Victoria Park, East London
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Victoria Park is a large open space that stretches out across part of the East End of London, England bordering parts of Bethnal Green, Hackney, and Bow, such as along Old Ford Road, London E3. The park is entirely within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.
Origins
The park was laid out by notable London planner and architect Sir James Pennethorne between 1842 and 1846. It was opened to the public in 1845. This large park is reminiscent of Regent's Park (not least because the latter was designed by Pennethorne's teacher John Nash), though much less busy, and is considered by some as the finest park in the East End. It is bounded on two sides by canals: the Regent's Canal lies to the west, while its branch, once known as the Hertford Union Canal runs along the Southern edge of the park. There is a gate named after Edmund Bonner. Guarding the main entrance at Sewardstone Road are the now badly vandalized Dogs of Alcibiades which have stood here since 1912.
Two pedestrian alcoves, the only two surviving fragments of the old London Bridge, demolished in 1831, are located at the east end of the park near the Hackney Wick war memorial where they were placed in 1860. This incarnation of the famous bridge (there have been two others since), stood for over 600 years and was lined with shops and houses. Alcoves such as these would have been important for pedestrian safety - the roadway was very narrow and the risk of being run down very high.
The People's Park
In the latter half of the 19th Century, Victoria Park became an essential amenity for the working classes of the East End. For some East End children in the 1880s, this may have been the only large stretch of uninterrupted greenery they ever encountered. Facilities like the Bathing Pond (picture right) —later superseded by the park lido—would have introduced many to swimming in an era when many public baths (like that at Shacklewell) were still simply communal washing facilities.Victoria Park's reputation as the 'People's Park' grew as it became a centre for political meetings and rallies of all stripes, perhaps exceeding in importance the more well-known Hyde Park in this regard. The park occupies the interface between Tower Hamlets—sunk in poverty in the 19th century and with a strong tradition of socialist and revolutionary agitation — and Hackney, more genteel, but heir to a centuries-old legacy of religious dissent and non-conformism that led to its own fierce brand of reformism. So it should come as no surprise that the scene at the numerous Speaker's Corners was a lively one.
Although any one could set up their own soapbox, the biggest crowds were usually drawn to 'star' socialist speakers such as William Morris and Annie Besant.
This description by J H Rooney, correspondent for Harper's Magazine (February 1888) evokes a scene that seems to prefigure the Internet:
- "On the big central lawn are scattered numerous groups, some of which are very closely packed. Almost all the religious sects of England and all the political and social parties are preaching their ideas and disputing [...]
- "On this lawn the listener, as his fancy prompts him, may assist on Malthusianism, atheism, agnosticism, secularism, Calvinism, socialism, anarchism, Salvationism, Darwinism, and even, in exceptional cases, Swedenborgianism and Mormonism. I once heard there a prophet, a man who professed to be inspired by the Holy Ghost; but this prophet ended by being locked up in an asylum, where he will have to convert the doctor before he can recover his liberty." [William J Fishman, East End 1888, see References]
The tradition of public speaking in the park continued until well after the Second World War, and was still later reflected in politically oriented rock concerts, such as those held by Rock Against Racism and the Anti-Nazi League in the 1980s. And it is still not uncommon for marches or demonstrations to begin or end in Victoria Park.
Second World War
During the war, Victoria Park was largely closed to the public and effectively became one huge Ack-Ack (anti-aircraft) site, also including a POW camp for, at first, Italian, then German prisoners. The gun emplacements conveniently straddled the path of German bombers looping northwest after attacking the docks and warehouses further south in what is now Tower Hamlets, and so the park was of some strategic importance.
The plotting rooms for the gun sites were in underground bunkers at the bottom of Cassland Road, Hackney Wick. A Hackney resident of the time says:
- "When in the Army in 1952, I was driven to these operation rooms, to help shut them down to be eventually demolished.
- "To my surprise, in all my years of living no more than five minutes walk away I never knew they were there, besides, bombs had dropped all around in that vicinity and that place was missed. Nevertheless the plotting operation rooms were far below ground."
More controversially, anti-aircraft activity in the park has been implicated in the panic that caused the Bethnal Green tube disaster of 1943. Some eyewitness accounts have led to the suggestion that, after several air raid alerts, the panic run for shelter was caused by a gigantic explosion of noise from the direction of the park. A [2003 BBC documentary] suggests that this was due to the first firing of the new Z-Battery anti-aircraft rockets. The UK Ministry of Defence, however, disputes this account.
Modern times
In recent times, Victoria Park became noted for its open-air music festivals, often linked with a political cause. The 1980 rock docudrama [Rude Boy] features The Clash playing at an Anti-Nazi League event in the park.Victoria Park is very popular with children and is host to: a One O'Clock Club for under-fives; a herd of deer and goats; and a programme of summer activities. And an excellent children's play park also includes a paddling pool.
The Victoria Model Steam Boat Club, founded in the Park on 15 July 1904, is still active today and holds up to 17 of their Sunday regattas a year. The VMSB Club runs straight-running boats just as they did 100 years ago but have also progressed to radio control and hydroplanes. The first Regatta is traditionally held on Easter Sunday and the Steam Regatta is always held on the first Sunday in July.
The park is open daily from 06:00am to dusk.
References
William J Fishman, [East End 1888], Duckworth, 1988, 0-9541059-0-7. Page 267. [The author's Politics chapter, from which the Harpers quote is taken, reports on many significant political events in Victoria Park. Fishman himself goes on to say "[...]As a boy I went to such meetings there, albeit over forty years later, and the scenes so marvellously evoked by this narrator remained very much the same."]
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