Stoke Newington: Economic history

Economic history

Agrarian history

In 1086 Stoke Newington consisted of 2 hides of land, fully cultivated, for 2 1/2 ploughs. There were 4 villeins, and 37 cottars on 10 a. The whole, belonging to St. Paul's cathedral, was worth 40s. T.R.E. and 41s. by 1086. (fn. 23) By 1329 the parish was apparently divided between the lord's demesne and the land of tenants. (fn. 24) The demesne, in the north part, was leased out by the 1460s, (fn. 25) and by the 1560s suffered from spoliation of the woods, lack of water, and dereliction of buildings. (fn. 26) William Patten, lessee of the manor, also acquired at least 40 a. of customary land, mostly bordering the demesne, which he conveyed to the Dudleys in 1570; most of it was subleased. (fn. 27) The demesne occupied 313 a. out of 536 a. (some 58 per cent) listed in 1617 and 1639. Of this, 77 a. was woodland, occupied by Sir Francis Popham himself, as was 45 a. of farmland in 1617. The rest of the demesne was divided among five tenants in 1617 and seven in 1639. The largest holdings were those of one Green (83 a.) in 1617 and H. Kempson (62 a.) in 1639. In 1649 Col. Alexander Popham had in hand 133 a. of the demesne, then said to total 323 a., the rest being divided among six other tenants, of whom one, Phillips, with 65 a., was the largest. The subleased demesne does not seem to have crystallized in to farms, since acreages were constantly changing. (fn. 28)

From the late 17th century the demesne estate had been enlarged by copyhold land adjoining it on the south-east, which had been acquired by Thomas Gunston and on which Abney House was built. Subsequently the lords of the manor kept the copyhold (22 a.) in hand and created their park on it, while subleasing the demesne. (fn. 29) In 1715 some 286 a. of the demesne were leased to Thomas Arnold, who also held 24 a. of copyhold. (fn. 30) There is some controversy over a map of the demesne dated 1734 but omitting Church Row. (fn. 31) Buildings at the southern edge may represent the old manor house, which was demolished in 1695, and the map may have been copied from a much earlier one. (fn. 32) The map does, however, include the new course of the New River, dating from c. 1724, and the buildings may represent a home farm. By 1783 the demesne was divided into farms of 177 a. and 129 a., subleased to Thomas Porter and Henry Vernon respectively. Each was centred on a house on the north side of Church Street, presumably near Barn Street. (fn. 33) The division probably dated from the 1740s, and was in 1796 marked by The Old Cut, the original course of the New River. (fn. 34) In 1808 seven-year leases were made of holdings of 114 a., 60 a., and 45 a. (fn. 35) The largest holding, subleased to Thomas Jarman, was in 1813 subleased by him to Thomas Strong. (fn. 36)

The demesne was broken up after the Act of 1814 which permitted building subleases, although the expected building did not take place. By the 1830s the prebendary was complaining of a fall in the value of property, both as farmland and for housing. In 1835 there was some 265 a. of demesne. (fn. 37) By 1848 the largest subleases were of 55 a. to the New River Co. and of 50 a., but no farmhouse, to Edward Honeyball. (fn. 38)

Stoke Newington prebend was worth £3 9s. in 1254 and £28 in 1535. (fn. 39) The manor was valued at £487 a year above the reserved rent of £19 in 1649 and at £826 above the reserved rent of £28 in 1783. In 1814 the rack and ground rents of demesne land totalled £2,185. (fn. 40) Under the Act of 1814 the prebendary took a third of the manorial profits and the lessee two-thirds. In 1832 the prebendary's annual revenue was £1,450, of which £683 came from rack rents on demesne leases and £321 from ground rents on building leases, which were not as profitable as had been hoped. (fn. 41) From the 1840s and especially in the 1870s, however, they multiplied and in 1881 the Ecclesiastical Commissioners paid £180,000 to the Eade trustees for the leasehold interest. (fn. 42)

The rest of the parish, except for the glebe, was in 1814, and probably always, copyhold. (fn. 43) Cottagers, possibly descendants of the Domesday cottars, were mentioned in 1329 (fn. 44) and rents of freeholders c. 1516, (fn. 45) although there is no other reference to freehold, except the rectorial glebe. (fn. 46)

Reliefs were paid on succession and entry fines on alienation in 1329. (fn. 47) In the 16th century the manorial customs included widows' dower right to a third of their husbands' property, admission fines at will, and the necessity to obtain permission to combine lands, cut down trees, or erect buildings; houses left in disrepair would be seized into the lord's hands. (fn. 48) By 1649 the fines at descent or alienation had become fixed at 1 1/2 year's value and, together with other profits of courts, averaged £42 a year; the quitrents payable by copyholders at Michaelmas totalled £3 12s. 4 1/2d. (fn. 49) In 1679 the lords were accused of demanding an entry fine of 3 years' value, contrary to manorial custom. (fn. 50) In 1783 some 64 copyholders paid £4 6s. 2d. a year in quitrents and fines and £174 6s. in fines and profits of courts. By 1814 some 90 copyholders paid £4 17s. 6 1/2d. in quitrents and £766 in fines at death or alienation. (fn. 51) In 1805 and 1810 the lord agreed to building leases on some 30 a. of copyhold land (fn. 52) and the Act of 1814 allowed building leases of both copyhold and demesne land. It also permitted enfranchisement, which took place throughout the 19th century, at least 140 a. being recorded in 1840. (fn. 53)

Thirty-three families were named on the single medieval court roll, for 1329. (fn. 54) Three, Pentecost, le Meyr, and Colyn, were also present in 1340 (fn. 55) and there was still a Pentecost in Stoke Newington in 1449. (fn. 56) There were Salmans in 1329 and c. 1472. (fn. 57) One family may have been resident from the 1320s to the late 17th century: William atte Stoke was recorded in 1329 and the Stokkers, allied by marriage to the Jekylls, had property at least from the late 15th century to the 1570s (fn. 58) and may have included Thomas Stock (d. 1664), founder of the parish charity. (fn. 59) The Donnington family had connexions with Stoke Newington from the mid 15th to the late 16th century (fn. 60) and was one of several with interests in London. By the late 16th century, of 73 families mentioned in the court rolls, 10 were 'of London'. Some London merchants, like the draper William Parker, lived on their property in Stoke Newington, others, like Edward Tursett, subleased it. (fn. 61)

