Blue and brown plaques
Local historical figures and events are commemorated around the borough by brown plaques. There are around 50 brown plaques in the series, as well as a number of blue plaques which commemorate national events and historical figures.
Brown plaques
Abney House
The gateway to
ABNEY HOUSE
Which stood here 1700-1843.
(82 Stoke Newington Church Street, N16)
Air Raid Precaution Centre
AIR RAID PRECAUTION CENTRE
And Civil Defence Centre
For North Hackney
Built 1938.
(24 Rossendale Street)
Anna Laetitia Barbauld
ANNA LAETITIA BARBAULD
1743-1825
Poet and writer
Lived and died here 1802-1825
(113 Stoke Newington Church Street)
Charles Bradlaugh
CHARLES BRADLAUGH
Freethinker & politician.
Malthusian & Republican.
Born near this site at 5 Bacchus Walk
26 September 1833.
(LBH Housing, west of Regan Way)
Braidwood Academy
BRAIDWOOD ACADEMY
FOR THE DEAF AND DUMB
The first school in England for
The education of deaf & dumb.
Run by Thomas Braidwood.
Stood on this site, 1783-1799.
(LBH Housing on Chatham Place)
Britannia Saloon
On this site stood
BRITANNIA SALOON
Opened 1841
Rebuilt 1858 and renamed
THE BRITANNIA THEATRE
Demolished in 1941
(Arden Estate, 103-104 Hoxton Street)
Brooke House
BROOKE HOUSE (KING’S PLACE)
stood on this site (Community College, Kenninghall Road)
from late 15th century – 1955.
James Brooks
JAMES BROOKS
1825-1901
Eminent Church Architect
Designed Church of St. Columba, Kingsland Road, 1868.
Designed, lived and died in this house.
(42 Clissold Crescent)
Marc Bolan
MARC FIELD
Later known as
MARC BOLAN
MUSICIAN
lived here
1947-1962
(25 Stoke Newington Common)
First bomb of World War One
FIRST BOMB OF WORLD WAR ONE
To fall from a Zeppelin
on London
dropped in the garden of
The Nevill Arms Public House.
30 May 1915
(31 Nevill Road)
Lewis Burtt
LEWIS “DADDY” BURTT 1860-1935
JOHN BURTT 1855-1925
Honorary Superintendent & Secretary,
Founders of
HOXTON MARKET CHRISTIAN MISSION
Founded 1886
Operating from these premises from 1915,
For the benefit of local people.
(Coronet Street)
Mel Calman
MEL CALMAN
1931-1994
Cartoonist and writer
Lived here 1931-1957
(64 Linthorpe Road)
Edith Cavell
EDITH CAVELL
Executed in Belgium by German Firing Squad
for assisting injured soldiers in World War I
Assistant matron at the
Shoreditch Infirmary, 1903-06
(Saint Leonard’s Hospital, Kingsland Road)
The Curtain Theatre
Near this site stood
THE CURTAIN THEATRE
1577-c.1627
Second English public playhouse
Here WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE acted
& plays by Shakespeare and
Ben Jonson were performed.
(18 Hewett Street)
Celia Fiennes
CELIA FIENNES
Traveller and diarist
Lived in a house near this site
From 1738, and died here.
(Well Street)
The Eagle Tavern
THE EAGLE TAVERN,
GRECIAN THEATRE PLEASURE GROUNDS,
GRECIAN SALOON & OLYMPIC THEATRE,
Stood here 1825-1899
Here Marie Lloyd, music hall artiste
Made her first public performance
In 1832.
(The Eagle Public House, Shepherdess Walk)
Electricity generating sub-station
ELECTRICITY GENERATING SUB-STATION
Transformer station for
London County Council tramway system.
Designed in 1905 by Vincent Harris,
Architect with L.C.C.
Built 1905-07.
(32 Rivington Street)
Elizabeth Fry Refuge
THE ELIZABETH FRY REFUGE
1849-1913
To help women in need.
Elizabeth Fry, 1780-1845
Reformer of conditions
for female prisoners.
