Split in two by the idyllic Regent’s Canal, this fashionable neighbourhood area is made up of much of De Beauvoir Town to its north and the Colville and New Era Estates in Hoxton to its south. The canal provides the area with a rural oasis within the hubbub of the city, and an abundance of quaint canalside cafés and bars to stop off on a walk down the waterway. The area borders the bustling Kingsland Road so there is easy access to all the conveniences of a high street, and with the 19 acre Shoreditch Park to the south there is no shortage of green space to escape the noise of the main road. The area is popular for small companies based in creative work spaces, but those who work further afield needn’t worry as the neighbourhood is also very well connected with Haggerston and Hoxton stations a short walk away, and great bus routes throughout.

Before the completion of the canal in 1820, the area was open land with a few grand houses dotted around. Yet once the canal was established as a means of transporting building materials, William Rhodes, the grandfather of the notorious “architect of apartheid” Cecil Rhodes, attempted to build grand residences for the upper classes. However this work was stopped in 1823 after Rhodes was found to have obtained the land lease illegally, and after a lengthy court case the land was returned to the De Beauvoir family, after which time it was developed to accommodate more relatively affordable homes, particularly to the south of the canal.

The terraces which once occupied the area that is now Shoreditch Park were devastated during the Blitz and temporary housing was built as a stopgap before funds were put together to rebuild permanent homes. The money never arrived before the temporary houses became unsafe to live in, so the large site was cleared and developed between 1964 and 1973 into today’s much loved green space. Those with a curiosity for horticulture will be interested to know that the famous gardener and presenter of the BBC’s Gardener’s World, Monty Don, lived at 30 Ufton Road between 1981 and 1989. While living at this address, Monty and his wife formed an initially successful company which sold costume jewellery, but the business collapsed, causing the couple to sell everything they owned, including the house, to get by. The events which occurred at his home in Ufton Road urged Monty to seriously pursue his passion for gardening in order to make ends meet.

A blue plaque tells us that the zoologist Philip Henry Gosse (1810–1888) and his son, the poet Sir Edmund Gosse (1849–1928), lived at 56 Mortimer Road. Philip was one of the few individuals responsible for popularising natural science and a great innovator in marine biology, and even invented the seawater aquarium, which sparked the Victorian aquarium craze. His son Edmund was a great poet and author who encouraged W. B. Yeats and James Joyce to pursue careers in writing.

In July 2005 and 2006 a huge excavation was undertaken at Shoreditch Park by the Museum of London, to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the end of The Second World War. The excavation, which provided research into the housing of the time, as well as the extent of the aerial bombing, was documented by Channel 4’s Time Team in an episode called ‘Buried by the Blitz’, which was pioneering in its involvement of the local community in the project.

After the New Era Estate in the south of the area was sold to the U.S. investment fund Westbrook Partners in 2014, and rents raised beyond the affordability of the existing tenants, comedian Russell Brand drew attention to the cause in a series of high profile protests. This led to a wide-scale petition which resulted in the estate being sold to the affordable housing charity, Dolphin, and the families being able to stay. Brand now owns and runs a nearby café which supports the community, providing jobs at a living wage to the community’s most desperate.

With only one primary school in the immediate area and one more located just outside the neighbourhood, the area is lacking in local school places for the growing number of children reaching secondary school age. However, as one local parent noted, the area’s ample and safe transport links means that their kids are able to easily travel to school that may have more space for better facilities.

Hoxton has been one of the city’s most lively and rapidly evolving zones, and this is set to continue in the years to come. In January 2018 it was announced that the now famous New Era Estate is going to be knocked down and rebuilt so that existing maintenance problems can be fixed and further affordable housing can be built. Existing tenants will be guaranteed a home at the same affordable price as before, and housed nearby while the building goes on although construction is yet to begin. Nonetheless, The 40 Hyde Road development is arguably the most significant scheme underway in the postcode, with the complex housing a new leisure centre, secondary school, as well as 481 new homes on the northern side of Shoreditch Park. Sitting between Hyde Road and Regent’s canal will sit two further residential schemes, providing a combined total of over 225 additional homes by the time both are finished in 2026. This abundance of planned development is set to change the face of Hoxton, providing additional capacity for the growing demographic of young professionals in the area.