There seems to have been little continuity of either landowners or occupiers. Of 50 names in the late 17th-century court rolls, only three featured in those of the late 16th century. (fn. 62) Furthermore, only 20 of the 82 people assessed for hearth tax in 1674 were mentioned in the late 17th-century court rolls, suggesting a high proportion of leased property. (fn. 63)

Estates were small, the largest (outside the demesne) listed in 1617 and 1639 being those of Stephens (74 a.) and Thomas Terry, the elder and younger respectively (65 a.). Most were subleased, although Terry occupied 52 a. of his own land, some of it north of Church Street bordering the demesne lands, where he occupied 44 a. in 1649. (fn. 64) Among some 100 a. not listed in 1617 and 1639 was the estate held by the heirs of Richard Heard (d. 1579), who held some 87 a., including land in South Hornsey. After the Hornsey portion was sold probably soon after 1628, the 60-a. Pulteney estate was the largest in Stoke Newington; it was probably always subleased. Stephens's estate had broken up by the end of the 17th century and Terry's was divided in 1690. (fn. 65) Other estates were rarely more than 30 a. In 1813 the largest were those of Thomas Strong, lessee of all the farmland of the Pulteney estate and sublessee of most of 108 a. of demesne leased to Thomas Jarman and part of 14 a. of the Abney estate. William Crawshay held some 60 a., which included the Hornsey part of Clissold Park. Edward and William Giles were lessees of 44 a. and 64 a. of demesne land. Thomas Rigby had 34 a. of copyhold, part of which he leased for market gardening, and William Rhodes held 31 a. from the Carr and Foy estates for brickmaking. (fn. 66) In 1848 the largest estate outside the demesne was the Abney Park Cemetery Co.'s 31 a. William Webb was lessee of 33 a. of brickfields from Martha Carr and Benjamin Massey. Augustus Clissold's 22 a., which he owned and occupied, were made up of copyhold and demesne land, which he had purchased. (fn. 67)

There were crofts and common fields, Onerefield and Goldbetesfield being named, in 1329. (fn. 68) Other common fields were Southfield, Northfield, Ikenfield, Stonefield, and Cukenfield(?) in 1460 (fn. 69) and Conduitfield and Stirtlellfield in 1540. (fn. 70) The 'common fields of Newington', so called in 1571, included Northfield and Southfield. (fn. 71) Inclosure probably accompanied the conversion from arable to grass, Stonefield (later Stonefields) for example having been inclosed by 1682 and probably by 1617. (fn. 72) Closes belonging to Bartholomew Jekyll c. 1551 and to the Pulteney estate in 1678 included Winterfield. (fn. 73)

The lord's pasture was mentioned in 1329. (fn. 74) Cattle were common in the 16th century, on the demesne and on copyhold. (fn. 75) The lessee of the manor house in 1590 had two yoke of draught oxen, 14 kine and a bull, three yearlings, three sows and a boar and three small young pigs or 'shoattes'. (fn. 76) Presentments for converting tillage to pasture were made in the mid 16th century. (fn. 77) Wheat was grown in a close in Brownswood on Heard's estate in 1577 (fn. 78) but in 1611 the estate was apparently entirely under grass for milk kine and horses. (fn. 79) A London butcher bought land at Newington Green in 1570 (fn. 80) and in 1596 a grazier of Stoke Newington sold 57 sheep directly to a London butcher. (fn. 81) Hay and cattle were the main products of Thomas Terry's estate in 1629 (fn. 82) and all of the 323-a. demesne, except 77 a. of woodland, was meadow or pasture in 1649. (fn. 83) In 1661 one London innholder leased land in Stoke Newington mainly for the hay, although he also kept cattle, (fn. 84) and in 1673 another bought the hay crop of a Newington estate. (fn. 85) Throughout the 12 years before 1715 no grain was grown on the demesne. In 1707, of its 286 a., 186 a. were mown for hay. Twelve cows, with calves, were agisted, as were 12 horses for five weeks. The demesne also yielded 5 bushels of apples and 1 peck of pears, and supported a few hens and ducks. (fn. 86)

There was a grazier in the 1720s (fn. 87) and Stoke Newington was one of the places where butchers in the late 18th century selected cattle on their way to Smithfield. (fn. 88) The population was swollen in the summer during the 18th and 19th centuries by itinerant haymakers. (fn. 89) There was apparently no arable in the 1740s (fn. 90) and only a little, north of Newington Green, in 1800. (fn. 91) At the end of the 18th century, apart from 18 a. of market gardens, the whole of Stoke Newington was meadow and pasture supporting some 120 cows, whose dung helped to produce two or three crops of hay a year, (fn. 92) and in 1814 the 612 a. contained very little arable. (fn. 93) In 1848, excluding the demesne and glebe, there were some 270 a. in the parish, of which 40 a. were meadow and pasture; 36 a. of brickfield and 29 a. of cemetery had been grassland from 1829 to 1835, 29 a. were under fruit and vegetables, and the rest was housing. (fn. 94) There were 8 a. of arable on the demesne and another 23 1/2 a. may have been arable. (fn. 95) The brickfields, extending into the central detached part of South Hornsey, were exhausted by the middle of the century and for a short time the land supported a few cows kept by milkmen before it was built up as Albert Town. (fn. 96)