(195 Mare Street)
Gainsborough Film Studios
GAINSBOROUGH FILM STUDIOS
1924-1949
Alfred Hitchcock, Michael Balcon,
Ivor Novello, Gracie Fields,
“The Lady Vanishes”
worked and were filmed here. (Poole Street)
The plaque states that “The Wicked Lady” was filmed at Gainsborough when it was in fact filmed at the Gainsborough Lime Grove Studios at Shepherds Bush
German Hospital
This site formed
THE GERMAN HOSPITAL
For German people
And German speakers.
Local people were also treated here.
Designed by T.L. Donaldson and E.A. Gruning.
Built 1864.
(Dalston Lane)
The Gunpowder Plot
THE GUNPOWDER PLOT
In a house near this site on 12 October 1605
Lord Monteagle received the letter
Unmasking the plot led by Guy Fawkes
To blow up the
Houses of Parliament
(244-278 Crondall Street, Hoxton Street elevation)
John Howard
JOHN HOWARD
1726-1790
Pioneer prison reformer
Author of ‘The State of Prisons’ 1777
Was born in his father’s house
near this site
(157-9 Lower Clapton Road)
Holywell Priory
This area formed part of
HOLYWELL PRIORY
Founded 1152/8, dissolved 1539
Named after a holy well. Bounded by
Curtain Road, Holywell Lane,
Bateman Road & Shoreditch
High Street
(98 Curtain Road)
Hoxton Hall
HOXTON HALL
Built 1863 as a music hall.
Owned since 1863 by Bedford Institute.
The Society of Friends (Quakers)
Community activities
expanded from c 1894
(128 Hoxton Street)
Nelson Lee
NELSON LEE
Actor, theatre manager &
pantomime writer
Lived here 1851-1872
(67 Shrubland Road)
Loddiges Nursery
This site formed part of
LODDIGES NURSERY
Famous for orchids & other hot-house plants
with the largest palm house in Britain.
1785-1852
(Hackney Free & Parochial School, Paragon Road)
The Manor House
THE MANOR HOUSE
Built 1845
For John Robert Daniel Tyssen
Steward for the Hackney Manors
Site of the New Mermaid Theatre c. 1773
(387 Mare Street)
Medieval Mansion
On this site stood
A MEDIEVAL MANSION
Sometime home of Edward de Vere,
17th Earl of Oxford.
Built c 14th century
Demolished c1710
Sisters’ Place c1714
(173 Stoke Newington Church Street)
Newington Green Church
NEWINGTON GREEN CHURCH
Built 1708, enlarged 1860.
Oldest non-conformist place of worship
in London, which is still in use.
(Newington Green)
Anthony Newley
1931 – 1999
Entertainer
Was a pupil at this school and lived at
14 Oswald Street, now the site
of Heanor Court, from 1931
until the mid 1940s.
Parish Watch House
These buildings were built as the
PARISH WATCH HOUSE, LOCK UP
AND FIRE ENGINE ROOM
Engine House built 1821.
Watch House & lock-up built 1824.
(6-8 Lordship Road)
Pickwick Bicycle Club
PICKWICK BICYCLE CLUB
Oldest surviving cycling club in the world.
First met at Downs Hotel
On 22 June 1870.
(Downs Public House, Downs Road).
Celebrated its 140th birthday in June 2010.
The Pimlico Hostelry and Pleasure Gardens
This site formed part of
THE PIMLICO HOSTELRY
AND PLEASURE GARDENS
A noted place of entertainment
Established by 1590s
Ben Jonson fought a duel near here.
(LBH Housing, Arden House, Pitfield Street)
First plastic in the World
FIRST PLASTIC IN THE WORLD
Known as “parkesine”, invented by
Alexander Parkes.
First made near this site,1866
At the Parkesine Works
(Berkshire Road / Wallis Road, Hackney Wick)
Edgar Allan Poe
EDGAR ALLAN POE
1809-1849
Writer and poet
Was a pupil at the
Manor House School (1817-20),
Which stood on this site
(172 Stoke Newington Church Street)
Pollock’s Toy Theatre Shop
POLLOCK’S TOY THEATRE SHOP
Stood near this site
Founded by John Reddington 1851
Run by Benjamin Pollock & family
Premises bombed in World War II
“Penny plain, twopence coloured”
(McGregor Court, Hoxton Street)
Joseph Priestley
JOSEPH PRIESTLEY
Theologian, scientist & discoverer of oxygen.
