Stoke Newington History Talks

An evening of three talks about Stoke Newington's history from different perspectives organised by local history enthusiast Amir Dotan

THE LINE UP:

The architects who built Stoke Newington by Amir Dotan

Stoke Newington's notable buildings such as pubs, churches, cinemas, municipal and public buildings were designed by a variety of architects whose contribution to the area's streetscape has been admired for generations. This talk will cover several of those architects and provide a glimpse into their work in Stoke Newington and beyond. From Sir George Gilbert Scott who designed St. Mary's new church in 1858 and the St. Pancras Renaissance London Hotel to Truman Brewery's in-house architect Arthur Edward Sewell who designed the Red Lion and the Rose and Crown pubs in Church Street in the 1920s-1930s. Come and meet the architects!

The gentrification of Stoke Newington: From Class War to the Yuppies and the 1987 Lifestyle Guide by Martin Bailey

This talk will take you through the Martin Bailey's journey publishing the 1987 Stoke Newington Lifestyle Guide from concept to design and a personal delivery service (a huge rucksack on my back!). It will place the guide in the context of a changing Stoke Newington with the end of the rag trade, the arrival of the yuppies and the reaction of Class War. Part of this journey will highlight favourite places, buildings and experiences.

Woodberry Down: the Stoke Newington Estate envisaged as a model for Britain's post-war welfare state by John Boughton

Conceived on European lines in the 1930s, a British model of community development in the 1940s, Woodberry Down was once hailed as ‘the estate of the future’. The pioneering 57-block estate in north Stoke Newington included the first purpose-built NHS Health Centre and one of the first purpose-built comprehensive schools in the country. This talk examines the estate's origins and evolution and its place in history.