In 1831 four farmers employed labourers, of whom there were 40, and two employed none. (fn. 97) Part of the demesne was leased to a cowkeeper before 1837. (fn. 98) By 1851, when building was spreading over both demesne and copyhold, only two men were described as farmers' labourers; there were four cowkeepers, a cattle dealer, a cattle salesman, a drover, and a chaff cutter. (fn. 99) In 1861 there were cowkeepers in Barn Street, Meadow Street, and Green Lanes and a dairywoman in Meadow Street. (fn. 1) In 1865 the driving of cattle through Church Street on Sundays caused great annoyance; it is not recorded whether they were local cattle or foreign cattle on their way to the market in Islington. (fn. 2) A cattle salesman lived in Green Lanes in 1871 (fn. 3) and took leases of demesne land in 1878 and 1879. (fn. 4) By 1870 there were two farms of 20-50 a., one other agricultural holding, and three people who kept stock but had no land. The farmland included 21 a. for hay and 36 a. of grazing, presumably supporting the parish's 32 milk cows, three other cattle, and four pigs. (fn. 5) In the 1870s cattle were grazed south of Burma Road, and Brooklands Farm had grazing rights in Clissold Park, where hay was also made. (fn. 6) By 1880 there were two agricultural holdings, 23 1/2 a. of grass, 20 a. of other green crops, and four people keeping livestock, presumably the 37 milk cows, the only stock re- corded. (fn. 7) No farming land was recorded in 1890, although six people kept 47 milk cows and five pigs. (fn. 8) In 1891 there were only three cowkeepers and 11 milk cows. (fn. 9) There were two cowsheds in 1903, (fn. 10) one of which closed in 1912 (fn. 11) and the other between 1921 and 1925. (fn. 12)

Nurseries and market gardens

The Southeast corner of the parish, consisting of brickearth and gravel, more suitable than clay for horticulture, was on the edge of the areas which, from the 16th century, supplied the capital with fruit and vegetables. (fn. 13) In 1597 a London fruiterer had by lease the apples, pears, cherries, plums, medlars, filberts, and barberries in an orchard in Stoke Newington, possibly belonging to the manor house, for 15 years. (fn. 14) In 1701 the orchard of Wentworth House had more than 36 fruit trees, including pears, apples, cherries, and walnuts. (fn. 15) In 1726 a house, probably in Church Street, had vines in the courtyard and a walled garden containing some 42 fruit trees, including apples, currants, and gooseberries. (fn. 16) A merchant's house in Paradise Row in 1755 had a large garden, with wall and other fruit trees, and a hothouse. (fn. 17) In 1722 Sir Nathaniel Gould's head gardener produced cucumbers at Fleetwood House two weeks before Christmas. (fn. 18) Less common was mustard seed, which was thrashed for Mr. Watkins in Newington in 1756. (fn. 19) In the early 19th century a show devoted entirely to gooseberries was held at Stoke Newington. (fn. 20)

Two gardeners of Stoke Newington were mentioned in 1614 (fn. 21) and the first Quaker meeting place in 1698 was the house of a gardener. (fn. 22) One living on the Palatine estate in 1724 built a house with a large garden nearby. (fn. 23a) A gardener lived in Paradise Row in 1750 (fn. 24a) and in 1757 property near the White Lion in High Street passed from one gardener to another. (fn. 25a) Market gardens occupied 18 a. in 1795 (fn. 26a) and 11 a. in 1848, when there were also 18 a. of orchards. (fn. 27a) In 1851 there were 6 nurserymen, 2 seedsmen and florists, 1 market gardener, and presumably further market gardeners among the 49 gardeners most of whom were probably employed for the private gardens of large houses. (fn. 28a) In 1851 there was a nurseryman and commercial gardener in the eastern part of South Hornsey. (fn. 29a)

Thomas Rigby (d. 1816), who had property on either side of the eastern part of Church Street from 1775 and 16 a. of garden in 1813, which had been held since 1772 by another gardener, was the most important early market gardener. (fn. 30a) Along the London road, particularly in the eastern part of South Hornsey, there were several nurseries in the early 19th century. The Ross family ran the Caledonian nursery in Stoke Newington Road from c. 1786, having some 25 a. of Hornsey land in 1796, (fn. 31a) until c. 1840. (fn. 32a) One of two other nurseries in the London road in 1830 (fn. 33a) belonged to William Watts and by 1855, as Brunswick nursery, was held by Thomas Watts in Middleton Place (no. 9 Stoke Newington High Street). (fn. 34a) Thomas still had it in 1861 (fn. 35a) and, although the family connexion had been severed by 1876, (fn. 36a) the nursery survived until the later 1890s. (fn. 37a) Most of Watts's nursery ground was at the western end of Barrett's Grove and was built over after c. 1870. (fn. 38a) Watercress beds near Barrett's Grove in the 1850s (fn. 39a) were possibly still productive in 1871, when a watercress seller lived in Cock and Castle Lane. (fn. 40a) Eden nursery, close to Watts's in Middleton, later Ross, Place, belonged to Robert Mackay from c. 1839 to c. 1860. (fn. 41a)

John (Jackey) Milne leased land at the northeastern end of Albion Road from Thomas Cubitt, where he had a nursery by 1834. (fn. 42a) It passed between 1842 and 1845 to John and Henry Brown, (fn. 43a) who still had it in 1860, and survived in 1870. (fn. 44a) In 1842 Milne also leased glebeland east of Church Path (Walk), (fn. 45a) which by 1848 was described as 2 a. of garden ground, then leased by Henry Tyler. (fn. 46a) In 1861 it was in the hands of Robert Oubridge, (fn. 47a) who marketed geraniums (fn. 48a) and founded a firm which survived until 1936, when the nursery was taken by Stroud Bros., who left in 1963. (fn. 49a)

Other nurseries were those of Alfred Kendall, who leased 1 3/4 a. of demesne east of Queen Elizabeth's Walk from 1841 until his death in 1878 when the land was built over, (fn. 50a) Charles Argent, with 2 a. on the west side of Park Street from c. 1845 to c. 1860, (fn. 51a) and Robert Foot, with 6 a. of market garden on the east side bordering Abney Park cemetery from c. 1848 to c. 1859. (fn. 52a) A nursery with watercress beds next to it, in Green Lanes north of Clissold Park, by 1848 was owned by Richard Bird. (fn. 53a) Henry Bird had it in 1860 (fn. 54a) but by 1871 it had passed to Henry Stroud, (fn. 55a) who renewed the lease in 1889. (fn. 56a) Stroud Bros. remained at no. 182 Green Lanes until 1936 when the firm moved to Church Walk. (fn. 57a) John West of Devonshire Cottages at the southern end of Green Lanes was a master florist employing two men in 1851 (fn. 58a) and still there in 1860. (fn. 59a) Joseph Paxton, a gardener of Millfield Place, a little to the north, in 1851 (fn. 60a) was still in Green Lanes in 1876 (fn. 61a) and probably responsible for the large nursery north of the road near Newington Green from c. 1870 to c. 1894. (fn. 62a) Manor Park nursery in St. Kilda's Road opened in 1889 and closed in the 1920s, although one greenhouse survived in 1936. (fn. 63a) There were other nurseries at Grayling Road from c. 1895 to c. 1915 (fn. 64a) and Fairholt Road (Fernbank) from c. 1890 to c. 1894. (fn. 65a)

