Stoke Newington Architecture Walking Tour - Saturday 8 June 2024 11am

This walking tour takes participants on a journey through the history of British housing – led by architecturally-trained town planner Lachlan Anderson-Frank – using examples in and around Stoke Newington.

Originally a medieval village outside of London, Stoke Newington was rapidly absorbed into the expanding city as its population exploded in the early 19th century. The area, once filled with grand estates for the wealthy, was rapidly developed with Victorian housing  including by Sir Thomas Cubitt, the Victorian developer of Belgravia, which feature in the tour.

In 1889, Clissold Park was saved by the new London County Council and opened as a public park, but this did not halt the social transformation of the area. By 1900, 20% of the population lived in poverty and new migrant communities were settling in the area. In the decades that followed, overcrowding and poor quality homes led the first social housing to be built including the Lordship Estate as well as private housing such as Clissold Court.

The area was heavily bombed in World War II and saw further social housing built in the postwar period such as the Highbury Quadrant and Kings Crescent Estates, also featured on this tour. In recent years the area has become highly desirable and some estates have been transformed by Hackney Council, and the tour ends by looking at some recent award-winning projects led by the council.

This tour provides an overview of the history of British Housing since 1800, using notable local examples to tell the social history of Stoke Newington. Highlight buildings or stops on the route: 

1. Clissold House, architect unknown, 1793

2. 236-246 Albion Road, Thomas Cubitt, 1850-62

3. Lordship Estate, Howes and Jackman, 1936

4. Clissold Court, Howes and Jackman, 1936

5. Kings Crescent Estate, Karakusevic Carson, Henley Halebrown and Muf, 2017

6. Highbury Quadrant Estate, LCC Architects Department, 1954

Key information:

Meet: On the slope in front of Clissold House in Clissold Park (address is Church Street
N16 9HJ)

Duration: 2 hrs

Distance: 2km approx

Ends: Highbury Quadrant Estate, near to Clissold Park Tavern N16 9DB

Meet the tour guide...
Lachlan Anderson-Frank is a architecturally trained and chartered town planner working at the London Borough of Enfield. Lachlan has contributed as an author to publications including Domus, Icon, Open City, the MIT Journal of Urban Planning, and Archdaily. He has also appeared as a public speaker for Urban Design London, the Royal Town Planning Institute, 20th Century Society, the Urban Design Group, and has featured on design panels for Hackney Council and the Architectural Association. He joined the Open City tours team in June 2021.