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As you walk along the High Street today, with its multicultural mix of products and services from around the world, you still can gain faint glimpses of the long history of the road. Your eye catches old advertising signs like that of Dysons, a long gone grocer's store; and the diverse mix of buildings, spanning several centuries, now clad with the plastic signage and metal/glass frontages of the late 20th century. So how did this road, which to all intent stretches from the City of London to Cambridge, come about? There is definite evidence that over 200,000 years ago, during the Palaeolithic era, early man lived in the area. Excavations during the building boom of the late 19th century uncovered large quantities of flint weapons and implements, especially around the area of Alkam Road, Fountayne Road, and Osbaldeston Road. There is also evidence from as far west of the High Street as Ayrsome Road and in Abney Park Cemetery. And in 1960, during drainage work in Evering Road, the remain s of early mammals were found. The route to the north was created by the last throws of the Ice Age that piled up large deposits of rich gravel and brick earth at its extreme southern edge and this is seen today in the steep ridge that is Stamford Hill. Although it now flows deep underground as a main drain, the ancient Hackney Brook, which follows a course along the top of Clissold Park and Abney Park Cemetery, crossed what is now the lower slopes of Stamford Hill and headed east towards the River Lee. As the temperature rose, the area to the immediate south became rich fertile ground, fed by the wide river, and it was here that early man hunted and fished. During the Roman occupation of Britain, the army built a network of long straight roads to connect its military outposts. And what we know now as the High Street formed a small part of what was the Ermine Street, connecting London and Cambridge. At Hackney Brook it is believed the Romans built a bridge or causeway, although no hard evidence has been uncovered. After the departure of the Romans the road fell into neglect, and it wasn't until the middle of the 18th century that a concerted effort was made to maintain this main thoroughfare.
However, it has always had an important position as a route from the City of London to the north and north-east. The first recorded evidence of Stoke Newington can be found in the Domesday Book: 'In Newtone the Canons of St. Paul's have two hides. There is land for two ploughs and a half, and they are there now. There are four villanes, and thirty seven cottagers with ten acres. The land is worth fortyone shillings. This lay, and lies, in the demesne of St. Paul's. 'And the ancient Roman Road ran along the eastern border of the church land. By the first part of the 16th century Stoke Newington had a documented population of 100. In 1559 parish registers began to be kept and from that time the pattern of life in the growing village becomes more easily discerned. At this time the nobility had built a number of country houses and hunting lodges in the vicinity. Much of the area then was still wooded, and the road to the north cut through this much-favoured Elizabethan hunting and pleasure area. As it was only a few miles north of the stinking heap of the City, it was used by courtiers travelling between London and Theobalds, the Royal Hunting Lodge to the north, and beyond. Since early medieval times the Stoke Newington area had been held by the great church of St Paul's in the City. In 1560 the Manor of Stoke Newington, some 325 acres, was leased by Prebendary Thomas Penny, a scholar of Trinity College Cambridge, to William Patten, whose name is still recognised by pupils from the school that bears his name. This lease was renewed in 1565 for a period of 99 years to commence from Michaelmas 1576. Patten gave the lease to John Dudley, who lived in the Manor House, and because his wife received Queen Elizabeth on a visit to the house, we can still walk down Queen Elizabeth Walk, believed to have been a favourite walk in the grounds. On the High Street at this time the Earl of Oxford had a residence. He lived for part of the year in Stoke Newington because it was an easy journey to 'The Theatre' in Shoreditch - the first theatre in the country. It is believed by some that the Earl was in fact the author of much of Shakespeare's work. He later moved to Brooke House in Hackney you might say foolishly because he died of 'ye plague' in 1604. He was buried in St. John's Church. Because of the strict laws of the City, the good and the great would come out to Stoke Newington, and the area around, to enjoy the taverns and inns and to seek amusement. In an early play by Beaumont and Fletcher entitled 'The Knight of the Burning Pestle', the main lead suggests: 'March out and shew your willing minds By twenty and by twenty In 1605, King James Sixth of Scotland and First of England, who had travelled down from Scotland to claim his new crown, gained his first view of his new capital at the top of Stamford Hill. The royal party stopped |
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