Shirley Hibberd (1825-90), the horticultural writer, lived at no. 67 (later no. 12) Lordship Terrace, where he laid out the garden in 1858, and probably used Oubridge's nursery for his plant trials. (fn. 66a)

Mills

A watermill on Hackney brook near Green Lanes may be indicated by the name Millfield used of the land in Hornsey south of the brook in 1577. (fn. 67a) In 1813 and possibly in 1735 there was an old windmill on the Pulteney estate, (fn. 68a) west of Green Lanes but within the Stoke Newington boundary. (fn. 69a) It was in ruins by 1852. (fn. 70a)

Trade and industry (fn. 71a)

There was a 'weyemaker' (?cheesemaker) in 1344 (fn. 72a) and hackneymen of Stoke Newington were mentioned in 1428, c. 1473, and c. 1540. (fn. 73a) There were a tailor and a shoemaker in High Street in 1570, (fn. 74a) an upholsterer and a needlemaker in the parish in 1612, (fn. 75a) a tailor in 1614, (fn. 76a) two carpenters in 1616, a coiner in 1617, (fn. 77a) a joiner in 1665, (fn. 78a) and a cordwainer in 1691. (fn. 79a) In the 1690s 60-70 civet cats were farmed at Newington Green for the oil used for perfumery. (fn. 80a) Gloves were washed and coloured in 1709 at a house in Church Street where lodgers were accommodated 'to encourage industry'. (fn. 81a)

Eighteenth-century inhabitants included a bricklayer and an armourer (1715), (fn. 82a) a clockmaker (1746), (fn. 83a) a staymaker (1758), (fn. 84a) a carpenter (1775), (fn. 85a) and several plumbers (before 1750, 1750, 1775). (fn. 86a) In 1801 trade, manufacture, and crafts employed 53 people. (fn. 87a) Shops in 1813 included those of 3 butchers, 3 carpenters, a baker, a smith, a plumber, and a stone mason. (fn. 88a) In 1817 a building in Church Street had previously been a fruiterer's shop. (fn. 89a)

There were some 140 shops and workshops in Stoke Newington in 1826, including the eastern, Hackney, side of High Street and Stoke Newington Road, of which 33 were in Church Street. They included a whitesmith, a builder, a bricklayer, and two painters but were mostly retailers, among whom were a fishmonger, a confectioner, a bookseller, a toy dealer, and a pawnbroker. (fn. 90a) In 1831 retail trade and handicraft employed 290 people (fn. 91a) and in 1834 the number of shops and workshops had risen to 211 including both sides of the London road. Among them were 3 hairdressers, 2 tobacconists, 4 pastrycooks, and an eating house in the London road and a hairdresser in Church Street. (fn. 92a) In the mid 19th century tradesmen and small craftsmen still predominated over industry. They numbered 138 in 1849, of which 59 were in the Stoke Newington section of the London road and 55 in Church Street, and only a jeweller, a perfumer, and a hosier had been added to the categories of 1834. (fn. 93a)

Shops remained important in the London road until well into the 20th century but industry, which apart from brickmaking had played a minor role until the later 19th century, grew with Stoke Newington's population. In 1826 there were a coachbuilder and a paper stainer in the London road (fn. 94a) but in 1831 only three people in the parish were employed in manufacture (fn. 95a) and in 1834 there was no distinguishing manufacture. (fn. 96a) In 1841 there was a basketmaker and a coach painter in Diapason Row in the South Hornsey part of the London road. (fn. 97a) Industry was still mostly concentrated in the London road in 1851. The Hornsey part, in addition to the coach painter, had 3 cabinet makers, a coach trimmer, a mechanic, a mason, and a printer's compositor. (fn. 98a) The Stoke Newington frontage included 3 masons, a brewer, a coach painter, an envelope folder, a bedstead maker, and a staymaker. From the London road industry spread to Barrett's Grove, John's Place, and Back Lane (Boleyn Road), where there were several people employed in printing, a coach wright, and makers of cabinets, musical instruments, fishing rods, and dolls. In Church Street, where craft-based industry was beginning to grow, there was a whitesmith, an upholsterer, and makers of coaches, harness, cabinets, corsets, and straw bonnets. There were a few craftsmen in other parts of the parish, Lordship Road, Green Lanes, and Albion Road. (fn. 99a)

From c. 1851 the skills of immigrants from the City and east end encouraged the establishment of a great number and variety of businesses. Among them were businesses in the clothing and furnishing industries, both associated with Jews, and printing, which moved out from Clerkenwell. Most firms were small and short lived, dependent initially on skilled craftsmen and later, with mass production, on cheap labour. In the 1850s and 1860s industry, in the guise of small craftsmen, proliferated especially in Albert Town and, to a lesser degree, in the eastern part of South Hornsey. In 1851 Victoria Grove had housed a timber worker and a printer's compositor (fn. 1a) and by 1861 the area had a zinc worker, a cabinet maker and manufacturers of feathers and fancy brushes, and Albert Town a printer's compositor, a mason, a stone sawyer, a wire drawer, a whitesmith, makers of cabinets, mathematical and musical instruments, iron safes, chronometers, trousers, mantles, stays, water colours, and packing cases. Near Church Street were a surgical instrument maker, a brassworker, and blind makers. (fn. 2a) By 1871 Albert Town had a die sinker and makers of venetian blinds, umbrellas, and chandeliers. (fn. 3a)

While most industry was carried on in workshops within private houses or gardens, factories began to appear, mainly in the south-eastern corner of Stoke Newington. A carriage factory was built behind Nelson Terrace off Castle Lane (Crossway) c. 1870 (fn. 4a) and workshops were built in the same road in 1874. (fn. 5a) In 1878 'a building for engineering purposes' was erected in Barrett's Grove (fn. 6a) and in 1880 John Studds, a builder and former carpenter, built a workshop there for himself. (fn. 7a) He had a foundry in 1881 (fn. 8a) and by 1896 his premises housed other firms, including makers of electric plates and bicycles.

