Inventory Site Record

Butterfield Green is a small public park that takes its name from William Butterfield, the architect of St Matthias Church on Newington Green. The area was first developed in the C19th but the Green is surrounded by post-war council housing of the late 1940s/50s and the park was created when houses that occupied the sites of the various parts that make up the Green were demolished. An old footpath runs between Butterfield Green and blocks of flats. A community orchard has been planted in the park (2007) and further improvements in recent years have included a dry creek bed with water play space, and refurbished play area (2022)

Site location:

Shakespeare Walk/Wordsworth Road/Cowper Road/Allen Road

Postcode:

N16 8DD

What 3 Words:

dome.gift.bumpy

Type of site:

Public Park

Borough:

Hackney

Open to public?

Yes

Opening times:

7.30am - dusk (summer 9.30pm, winter 4pm).

Special conditions:

Facilities:

Ping pong tables, play areas, multi-use games area, basketball court, trim trail

Events:

Public transport:

London Overground: Dalston Kingsland, Dalston Junction then bus. Bus 67, 73, 76, 149 [243, 243A]

Citymapper    
Google Map    
streetmap.co.uk

Research updated:

07/08/2023

Last minor changes:

08/04/2024

Please check with the site owner or manager for latest news. www.hackney.gov.uk/butterfield-green.htm

Butterfield Green is a small public park that takes its name from William Butterfield, the architect of St Matthias Church to the south on Newington Green (q.v.). The church was built in the mid C19th after this area was first being developed. Land around what is now Albion Road was sold for development in 1821 to Thomas Cubitt, who laid out Albion Road and surrounding streets in 1823-39 with housing dating from the 1850s to the south east. At the north end of Shakespeare Walk are Victorian terraces but Butterfield Green is surrounded by Council housing erected from the late 1940s. Up until the mid 1980s houses occupied the sites of the various parts that make up the small park, which was created when the houses were demolished. An old footpath now known as Town Hall Approach runs between Butterfield Green and blocks of flats built after houses were demolished due to war damage.

A community orchard was planted on the site by local people in 2007 winning a British Urban Regeneration Award (BURA) in 2008 for its achievements. The Butterfield Green Users’ Group (part of the Shakespeare Neighbourhood Residents’ Association) helps to care for the site through monthly community gardening days and regular events. The small park is in two parts, with an area of raised lawn bounded by low brick walls with some trees and shrubs, paths and seating abutting Wordsworth Road. Beyond this, abutting Shakespeare Walk, is a fenced-off basketball pitch and adjacent to this a children's play area, which was refurbished in 2022, with a mounded landform and sandpit as well as new equipment. Other facilities include ping pong tables and a playable stream, which has now been converted to a dry creek bed with a new water play space alongside.

Sources consulted:

Bridget Cherry & Nikolaus Pevsner, The Buildings of England: London 4: North (Penguin, 1998); Butterfield Green Management Plan 2010-2015; Amir Dotan: 'From Houses for Votes to a Public Park - The Creation of Butterfield Green', Stoke Newington History Talks 21, 7 3 2024: https://stokenewingtonhistory.com/2024/03/10/07-03-2024-stoke-newington-history-talks-21/?mc_cid=191c8934bc&mc_eid=cf08468bbb 

Grid ref:

TQ332857 (533180,185720)

Size in hectares:

Site ownership:

LB Hackney

Site management:

Hackney Parks Service; Butterfield Green Users’ Group

Date(s):

1980s

Designer(s):

Listed structures:

None

On National Heritage List for England (NHLE), Parks & Gardens:

No

Registered common or village green on Commons Registration Act 1965:

No

Protected under London Squares Preservation Act 1931:

No

Local Authority Data

The information below is taken from the relevant Local Authority's planning legislation, which was correct at the time of research but may have been amended in the interim. Please check with the Local Authority for latest planning information.

On Local List:

No

In Conservation Area:

No

Tree Preservation Order:

Not known

Nature Conservation Area:

Yes with Shakespeare Walk Adventure Playground

Green Belt:

No

Metropolitan Open Land:

No

Special Policy Area:

No

Other LA designation:

Open Space; Green Link

Butterfield Green, with tower of St Matthias Church in the distance, July 2023. Photograph Sally Williams

Click a photo to enlarge.