Hackney Downs is a park and an area of historically

common land Common land is land owned by a person or collectively by a number of persons, over which other 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 who has ...

in the Lower Clapton area of the

London Borough of Hackney London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major se ...

. The name is sometimes also used to apply to the neighbourhood around the park.

Hackney Downs Park

The Downs open space was originally common land, preserved from the 1860s as parkland as a result of pressure by the Commons Preservation Society. At , the park is one of the larger open spaces wholly within the London Borough of Hackney. It has a play area, basketball courts, football pitches and a bowling green. Occupying, as it does, a fairly central place in Hackney, the park used to be the yearly venue for the popular Hackney Show, but this event — which helped to give a sense of community and identity to an often-troubled borough — has been discontinued in recent times as a cost-cutting measure, as have the regular Fireworks Night shows. The park was given 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

Neighbourhood

The ‘Hackney Downs’ neighbourhood can be described as the western part of Lower Clapton; the area to the west of Cricketfield Road and east of the railway line. The streets north and south of the park are dominated by social housing (such as the

Nightingale Estate The Nightingale Estate is located in the Lower Clapton area of the London Borough of Hackney, next to Hackney Downs. The estate originally consisted of six 22 story tower blocks, but was redeveloped between 2003-2006 and replaced with mostly low- ...

) – these areas were largely rebuilt during the 1930s and 1960s.

Education

Hackney Downs School Hackney Downs School was an 11–16 boys, community comprehensive secondary school in Lower Clapton, Greater London, England. It was established in 1876 and closed in 1995. It has been replaced by the Mossbourne Community Academy. History ...

was also located here. The site has been redeveloped as the

Mossbourne Community Academy Mossbourne Community Academy is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form with academy status, located near Hackney Downs off the A104 road, in the Lower Clapton area of the London Borough of Hackney in England. Buildings The school was ...

Governance

''Hackney Downs'' is currently a ward name, the represented area of three councillors, of Hackney Council up for election every 4 years.

Transport and locale

The two London Overground stations are ''

Hackney Central Hackney Central is a sub-district of 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 areas to the north o ...

'' on the

North London line The North London line (NLL) is a railway line which passes through the inner suburbs of west, north-west, north, and east London, England between Richmond in the south-west and Stratford in the east, avoiding central London. Its route is a ro ...

and

Hackney Downs Hackney Downs is a park and an area of historically common land in the Lower Clapton area of the London Borough of Hackney. The name is sometimes also used to apply to the neighbourhood around the park. Hackney Downs Park The Downs open space ...

on the

Lea Valley Lines The Lea Valley lines are two commuter lines and two branches in north-east London, so named because they run along the Lower Lea Valley of the River Lea. They were part of the Great Eastern Railway, now part of the ''Anglia Route'' of Network ...

to Liverpool Street.

References

External links

Mossbourne Community Academy

''Blasts From The Past''
(LBH film of demolition of the tower blocks on the north side of the Downs). {{Authority control Districts of the London Borough of Hackney Areas of London Parks and open spaces in the London Borough of Hackney Common land in London Clapton, London