In 1876 in the eastern part of South Hornsey there was an ostrich feather manufacturer in Victoria Road, manufacturers of pianos, water colours, and opera glasses in Warwick Road, and a cabinet maker and printer in Nevill Road. The area lost most of its industry towards 1900 but Albert Town retained 17-18 firms throughout the period 1885-1914, although individual firms were short lived and small. Albion Road, hitherto an exclusive residential area, had 2 builders in 1880, 4 by 1885, and 6 by 1904. It housed a gas fitting manufacturer in 1881. (fn. 9a) and by 1890 Stock & Sons, coachbuilders, had replaced one of the builders. Clissold works were built at no. 151 in 1892 for a mantle maker, (fn. 10a) 8 workshops were erected in the road in 1894, (fn. 11a) and a factory was built for William Page, portmanteau maker, in 1895. (fn. 12a) There were 11 firms by 1904, including a tennis recquet manufacturer and two cycle makers, and 14 by 1914, including a printer at no. 108. At the southern end Edward Hollands built a factory and outbuilding adjoining no. 42 Newington Green in 1909. (fn. 13a) A factory was built behind nos. 15 and 17 Springdale Road in the south-west corner of the borough in 1911 for A. Chatterton & Co., embroiderers. (fn. 14a)

The London road continued to house such varied craftsmen as a stonemason and makers of stays, umbrellas, spectacles, and blinds in High Street in 1871. (fn. 15a) By 1876 there were 5 builders in Church Street, besides Whincop & Son, timber merchants, at no. 40, one of the few firms still in Stoke Newington in 1983, and Pinch & Whipple, staymakers, at no. 5. A piano maker's had opened by 1885 and workshops were erected in Clarence Terrace in the 1880s and 1890s, (fn. 16a) especially for Yates & Co., dyers, who survived until the 1930s. Prams and cycles were made by 1894 in Church Street, where there were some 22 manufacturers by 1914.

Industry began to spread north of Church Street at the end of the 19th century. In 1884 a chimney shaft was built at Hitchens Fire Proof Plastering Co.'s Grayling works at the back of Grayling Road. (fn. 17a) Two factories were built beside Grayling works in 1902 (fn. 18a) and Albion works was built at no. 49 Grayling Road in 1908. (fn. 19a) A drain-pipe manufacturer had opened alongside the railway in Manor Road by 1885. By 1914 Manor Road housed jam manufacturers, two clothing manufacturers, and makers of cycles and umbrellas. Carter, Paterson & Co. had van works in Lordship Road from 1908.

There were 76 factories and workshops registered in Stoke Newington parish in 1897 and 342, employing 1,709 people, in the borough, which included South Hornsey, by 1906. (fn. 20a) Most factories were small, often in back gardens, while workshops were usually converted rooms. Outworking was widespread, especially in the clothing industry, and there were 274 outworkers in 1905. (fn. 21a) By 1915 there were about 800 domestic workrooms in addition to the 286 registered factories and workshops. (fn. 22a)

The number of registered factories and workshops varied little before the Second World War, being 284 in 1914, 330 in 1921, (fn. 23b) and 329 in 1938, although the workforce increased to 6,030. (fn. 24b) Despite conversions of rooms into workshops, noted in 1936, the main tendency was to build larger factories, usually on vacant land enclosed by streets. Since conversion of rooms was forbidden on the Church Commissioners' land, workshops in the north part were rare. (fn. 25b)

One of the last undeveloped sites, the 10-a. Willows estate south and south-west of Paradise Row, was for sale in 1891. Carysfort Road was constructed, with houses in the 1890s (fn. 26b) and a garage and the first factory to the north in 1912. Other factories were added in the 1920s, especially for Kemble & Co., piano manufacturers, and for Ever Ready Co. (fn. 27b) About 1914 there was a 'Hygienic Steam Laundry' behind the east end of Paradise Row. (fn. 28b) In 1931 and 1932 factories, called Shelford works, were built next to it in Shelford Place, adjoining the factories of Carysfort Road to the north-east. (fn. 29b) In 1933 Shelford works housed two firms of dressing gown manufacturers. In 1934 additions were made to Warwick House, at the west end of Paradise Row, (fn. 30b) which housed War Relief Toys, founded at no. 110 Church Street to give employment to disabled ex-servicemen.

In Albert Town, Wall Paper Manufacturing of High Holborn built a factory behind nos. 20-4 Spenser Road in 1913. (fn. 31b) The same company owned the adjacent Howard works at no. 23 Howard Road, which were occupied by oil merchants by 1914 and Challenge Oil Co. by 1921, when the factory was rebuilt. (fn. 32b) In 1919 A. Elmes & Co., exhibition stand fitters, a firm established in 1883, (fn. 33b) built Elm Tree works at the southern end of Albion Road, behind the existing factory buildings of no. 42 Newington Green. Other purpose built factories by 1936 (fn. 34b) included a clothing factory north of Victoria Grove, probably built by H. W. Harrison & Co., who had been there since 1913, cabinet works built behind no. 193 High Street c. 1914, and several factories in Albion Road: a printing works built c. 1920 behind nos. 108 and 110, piano, later cabinet, works built behind nos. 180 and 182 c. 1922, and cabinet works of the early 1930s at no. 151A.

