We've found 62 parks

The Regent's Canal was built between 1812-20 to connect the Paddington Branch of the Grand Junction Canal to the river Thames at Limehouse. It runs through a number of boroughs and is now an important public amenity. The 4km stretch of the Regent's Canal that runs through south Hackney has been publicly accessible only since the 1980s. One of its special qualities is that it is secret, largely hidden public space. Trees are found on some sections sometimes intentionally planted, but sometimes self sown. Although the original commercial use of the canal has ceased, it is much used for recreation, including dog walking, canoeing, fishing, running, cycling, pleasure boat cruising.

Sanford Terrace is an elegant late C18th Georgian terrace, fronted by a wide strip of mown grass with trees along the perimeter with Rectory Road, enclosed by low rails and posts and crossed by paths. It once formed part of Stoke Newington Common.

Shacklewell was a medieval hamlet that grew up on both sides of Shacklewell Lane, an old route between the village of Hackney and Kingsland Road. An ancient well attracted visitors from the C17th onwards, and various inns and hostelries were established here. Shacklewell Green and Shacklewell Lane Triangle, sometimes called the 'small green', are survivals of manorial waste that were given to Hackney Board of Works for public open space in 1883 by the Lord of the Manor, whose manor house was to the north. The Green has perimeter plane trees and contains the 1914-18 war memorial.

Shoreditch Park was laid out by the LCC Parks Department on land cleared after WWII bombing, previously terraced housing. Nearby is the former Gainsborough Pictures film studios used by Alfred Hitchcock. The park is essentially in two parts, divided along the line of Bridport Place where there are a number of 1860s ornate lamp standards. In the 1980s various sports and recreational facilities were added in the western part. In 2008 improvements to the park took place, a huge granite stone was placed in the park, part of 'Boulder' a sculpture project by artist John Frankland in two Hackney parks. In both parks the boulders are intended to be used for climbing.

* on The National Heritage List for England, Parks & Gardens

Springfield Park was created on a hilly site that until the C18th was part meadows and part used for commercial purposes. By mid/late C19th three houses and their grounds were here: The Chestnuts, Springfield House and Spring House. Pulham & Co are known to have undertaken some work for C Jacomb at Springfield Park in 1871. In 1904/5 all 3 houses were purchased by the LCC and a new public park laid out, retaining much of the C19th landscaping. Springfield House, known as White Lodge, remains as do C19th stables, but other buildings were demolished. The park was laid out with numerous paths, areas of woodland, shrubberies, open lawn and grassland, a bandstand and bowling green. Tennis courts were added in the 1930s. There is a fine collection of mature trees. The eastern edge abuts a path along the River Lea, beyond which are Walthamstow Marshes.

By the mid C18th there were a number of large houses in the area and St Barnabas was consecrated in 1847 when the population of the former hamlet of Homerton was increasing. Its site had been that of a coach-house, stabling, and two paddocks. The church was built largely at the instigation of the Hackney Phalanx, an Anglican group who were instrumental in building churches and schools in Hackney. The churchyard is largely grassed and contains a number of headstones, with a war memorial in front of the church.

The church of St John of Jerusalem was built in 1848, replacing a chapel-of-ease of 1806-10 on the north side of Well Street that had become parish church for South Hackney in 1825 when the parish was divided into three. The original spire was lost during WWII, replaced by a new slender spire. The church is surrounded by its churchyard on a large island site with an alley of C19th plane trees, railed graveyard with C20th railings, headstones, and 2 handsome C19th monuments dedicated to the Hopewell and the Framington families. In 1904 footpaths and lighting were provided through the churchyard.

St John-at-Hackney Churchyard Gardens was the burial ground of Hackney's first parish church of St Augustine. The medieval church was demolished in 1790 although the C13th tower remains. Its burial ground was walled in 1707 and expanded twice in the C18th, in 1763 and 1790. The latter expansion enabled the erection of the new church of St John when a much larger church was needed for the growing population. The burial ground was declared full in 1859, and in 1893/4 was converted into a public garden; graves were grassed over, headstones moved to the perimeter and chest tombs into railed enclosures. It was re-opened as St John’s Gardens in 1894. In 1963, a walled garden was laid out. Neglected by the late C20th, in 2006/7 the gardens were extensively refurbished.

St John the Baptist Church is an early C19th church of classical design. The churchyard was laid out as a public garden in 1893 with grants from the MPGA, the MBW and the LCC. In the 1990s renovations to the church included addition of a children's play area. The garden has fine C19th ornamental gates and railings, shaped at one point around a drinking fountain. Mature plane trees surround the site and there is perimeter planting and seating; a few gravestones and chest tombs remain to the south of the church.

St Joseph's Hospice was established in 1905 on the former estate of Cambridge Lodge, set up at the instigation of Father Peter Gallwey, Rector of Farm Street Jesuit Mission, to help the destitute of East London. He gained support from the Archbishop of Westminster and Miss Grace Goldsmith, whose gift of £300 a year in 1899 enabled a group of Sisters of Charity to come from Dublin to work in Hackney. In 1903 Cambridge Lodge came up for sale and was purchased for the Sisters to set up the hospice, which opened in January 1905. Over the years it has expanded but has always had a garden for recreation and contemplation. There are now different garden areas with roses, traditional perennials, half-hardy tropical plants, annual bedding schemes and container planting. The Centenary Garden was exhibited and won a medal at Chelsea Flower Show in 2005. Further garden areas are being created as part of new building works in 2010.

There has been a church on this site from at least the 1140s when it was granted to the Priory of Holy Trinity, Aldgate. The current church and Clerk's House date from the 1730s. The birth of English Theatre is said to have originated in Shoreditch when James Burbage leased land in 1576 and built a theatre here, where plays could be performed since it was outside the City walls. Burbage and his sons were all buried in the churchyard, as were many literary and theatrical people and as a result St Leonard's became known as the Actors Church. The churchyard was extended a number of times and after it closed for burials was converted into a public garden in the late C19th. It was laid out with paths, areas of lawn, shrubberies and flower beds; most gravestones were cleared, although some remained along the back of the church and on the north wall of the Clerk's House. C18th cast-iron railings and wrought iron gates remained, and the stocks and whipping post under a thatched roof were in the north west corner of the site.

From the 1840s, Dalston was rapidly expanding as a middle class suburb and in the 1860s a planned residential development was built on land owned by the Lord of the Manor. The population was initially served by an iron church, which St Mark's Church was built to replace in 1863-66. One of the largest parish church in London, it was nicknamed the Cathedral of the East. The tower, built in 1877-80, features a turret barometer, probably the only working one in Europe. The church is surrounded by a churchyard garden with lawn, some shrubbery and notable mature trees around the railed perimeter.