Hackney Parish Church
Only the tower now survives of the most important building in Tudor Hackney. Almost everyone went to church, and attendance was required by law. not only to pray and listen to sermons but to learn the latest news, hear about any changes in the law, attend meetings and generally catch up with their neighbours – it was would noticed straight away if someone was absent from the Sunday service, or if anybody new was there.. Most organisation and taxation was done via the parish, and often shop keepers and traders would rent a space inside the church.
So Tudor churches were lively and sometimes noisy places where a lot of business was done. Almost everyone in Hackney would have seen each other here, including Ralph Sadleir and Giles Heron and their households. Even Thomas Cromwell would occasionally be seen when he was in Hackney and not attending the king wherever the court was at the time.
There had been a church on this site since at least 1275, but early in the sixteenth century the mediaeval church was pulled down and replaced with a more modern building, of which the surviving church tower is a part.
When the new church was built, the coat of arms of the Heron family was included in the decorations – an indication both that it is likely they gave money towards the building, and that the family had considerable local importance.
As Hackney grew, so the church was added to, with galleries providing seating for several hundred extra people. But by the middle of the eighteenth century, there were far more churchgoers than there was space for them, so the decision was made to build a large and fashionable church close by. Many of the tombs and memorials were moved to the new church, and all but the church tower was demolished.
View children's drawings or photos of Hackney Parish Church.