By 1939 there was no room for more industry. Four factories left between 1932 and 1938 and in 1943 further industrialization was undesirable. (fn. 35b) The need for widespread rebuilding after 1945 provided the opportunity for resiting industry, which had grown up within residential areas. A proposal to concentrate industry south of Church Street between Clissold Crescent and Sandbrook Road (fn. 36b) was strongly opposed in the 1950s by firms employing local labour. (fn. 37b) In 1947 there were 297 factories employing 4,695 people and covering 2 1/2 per cent of the total acreage of the borough; 177 factories each employed fewer than 10 people. (fn. 38b) In 1952 there were 345 registered factories, (fn. 39b) but the number had fallen to 292 by 1964, when there were 355 outworkers employed in the borough. (fn. 40b) The contraction of industry, which accelerated during the 1970s and 1980s, was partly due to the policy of separating industry from housing and of building flats on every available space, but also to the general industrial decline. By the time that local authorities became aware of the resulting unemployment, firms had already closed or moved elsewhere. (fn. 41b) In 1975 there were some 170 manufacturing firms; although there were 172 in 1983, they were smaller concerns, the floor space having been reduced from 65,289 sq. m. in 1975 to 59,463 sq. m. (fn. 42b)

In 1983 industry was mainly in a large number of small premises, either former shops fronting main roads (particularly the London road and Church Street) or small workshops or old factories on cramped sites. The main purpose built industrial areas were at Carysfort Road and Shelford Place and, despite closures caused by redevelopment, around Albion Road and Church Walk. (fn. 43b) Some of the larger factory buildings have been shared by several firms. In 1983 the firms with more than 1,400 sq. m. of floor space were H. Shawyer & Sons, manufacturers of veneered panels, with a purpose built factory at no. 43A Manor Road since 1938, Jack Rose (Shoes), which since 1966 had a factory built in 1914 for cabinet makers and used until 1955 as a furniture factory, Henry Serventi, shopfitters, in Barrett's Grove since 1961, a mouldings firm in Carysfort Road, and Howmedica (Dental Fillings) at Albion works, no. 49 Grayling Road, since c. 1953.

Brickearth covered the centre of the parish (fn. 44b) and the name Tile Pits, given by 1649 to closes on the demesne approximately on the site of the later reservoirs, (fn. 45b) shows that a still wider area was capable of being worked for bricks and tiles. There were tile kilns in Green Lanes in 1775 (fn. 46b) and brickpits for Clissold House c. 1790 were dug in the grounds. (fn. 47b) At that time commercial brickmaking was concentrated just outside the parish, at Kingsland. (fn. 48b) William Rhodes, of the Tilekilns, Hackney Road, in the 1830s, had a lease of land on the north side of Coach and Horses Lane in 1810. (fn. 49b) In 1839 Thomas and William Rhodes (d. 1843) were described as brickmakers of Prospect Place (Boleyn Road). (fn. 50b) William Rhodes's brickfields, which in 1832 had mainly been in South Hornsey bordering Cut Throat Lane, had probably passed to the Webbs by 1841. (fn. 51b) The Rhodes family, however, retained a small piece of property in Coach and Horses Lane, which was enfranchised in 1859, (fn. 52b) and had acquired a second brickfield in Stoke Newington in 1821 when Samuel Rhodes of Islington bought part of the Pulteney estate bordering Green Lanes near Newington Green. (fn. 53b) It is not known whether the Rhodes family exploited the Green Lanes brickfield, which by 1834 had probably passed to Robert William Webb and George Webb, described as brickmakers of Newington Green. (fn. 54b) They had apparently taken over the eastern brickfield by 1839 when they were described as brickmakers of Coach and Horses Lane. (fn. 55b) In 1841 Webb's brickfield in South Hornsey included cottages for the brickmakers. (fn. 56b) It supplied bricks for arches and tunnels to the G.N.R. Co. (fn. 57b) and left a pit some 14 ft. deep. (fn. 58b) Between 1835 and 1847 36 a. of grassland were turned into brickfields, (fn. 59b) most of it by the Webbs who were assessed in Stoke Newington in 1840 for 14 a. of brickfields and another 14 1/2 a. which they were probably not yet working. (fn. 60b) In 1845 Robert William Webb was still in Coach and Horses Lane and George Webb was building on the western brickfield in Green Lanes. (fn. 61b) Their successor William Webb of Albion Road in 1848 leased 14 a. on both sides of Cut Throat Lane from Martha Carr, probably the same as that held by the Webbs in 1840 (in addition, presumably, to the South Hornsey brickfield) and another 8 a. at Green Lanes from Benjamin Massey. (fn. 62b) The Cut Throat Lane and the Hornsey fields were built over as Albert Town in the 1850s (fn. 63b) and in 1855 William was operating at Green Lanes. (fn. 64b) In 1860 he held the 8 a. at Green Lanes together with another 22 a. of brickfield at Newington Green. (fn. 65b) By 1870 he was no longer a brickmaker, (fn. 66b) and neither of his brickfields was listed in 1873. (fn. 67b)

Henry Lee of Finsbury Square was licensed to dig for bricks on 18 a. in Stoke Newington in 1847. (fn. 68b) Messrs. Lee's brickfield flourished during the 1850s, when their steam engine and furnace constituted a nuisance and permission to erect sheds was given. (fn. 69b) The fields lay on either side of Pawnbroker's Lane, east of Webb's 14 a. (fn. 70b) George Lee, probably Henry's son, took over c. 1860 (fn. 71b) and the field was taken for building in the 1870s.

Seven silkweavers of Stoke Newington were recorded between 1610 and 1617 (fn. 72b) and there was a silkman in the early 18th century. (fn. 73b) In 1813 three tenements and outbuildings in Paradise Row were used as a weaver's factory, (fn. 74b) which had gone by 1826. (fn. 75b) In addition to dressmakers and shoemakers there were, throughout the first half of the 19th century, several staymakers, milliners, and straw hat makers, mostly in the London road and, to a lesser extent, in Church Street. (fn. 76b) In 1851 a hat manufacturer in the Palatine houses and a button manufacturer in Barrett's Grove may have carried on business from their homes. (fn. 77b) In 1861 there was a mantle maker in Cowper errace and a trousers maker in Spenser Road, both in Albert Town, (fn. 78b) and in 1871 a ladies' clothing manufacturer in Truman Place, in the south-east corner of the parish where largerscale manufacture began. (fn. 79b) By 1876 there was a hat manufacturer in High Street, a straw bonnet maker in Back (Boleyn) Road, and manufacturers of costumes and bags in Albert Town. (fn. 80b) There were several mantle makers in 1885, mainly in the London road, Church Street, the south-east, and Albert Town, although there was also one shirt dresser in Albion Road, where by 1900 Clissold works housed a mantle maker. Manor Road was the home of the London Shirt and Collar Dressing Co. by 1908 and of four clothing firms by 1914.

