A local historian has documented the history of every shop in Stoke Newington Church Street – right back to 1847.
Amir Dotan raided the Hackney Archives to complete the epic task of noting the history of 123 commercial properties. The result is a fascinating book, which is being sponsored by local businesses and given away in Stoke Newington Bookshop.
He said: “I encountered many long-gone professions and occupations, some of which I didn’t recognize, so the task of typing the data into the spreadsheet offered many opportunities to learn something new.
“Despite the impression some people might have that today’s Stoke Newington Church St is dominated by cafes, estate agents, restaurants and lifestyle shops, in reality as of May 2024, all these types of businesses make up only 38%.”
Confectioners, hairdressers and grocers were the most frequent businesses and have continued to thrive, while others like tailors and shoemakers eventually vanished.
He discovered that the average trading duration for a Church St store in the past 177 years is nine years.
- Earlybird (3 Stoke Newington Church St) was a bootmaker, costumier, dyer and lingerie store.
- Metal Crumble (13 Stoke Newington Church St) started out as a saddler and went on to become a sewing machine store.
- Location Location (18 Stoke Newington Church St) enjoyed spells as an ironmonger, butcher and bootmaker.
- Kac Builders Merchants has only changed hands once since the 1800s. Before this it was an oil shop.
- Jimmy Fairly Opticians (47 Stoke Newington Church St) started life as a cheese-monger and became an upholsterer and ironmonger and then a cycle maker, car spare store and Indian restaurant.
- Camia Deli (53 Stoke Newington Church St) was once a recording studio.
- The Good Egg (93 Stoke Newington Church St) was once a ladies’ school.
- Stokey Wines (103 Stoke Newington Church St) is one of only two shops never to have changed types. It has been a wine shop since the 1880s.
- Caffeine Fix (121 Stoke Newington Church St) was once a Livery Stable
- In the 1800s Mary’s Living and Giving Charity Shop (155 Stoke Newington Church St) was a butcher’s shop.
- Rasa Street Indian (60 Stoke Newington Church St) started out as a corset and belt makers before housing an umbrella maker.
Copies of Amir’s Book ‘The History of Every Shop in Stoke Newington Church St are available at Stoke Newington Bookshop and other local stores.