Lived in a house on this
Site 1792-1794
(113 Lower Clapton Road)
Saint Mary’s, Haggerston
On this site stood
ST. MARY’S HAGGERSTON
(Church of England)
Designed by John Nash.
Built 1826-7.
(Playground between Queensbridge Road and Thurtle Road)
Shoreditch Refuse Destructor
SHOREDITCH ELECTRICITY GENERATING
STATION AND REFUSE DESTRUCTOR
Inaugurated 28 June 1897 by the Shoreditch Vestry,
Precursor of Shoreditch Borough Council.
An early purpose-built undertaking
To generate electricity from steam
Created by burning rubbish.
(Coronet Street)
Stoke Newington Manor House
On this site stood
STOKE NEWINGTON MANOR HOUSE
c.1500 – 1695
And the terrace called
CHURCH ROW
1695-1700 – 1936
(Stoke Newington Town Hall)
The first synagogue in Hackney
THE FIRST SYNAGOGUE
In present-day London Borough of Hackney.
Built 1770-80 (5539-5540).
Stood to the rear of this building
in the grounds of Clapton House
(25 Thistlethwaite Road)
Jessica Tandy
JESSICA TANDY
1909-1994
Film and theatre actress.
Oscar winner in 1990 for her
Performance in “Driving Miss Daisy”
Was born in this house.
(58A Geldeston Road)
The Theatre
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
Acted at THE THEATRE
Built by James Burbage.
Plays by Shakespeare were performed here.
(86-90 Curtain Road)
The Tower of Church of Saint Augustine
TOWER OF CHURCH OF SAINT AUGUSTINE
Built by the end of the 13th century
Dedicated to St. John after 1660
Church demolished 1797-98
(Mare Street, by Clock Tower)
Joshua Watson
JOSHUA WATSON
Philanthropist, educationalist and
prominent lay churchman,
Lived in a house on this site
1811-23 & 1841-55
(117 Lower Clapton Road)
Issac Watts
ISAAC WATTS
Hymn writer
Stayed here 1734-1748
(82 Stoke Newington Church Street (Cemetery))
Mary Wollstonecraft
MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT
1759-1797
Author of ‘A Vindication of the Rights of Women’
Pioneer of women’s rights and
mother of Mary Shelley
Stayed in a house on this site in 1784
And lived early years in Hoxton.
(373-5 Mare Street, The Narroway)
Sir Leonard Woolley
SIR LEONARD WOOLLEY
Archaeologist and excavator of Ur
Born in a house on this site
1880.
(13 Southwold Road)
91-101 Worship Street
91-101 WORSHIP STREET
Built as workshops and dwellings
Designed by PHILIP WEBB, 1862
Friend and colleague of William Morris.
Co-founders of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, 1877.
Blue plaques
Blue plaques celebrate great figures of the past and the buildings that they inhabited. The scheme has been running for nearly 140 years and celebrates figures of national and international importance.
Daniel Defoe
DANIEL DEFOE, (1661-1731),
Novelist, lived in a house on this site.
95 Stoke Newington Church Street, N16
Philip Henry Gosse
Here lived Philip Henry GOSSE (1810-1888),
Zoologist; and
Sir Edmund GOSSE (1849-1928),
Writer and Critic, born here.
(56 Mortimer Road, N1)
Ebenezer Howard
EBENEZER HOWARD (1850-1928),
Pioneer of the Garden City Movement, lived here
(50 Durley Road, Stamford Hill, N16)
Marie Lloyd
MARIE LLOYD (1870-1922),
Music Hall Artiste, lived here.
(55 Graham Road, E8)
James Parkinson
JAMES PARKINSON
1755-1824
Physician and
Geologist
Lived here
(1 Hoxton Square)
Joseph Priestley
JOSPEH PRIESTLEY, (1733-1804),
Scientist, Philosopher and Theologian, was Minister to the Gravel Pit Meeting here in 1793-1794.
(Ram Place, E9)
Priory of Saint John the Baptist and the Theatre
PRIORY OF SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST Holywell, and the THEATRE.
The site of this building forms part of what was once the precinct of the Priory of St John the Baptist, Holywell.
Within a few yards stood from 1577 to 1598 the first London building specially devoted to the performance of plays and known as ‘The Theatre’.
86-88 Curtain Road, EC2