In 1906 clothing employed 617 people, mostly women, 36 per cent of those employed in the borough's factories and workshops. (fn. 81b) Some 3,325 inhabitants were employed in dress and another 544 in textile fabrics in 1911, although their workplaces were not all in the borough and many were outworkers. (fn. 82b) During the 1920s and 1930s clothing firms opened in Albion Road, Crossway, Boleyn Road, and other areas previously occupied mainly by the metal working and furniture industries. Some larger factories were built, for example north of Victoria Grove for underclothing manufacturers probably in 1913, (fn. 83b) and the number of outworkers declined. In 1938, 155 clothing factories employed 2,247 people, 35 per cent of those employed in factories in the borough, and there were 226 outworkers. (fn. 84b) In 1947 there were 2,069 workers, 44 per cent of the factory population, in 141 clothing factories. (fn. 85b) In 1951 making shirts, overalls, and underwear employed 440 people, women's outerwear 682, and tailoring 879. (fn. 86b) The industry reached its peak in the 1960s, when there were some 150 clothing factories. (fn. 87b) As always in the industry, firms opened and closed with great frequency, (fn. 88b) for example increasing in Carysfort Road from none in 1959 to 9 in 1982 but contracting in Manor Road from 11 in 1959 to 4 in 1982. In the 1980s the industry was still dominated by Jews, although inroads were being made by more recent immigrants such as Greeks and Turks. A general decline left 87 firms occupying some 32,740 sq. m. in 1975 and 94 irms occupying 27,959 sq. m. in 1983, but clothing remained the most important of Stoke Newington's industries, occupying 50 per cent of industrial floor space in 1975 and 47 per cent in 1983. (fn. 89b)

Until the 1830s the only workers in wood were carpenters. There was one cabinet maker, in High Street, in 1834 and 1845, (fn. 90b) and there were three, all in the South Hornsey part of High Street, together with one in Church Street and one in Albion Road, in 1851. A cabinet maker of Woodberry Down, who employed 90 men and 12 women, and another at the northern end of Green Lanes probably carried on their businesses elsewhere. In 1851 there was also a timber worker in Victoria Grove and a bedstead maker in the Palatine houses. (fn. 91b) There were cabinet makers in Devonshire Place, Green Lanes, by 1860 (fn. 92b) and in Prospect Place, Back Road, and Church Path in 1871. (fn. 93b) By 1876 there were nine cabinet makers, mainly in the south-east, and 21 carpenters. (fn. 94b)

From the 1870s the furniture industry expanded as skilled craftsmen, who in the earlier part of the century had left the City for Bethnal Green and Shoreditch, moved farther out to Stoke Newington. Cabinet makers remained the backbone of the industry into the 1920s. By 1871 there was a piano maker in Milton Road. (fn. 95b) Other piano manufacturers were Agate & Co., at no. 183 Church Street from c. 1885 to 1957 (from c. 1934 a warehouse), Thomas Harrison, who built Grayling works in 1902 and Albion works in 1908, (fn. 96b) and Kaiser's at no. 95 Carysfort Road from 1912 to 1915, when it was replaced by Kemble's, probably the same firm under another name. In 1906 wood and wooden products provided work for 169 people, 10 per cent of those employed in factories and workshops in the borough. (fn. 97b) Kemble's expanded in Carysfort Road, building factories at no. 97B in 1923 and no. 97 in 1928, and taking over nos. 53B and 97A by 1929, to the last of which it made additions in 1939. (fn. 98b) There were at least five other piano manufacturers by 1929 and cabinet factories were built on the site of the Edinburgh brewery by 1913 and on either side of Albion Road by 1936. (fn. 99b) By 1938 there were 34 furniture factories employing 516 people, 8.5 per cent of those employed in the borough's factories. (fn. 1b) The percentage had dropped to 6.2 by 1947, when there were 15 factories and 292 employees. (fn. 2b)

As the number of craftsmen in cabinet making declined in the 1940s and that of piano manufacturers in the 1950s the mass-production of furniture, shop-fittings, and veneers increased. By 1975 there were 23 firms occupying 13,600 sq.m., 21 per cent of the manufacturing floor area in Stoke Newington, and there were still 23 firms in 1983, occupying 12,436 sq. m. (fn. 3b)

There was a printer in Stoke Newington Road in 1826 (fn. 4b) and one in Albion Road in 1851, by which date there were also eight print workers, mostly compositors and pressmen in the southeast corner of Stoke Newington, besides two in the eastern part of South Hornsey. (fn. 5b) By 1860 there were three printers, in High Street, Back (Boleyn) Road, and Howard Road. (fn. 6b) Printing firms, mostly small, spread from Clerkenwell in the second half of the century to south-eastern Stoke Newington and Hornsey detached, especially Albert Town. Spenser Road had a paper bag maker by 1890 and Victoria Road a tracing paper maker by 1904. In 1906 paper and printing employed 198 people, 11.6 per cent of those employed in factories and workshops in the borough. (fn. 7b) There was a printer in Church Street by 1908 and one at no. 108 Albion Road by 1909. John Waddington, printers, was at no. 108 Albion Road from 1921 or earlier until 1966 and there was another printing company in Manor Road by 1929 and until 1959. Larger factories included Waddington's in Church Walk, built c. 1920 behind their works in Albion Road (fn. 8b) but the smaller firms rarely lasted long. In 1938 there were 17 paper and printing factories employing 139 people, 2.3 per cent of the factory workforce in the borough. (fn. 9b) By 1947 there were 13 factories and 645 employees, 13.7 per cent of those employed in the borough's factories. (fn. 10b) In the early 1950s the centre of printing had shifted westward to Carysfort Road, Shelford Place, and the adjacent part of Church Street, where Kores Manufacturing Co. was making typewriter carbons and ribbons by 1951. By 1975 there were 14 firms occupying 4,770 sq. m., 7 per cent of the industrial floor space. Printing and paper was one of the few industries to have expanded by 1983, when there were 18 firms occupying 5,903 sq. m., 9 per cent of the floor area. (fn. 11b)

