Rydou family, who have given the information that it was named after the village of Petherton in Somersetshire where Mr Henry Rydou, the first owner, was born.

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Leconfield Road

They were unable to suggest any reason for the Name of Leconfield Road. Leconfield is a village in the East Riding of Yorkshire near Beverley & gives the title of Baron to the Wyndham family.

Brighton Road, Gloucester Road, Portland Road and Salcombe Road We must have unexplained a somewhat large number which are either obviously geographical in origin or else surnames, for without further information which at the moment is not forthcoming, it is difficult to do much more than enumerate them. To take first those that are geographical (keeping in mind that there is probably no place name in England that has not been adopted at some time as a surname) we have the names of such familiar places as Brighton and Gloucester Portland and Salcombe pressed into our service, which do not seem to require any special explanation; Allerton Road but one wonders which Allerton, whether in Lancashire or Yorkshire, is celebrated in Allerton Road, or whether it is a surname, and if so, who was its owner. Hayling Road Had the person who gave the name of Hayling Road the desire to perpetuate a holiday spent on the Island of that name? Painsthorpe Road Why should the pleasant parish of Painsthorpe in Kirkby-under-Dale be associated with the neighbourhood south of Church Street? Carysfort Road What association had the builders of Carysfort Road with the village of that name in County Wick, which gives tribute to the ??? family? If we knew who were the ??? of the Barrett’s Grove Estate, they would probably be able to give some reason for their choice of Cressington in the ??? division of Lancashire.

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Harcombe Road One has some difficulty in imagining why an East Devonshire name was give to the Harcombe Road. Listria Park & Martaban Road There must surely be some little romance attaching to the two roads which nestle away out of sight on the south side of Manor Road and at the North East corner of Abney Park, known as Listria Park & Martaban Road. How or why was the name Listria coined? Did the property belong to a member of the Lister family? Research does not reveal such a name & those who think it may be associated with the Travels of St Paul have forgotten that the place they have in mind was Lystra. Why is the name associated with such an out of the way place as Martaban. Martaban is a gulf in the Bay of Bengal which receives the Irrawaddy, ??? and Salwia Rivers, of which probably not one in a hundred persons have ever heard. Oldham (Aldham?), Ayresome, [38] Hamilton, Hewling (?), Lavell, Marton, Millard, Pellerin, Reedholm & Wilberforce It would be a waste of time to speculate why the roads bearing the surnames Oldham (Aldham?), Ayresome, [38] Hamilton, Hewling (?), Lavell, Marton, Millard, Pellerin, Reedholm & Wilberforce came to be so designated, but it is confidently hoped that some reader or readers of this article will supply the necessary information. William Wilberforce of slave trade fame was not unknown in this neighbourhood as a visitor, but he did not live here at any time. Stoke Newington High Street and Stoke Newington Road We come at last to the Stoke Newington High Street & Stoke Newington Road, and with it we approach a problem which for many years has puzzled antiquarians, namely whether it or the Green Lanes marks the course of the Roman Road called Ermin Street. The information available on the subject which can be relied upon is but scant.

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There seems to be a difference of opinion as to whether Ermine Street left the city at Cripplegate or at Bishopsgate. Further there are counter theories that it came along our High Street, or else along Boleyn Road & Matthias Road to Newington Green & continued north along the green lanes. Without technical knowledge it is impossible to express an opinion on such a subject. The modern view appears to favour the honour being given to High Street and Stamford Hill. Mr Montague Sharpe, in his “Middlesex in British, Roman & Saxon Times” (1919) seems to have no doubt upon the subject, for he says (p60) “The … road, known as Ermine Street, after leaving Londinium by Bishopsgate, soon crossed Tamesis (?) Street, & proceeding [39] northwards in a straight line through Tottenham, Enfield and over Forty Hill, entered Herts.” etc. The Road from ancient times has been a busy thoroughfare, being a coaching route from London to Cambridge & to York. It was the road chosen by James l when he came from Scotland to be crowned King of England & he obtained his first glimpse of London from Stamford Hill. Had there been such a person as John Gilpin, his great adventure, made so realistic to the youth of the last generation by Caldecott’s picture book, would have been along this road, as would, also, Dick Turpin’s famous ride to York, had it been true. Leading out of the Dalston end of the High Road & forming part of the Southern boundary of the Borough is a road, formerly known as “Cock & Castle Lane” because of the Inn of that name at the corner. It afterwards became known as Castle Street, which name was abolished in 1913 and the street officially renamed Crossway. How this came about one does not know. If one looks at Roque’s map (1745) one sees the name Crossway painted in large letters across the piece of land on the East side of & between High Street & Shacklewell Lanes. The precise significance of the word in unknown. It has been suggested that it marks the spot where suicides were buried, with a stake driven through their bodies. Mr Benjamin Clarke, in his “Glimpses of Ancient Hackney” (1893 - pp 7 & 247) suggests that it marks a cross track from Ermine Street, through Clapton passage, along an ancient farm [40] road (now Powerscourt [NB = Powerscroft???] & Blurton Roads) & forded the Lea at a spot known as ‘the boys bathing place’, because “the bottom of the river, elsewhere sand and clay, consisted of some hard substance, smooth, & with greyish sand, no doubt the hydraulic cement with which the ancient Romans made their

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fords.” Mr Clarke traces the road forward to Low Leighton, and those readers who are interested in the subject are referred to his book for further information. Whether the High Street or the Green Lanes was the original Ermine Street - there seems every possibility that the theory is a true one, but it is difficult to excuse Stoke Newington for borrowing a name which apparently belongs to Hackney. We now come back almost to where we started, namely the green lanes at the northern end of the borough. W. ???, an authority whose opinion must command the greatest respect, in his “Perambulations of Islington” (1858) makes some very interesting remarks concerning these roads, and says - “The Lower Road, that is Essex Road, at Balls Pond diverges in an easterly direction to Kingsland, where it may be said to be continued by the Green Lanes, of which this part of the Lower Road, now called Balls Pond Road, is a portion, are the most ancient roads of which we have intelligence (p.23). At another place (p.32) he reverts to the subject as follows:- “There are some other ancient roads, which at no very distant period were green lanes; such was the winding road from the end of the Lower Road, which was called Newington Green Lane, and diverging westerly at Newington Green (Wrights’ corner) to the roads called Green Lanes, and easterly by Coach & Horses Lane to Kingsland and the Hackney Ward end of Stoke Newington Town. This road, at its entrance into Newington Green, demonstrates its antiquity by its depth, and in former times must have been frequently impassible.” In this connection it will be remembered that Thomas Sutton, Lessee of the Manor of Stoke Newington, by his Will gave “towards the mending of the high-walls between Islington and Newington… twenty-six ??? thirteen shillings and four pence of lawful money of England, to be employed and bestowed by the Churchwardens there for the time being: the same highways to be amended and holpen [?] within one year after my decease.” His predecessor, John Dudley, also left ten pounds towards mending the lane leading from Newington to Islington. Having passed in review the names of most of the Roads in the Borough of Stoke Newington, it only remains to appeal to all who are able to do so to supplement the information contained in this paper & to fill up the many gaps which it unfortunately contains. [42]

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!

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