Hackney, Middlesex
Hackney Central
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 Hackney Town Hall, built 1934–37 for the Metropolitan Borough of Hackney |
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 Hackney Central
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| Hackney Central shown within Greater London | |
| Population | 77,336 (2011) |
| OS grid reference | TQ345845 |
| • Charing Cross | 4 mi (6.4 km) SW |
| London borough | |
| Ceremonial county | Greater London |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | LONDON |
| Postcode district | E8 |
| Dialling code | 020 |
| Police | Metropolitan |
| Fire | London |
| Ambulance | London |
| EU Parliament | London |
| UK Parliament | |
| London Assembly | |
Hackney Central is the central district of the London Borough of Hackney in London, England.
The area is focused on Mare Street and the retail areas to the north of it. As such it extends north from Regent's Canal, takes in most of Broadway Market and follows each side of Mare Street till it terminates in the vicinity of Hackney Central railway station. The area also includes the central retail area which extends from Hackney Downs railway station in the west to the Hackney Walk Outlet Village, on Morning Lane, to the east.
Hackney Central is the area that once would have been known as Hackney Village. This was a place that flourished from the Tudor period, when principal members of the Court had their houses in the surrounding area, and King Henry VIII of England had a palace (located near the modern Lea Bridge Road roundabout). Hackney Central remained a popular resort for Londoners until the end of the Georgian era, when this suburb of London began to be completely built up. Railways, trams and factories brought an end to Hackney's rural atmosphere during the Victorian era, and its fortunes declined.
The industries of nearby Homerton and the Lee Valley have largely disappeared, leaving the NHS and local council as the largest employers. Successive waves of immigrants, both from abroad and within the United Kingdom, make modern Hackney a culturally vibrant part of inner London, with both the benefits and challenges that this brings.
Extensive post-World War II redevelopment replaced much of the housing stock, but the Georgian housing and Victorian terraces that remain have become popular again.
In 1727 Daniel Defoe said of the villages of Hackney
All these, except the Wyck-house, are within a few years so encreas'd in buildings, and so fully inhabited, that there is no comparison to be made between their present and past state: Every separate hamlet is encreas'd, and some of them more than treble as big as formerly; Indeed as this whole town is included in the bills of mortality, tho' no where joining to London, it is in some respects to be call'd a part of it.
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Wikipedia