There was a white lead mill on the western border in 1806. (fn. 12b) Metal workers included workers in wire and zinc in High Street in 1855, (fn. 13b) a tinplate worker in Lordship Road in 1860, (fn. 14b) a wire drawer in Albert Town, and a brassworker in Red Lion Lane in 1861. (fn. 15b) There was a Belgium iron foundry in Barrett's Grove by 1885 and electric plates were being manufactured in the same road by 1896. Grayling works in Grayling Road housed engineers in 1900 and there were electrical engineers in Castle Street, later Crossway, and Matthias Road by 1904. By 1906 metals and machinery employed 47 people, 2.75 per cent of those employed in factories and workshops in the borough. (fn. 16b)

There were coachmakers in High Street and Victoria Place in 1839 (fn. 17b) and coach painters in Diapason Row, in the Hornsey section of High Street in 1841 (fn. 18b) and 1851, when there was another coach painter in the Palatine houses, a coach trimmer in the Hornsey section of High Street, a coach maker in Church Street, and a coachwright in Prospect Cottages, Back, later Boleyn, Road. (fn. 19b) The last, William Shepherd, employed 10 men and 6 boys in 1871. (fn. 20b) In 1869 John and William Rendall, wheelwrights of Stamford Hill, leased a new building on the site of nos. 41-9 Nelson Terrace, Stoke Newington Road, behind which in 1870 they built a carriage factory opening into Castle Lane. (fn. 21b) The firm survived until 1938. Other coach and carriage builders had opened in Barrett's Grove by 1880, in Cowper Road by 1885, and in Albion Road by 1890. The latter, Stock & Sons, were building vans and carts by 1904, and motor bodies by 1935.

Cycles were made in Palatine Road by 1890, Church Street by 1894, Barrett's Grove by 1896, and Albion Road by 1904. There was a manufacturer of prams in Church Street by 1894. Cycles continued to be made, usually in short lived workshops, into the 1920s, and Mona Cycle Works Co. of Barrett's Grove survived until the 1930s.

Carter, Paterson & Co., carriers, at no. 35 (later no. 104) Church Street by 1880, opened a van works in Lordship Road in 1908, which passed to the Express Motor Co. by 1935. There were motor body builders in Dunsmure Road by 1925. (fn. 22b)

There was a garage at no. 53A Carysfort Road by 1914. By 1929 it had become a motor engineers and by 1936 there were others in Boleyn Road, Manor Road, and Park Street. Electrical engineers and makers of electrical components, especially for radio, multiplied during the 1920s and 1930s. The Ever Ready Co. was making batteries at no. 95A Carysfort Road by 1921. There were 64 engineering factories by 1938, employing 2,502, 41.4 per cent of those employed in factories in the borough. The premises were larger than those for other industries, with an average of 39 employees each. (fn. 23c) Although there were still 50 engineering firms in 1947, they employed only 852 people, 18 per cent of those employed in Stoke Newington's factories. (fn. 24c) The larger firms, particularly in the motor industry, moved away to cheaper sites and the engineering firms that replaced them were small and specialist, occupying parts of factory buildings in areas like Carysfort or Grayling roads. One of the few survivors in 1982 was Lewis Banks & Sons, an engineer's which opened in Barrett's Grove in the 1920s and had 40 employees in 1982. (fn. 25c) Engineering firms had dwindled to 8, occupying 2,371 sq. m., 3 per cent of industrial capacity, by 1975 and to 7, occupying 965 sq.m., 1 per cent of floor space, by 1983. Ten metal working firms, occupying 1,728 sq. m., in 1975 were reduced to 6, with 1,424 sq.m., by 1983. There were 4 firms, occupying 1,086 sq. m. in motor manufacture in 1975 and 6, with 900 sq. m., in 1983; one electrical firm occupied 1,233 sq. m. in 1975 and two occupied 121 sq. m. in 1975. Floor space occupied by makers of plastics and synthetic resins declined from 3,105 sq. m. in 1975 to 2,853 sq. m. in 1983. (fn. 26c)

A brewer, William Chase, was in Meadow Street (later Lordship Terrace) in 1834 (fn. 27c) and 1860. (fn. 28c) There were other brewers in High Street and Stamford Hill by 1839 (fn. 29c) and Matthew Michell had opened the Edinburgh brewery in Gordon (later Beatty) Road, off the London road in South Hornsey, by 1851; (fn. 30c) it closed in 1896. (fn. 31c)

Some 13 per cent, 221 people, of those employed in Stoke Newington's factories and workshops in 1906 worked in food, drink, and tobacco. (fn. 32c) Most were at Ridge's Royal Food Mill, which had opened in Boleyn Road by 1885, was replaced by a larger building in 1913, (fn. 33c) and closed in 1957, at Osborn's, makers of anchovy paste, in Spenser Road by 1885, or at the manufacturing confectioners which opened in Barrett's Grove by 1904. In 1911 D. Politi, who had been making jam in Mountgrove Road, Brownswood, since 1870, built a factory in the garden of no. 10 Manor Road. (fn. 34c) The family firm, which by 1921 made confectionery and was noted for its Turkish Delight, enlarged its premises which by 1982 comprised nos. 6-12 Manor Road and employed up to 100 people during busy seasons. (fn. 35c) Most food firms were very small, in 1938 employing only 195 people, 3.2 per cent of the workforce in Stoke Newington's factories, in 29 factories (fn. 36c) and in 1947 with 285, 6 per cent of the workforce, in 31 factories. (fn. 37c) By 1975 there were only two firms, occupying 1,644 sq. m. After the opening of a factory to make Chinese noodles, by 1983 there were four firms in all occupying 2,561 sq. m.