Kingsland was a small road-side settlement centred on Kingsland High Street, on the Old North Road (the present A10), Middlesex. It has now been subsumed within inner city London, principally as part of Dalston in the London Borough of Hackney and has lost its separate identity.[1]
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Kingsland derives its name from being the hunting grounds of a Tudor royal residence at Newington Green—hence King's Lands. At the time, the area was still heavily forested—as part of a forest stretching from Shoreditch to Enfield Chase—and roamed by wild bulls, stags and wild boars.[2] Deforestation occurred quickly – as the demands of the nearby City took wood for building and firewood; and the cleared land was quarried for brick clay. There were many wells and springs in the district. The (now lost) Pigwell Brook, had its source on Kingsland Green and followed the line of the modern Graham Road, before joining Hackney Brook in the region of Church Street (now, the Narroway). Another chalybeate spring beyond Dalston was tapped and water piped to Aldgate, in 1535.[3]
The small villages of Kingsland, Dalston, Newington and Shacklewell were all situated within the Parish of Hackney and were grouped together for assessment purposes. Together they had only as many houses as the village of Hackney. In 1672, Kingsland had 28 householders assessed for hearth tax, but expanded rapidly in the 18th century, along the line of Kingsland Road, north of the junction;[4] and by 1724 had five inns, compared to Dalston's two. The road was heavily trafficked, including goods wagons pulled by six, or more horses, and this caused the state of the road to deteriorate. The local parishes appealed to Parliament in 1713 for the right to set up a Turnpike Trust, to pay for the maintenance. Gates were installed at Kingsland and Stamford Hill to collect the tolls.[5] The village was still very rural, with market gardens established around the village. Large scale development began in 1807; again by the main road and a new estate was created on Lamb farm – to the south and west of the junction. By 1831, building began along Dalston Lane—linking the two villages.[4]
In his youth, Samuel Pepys lodged in the village, for a while with his brother Tom and his nurse, Goody Lawrence.[6] Also, it is recorded that Pepys "used to shoot with bow and arrows" here in the 17th century.[1][7]
Kingsland had a six-penny bath and a leper hospital, south of the green; also known as the 'Lock Hospital'. This was founded in 1280, by the City of London, as one of ten located on the main roads from the City. This continued until 1559 and the last case of leprosy in London. From 1549, it was administered by St Bartholomew's Hospital, and treated other infectious diseases. After the Great Fire, St Bartholomew's no longer had the funds to support the Lock hospital; but patients were accepted if they could fund their own care – this continued until 1680, when again the main hospital was able to resume funding.[8] By 1669, there were six wards, now for women only – male patients were sent to Southwark. The hospital was rebuilt in 1720, but closed in 1760.[9] The hospital had a chapel, dedicated to St Bartholomew. This was used, informally, as a chapel of ease, saving residents the walk to church at the parish church in Hackney. At the closure of the hospital, local people petitioned to keep the chapel open; it was never repaired and was in poor condition in the 1820s, being demolished in 1846.[9]
The main part of the village was located near Dalston junction where the road to Hackney left the main road, and today this is only commemorated by the name of Kingsland Shopping centre. The name of Kingsland continues to occur in street names, station names and preserved on some modern maps;[10] however the district no longer appears on road signs as a destination. The parts of the district have now been absorbed into surrounding areas, for instance the area of Kingsland to the east of Kingsland Road, is now the ward of Queensbridge within the Borough of Hackney.
Before the arrival of the railways, in about 1850, Kingsland was the dominant village; and why the section of the A10 road that is modern Dalston's main shopping centre is Kingsland High Street, and why Kingsland Road, not Dalston Road, extends south from the junction. Dalston was overshadowed by Kingsland at this time, and was a less important settlement ranged along that part of Dalston Lane to the north of Graham Road.
The North London Railway arrived in 1865, and adopted 'Dalston Junction' as the name of the junction and new station —one of the most important on the line, since it connected directly with the City. Thus Kingsland's fate was sealed. Over time, the area round the junction became known by the name of the station—a common phenomenon in London—though simple 'Dalston' was reserved for the area around the original settlement. In 1986, the closure of Dalston Junction station and its route to the city might have spelled a reprieve for Kingsland, since it was replaced with a new east-west station called Dalston Kingsland. But it was not to be—the result was that people simply dropped the 'Junction', effectively moving the centre of Dalston a kilometre west and putting the last nail in Kingsland's coffin.
Although the A-Z (2005) still assigns Kingsland a place just southwest of Dalston Junction, this area became lost to Kingsland a long time ago—it is, in fact, part of De Beauvoir Town, a later settlement than either Kingsland or Dalston, but one that runs all the way north to the Balls Pond Road. The picture right shows the Trolley Stop pub (just under the 'D' of Kingsland in the 2005 A-Z on Stamford Road), however the wrought iron work betrays the pub's original identity as The De Beauvoir Arms. And about 100 metres to the west is the De Beauvoir Primary School.
| Newington Green | Dalston | Hackney | ||
| De Beauvoir Town | London Fields | |||
| Kingsland | ||||
| Hoxton | Shoreditch | Haggerston |
Opening in June 2010, the nearest London Overground stations are Dalston Junction and Haggerston
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