Shoreditch Park is an open space in

Hoxton Hoxton is an area in the London Borough of Hackney, England. As a part of Shoreditch, it is often considered to be part of the East End – the historic core of wider East London. It was historically in the county of Middlesex until 1889. I ...

area of

Shoreditch Shoreditch is a district in the East End of London in England, and forms the southern part of the London Borough of Hackney. Neighbouring parts of Tower Hamlets are also perceived as part of the area. In the 16th century, Shoreditch was an impor ...

in the

London Borough of Hackney London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

. It is bounded by Poole Street (to the north), Rushton and Mintern Streets (to the south) and New North Road (west) and Pitfield Street (east). The park derives its name from the

Metropolitan Borough of Shoreditch The Metropolitan Borough of Shoreditch was a Metropolitan boroughs of the County of London, Metropolitan borough of the County of London between 1899 and 1965, when it was merged with the Metropolitan Borough of Stoke Newington and the Metropolita ...

, the local authority when it was established. The park is in extent.

History

The area that now includes much of Shoreditch Park was originally open fields. During the

Regency era The Regency era of British history officially spanned the years 1811 to 1820, though the term is commonly applied to the longer period between and 1837. George III of the United Kingdom, King George III succumbed to mental illness in late 18 ...

, and with the building of

Regent's Canal Regent's Canal is a canal across an area just north of central London, England. It provides a link from the Paddington Arm of the Grand Union Canal, north-west of Paddington Basin in the west, to the Limehouse Basin and the River Thames in eas ...

, it was developed to create

terraced housing In architecture and city planning, a terrace or terraced house ( UK) or townhouse ( US) is a form of medium-density housing that originated in Europe in the 16th century, whereby a row of attached dwellings share side walls. In the United State ...

for workers and their families. In the early 1940s, much of the area was devastated during

the Blitz The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'. The Germa ...

and later air-raids. In 1945 bomb damaged homes were cleared and '' prefabs'' or ‘temporary pre- fabricated housing’ was erected to house the many families made homeless during the War. These homes were designed as a stop gap measure, but many were in place for nearly 20 years before finally being condemned around 1964. The site was then cleared and redeveloped between 1964 and 1973, and several old streets (i.e. Dorchester, Salisbury, Clift, Newton, Rushton, Wareham, and Worgate) were lost when creating the current park.

Archaeology

In July 2005 and 2006, an extensive excavation was carried out by archaeologists from the

Museum of London The Museum of London is a museum in London, covering the history of the UK's capital city from prehistoric to modern times. It was formed in 1976 by amalgamating collections previously held by the City Corporation at the Guildhall, London, Gui ...

to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and documented in a Time Team special episode called "Buried By The Blitz" aired in October 2006. The excavation examined housing of the time, and investigated the damage caused by aerial bombing and missiles. It was pioneering in involving members of the local community in the project.

Facilities

The park has sports facilities, an adventure playground, children's playground, an outdoor beach volleyball court (managed by London Beach Volleyball Club. Recent improvements include innovative low energy

LED A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor Electronics, device that Light#Light sources, emits light when Electric current, current flows through it. Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron holes, releasing energy i ...

lighting, the creation of an outdoor amphitheatre in the park for theatre and cinema screenings; and an 85-tonne granite boulder by the artist John Frankland. The Britannia Leisure Centre is adjacent to the park, on its north eastern boundary. Shoreditch Park 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. The park is home to the annual Shoreditch Festival.

Access

The nearest London Underground station is

Old Street Old Street is a street in inner north-east Central London that runs west to east from Goswell Road in Clerkenwell, in the London Borough of Islington, via St Luke's and Old Street Roundabout, to the crossroads where it meets Shoreditch High ...

on the

Northern line The Northern line is a London Underground line that runs from North London to South London. It is printed in black on the Tube map. The Northern line is unique on the Underground network in having two different routes through central London, two ...

. Buses 21, 76, 141 and 271 stop on New North Road adjacent to the park.

References

{{Reflist Shoreditch