Hoxton Square is a public garden square in the

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. It l ...

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 imp ...

in 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 ...

. Laid out in 1683, it is thought to be one of the oldest in London. Since the 1990s it has been at the heart of the Hoxton national (digital and design) arts and media hub, as well as hosting entertainment, with globally eclectic musicians, actors and dancers. Most of the square's buildings, quite tall for the Victorian age, diverge in use, with many floors converted to bars, restaurants and offices and at least one live music club of note. One of the square's 18th-century residents,

John Newton John Newton (; – 21 December 1807) was an English evangelical Anglican cleric and slavery abolitionist. He had previously been a captain of slave ships and an investor in the slave trade. He served as a sailor in the Royal Navy (after forc ...

, composed the popular hymn "

Amazing Grace "Amazing Grace" is a Christian hymn published in 1779 with words written in 1772 by English Anglican clergyman and poet John Newton (1725–1807). It is an immensely popular hymn, particularly in the United States, where it is used for both ...

History

Hoxton Square was laid out by Samuel Blewitt and Robert Hackshaw, who leased the land from the Austen family in 1683. Hoxton and Charles Squares, while upper-middle class, housed many non-conformists (with Anglicanism). From 1699 to 1729 an academy, offering a wide curriculum and also allowing "free enquiry" by its students, stood against the square.

Samuel Pike Samuel Pike (1717?–1773) was a British clergyman and a member of a religious movement known as Sandemanians. Life Pike was born about 1717 at "Ramsey, Wiltshire" (Wilson), which may mean Ramsbury, Wiltshire, or Romsey, Hampshire. He was educ ...

, who lived in one of houses, offered theological teaching from 1750. Samuel Morton Savage opened his Hoxton Square Academy there. The academy closed in 1785.

Catholic Church and School

Hoxton Square is home to the Augustinian Priory, school and Church of St Monica (architect: E. W. Pugin) built 1864-66 and the first Augustinian House in England since a brief attempt at revival under

Mary I of England Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor, and as "Bloody Mary" by her Protestant opponents, was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 and Queen of Spain from January 1556 until her death in 1558. She ...

Culture

Since the 1990s the square has become the heart of a nationally notable

arts and media scene, as well as being a hub of the thriving local entertainment district. It would be home to the ''Blue Note'' (formerly ''The Bass Clef''), which was a key club for both the acid jazz and

drum and bass Drum and bass (also written as drum & bass or drum'n'bass and commonly abbreviated as D&B, DnB, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by fast breakbeats (typically 165–185 beats per minute) with heavy bass and sub- ...

scenes. Between 2000 and 2012, the south side of the square was home to the

White Cube White Cube is a contemporary art gallery founded by Jay Jopling in London in 1993. The gallery has two branches in London: White Cube Mason's Yard in central London and White Cube Bermondsey in South East London; White Cube Hong Kong, in Centr ...

art gallery, which primarily showcased newer artists such as from the movement Young British Artists. Since the year 2000 the square's buildings, largely of Victorian vintage, have become host to bars, restaurants and offices - such as Sh! Women's Erotic Emporium. The

insurance Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge ...

group

Aviva Aviva plc is a British multinational insurance company headquartered in London, England. It has about 18 million customers across its core markets of the United Kingdom, Ireland and Canada. In the United Kingdom, Aviva is the largest general ...

increasingly have purchased property on the square to redevelop into what has been dubbed a "corporate campus".

Notable people

The Christian theologian John Thomas, founder of the

Christadelphian The Christadelphians () or Christadelphianism are a restorationist and millenarian Christian group who hold a view of biblical unitarianism. There are approximately 50,000 Christadelphians in around 120 countries. The movement developed in the ...

movement, was born at Hoxton Square in 1805, and in 1810 the square was home to

Peter Durand Peter Durand (21 October 1766 – 23 July 1822) was an English merchant who is widely credited with receiving the first patent for the idea of preserving food using tin cans. The patent (No 3372) was granted on August 25, 1810, by King George III ...

, who filed the first patent nationally for tinning food. One of the square's 18th-century residents,

,www.johnnewton.org
/ref> composed the popular hymn "

". The

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

of St John's Hoxton is nearby, where one of Prince George's ancestors was married in the mid-19th century. James Parkinson (1755–1824), the

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

and author of ''An Essay on the Shaking Palsy'', the subject of which is now known as

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms beco ...

, was in practice at No.1, which is commemorated with a

blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term ...

on the site.

References

{{coord, 51.5277, N, 0.08125, W, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Squares in the London Borough of Hackney Garden squares in London Hoxton Shoreditch

History

Catholic Church and School

Culture

Notable people

See also

References