Inventory Site Record

Fairchild's Garden, formerly known as Hackney Road Recreation Ground, was the site of the C18th Shoreditch Burying Ground, superseded in the C19th by a range of almshouses. The site still contains the memorial stone marking the grave of Thomas Fairchild (d.1729), a leading nurseryman and botanist. Fairchild's Nursery in Shoreditch existed from 1691 to 1740 and specialised in flowering plants. His tomb here was restored by The Gardeners Company in 1846, 1891 and again in 1949. The site became a recreation ground in the C20th, providing tennis courts and a planted area with paths, seating and shrubs in timber planters, and a number of mature plane trees. In 2017 the garden was re-landscaped and the three remaining gravestones placed upright.

Previous / Other name:

Shoreditch Old Burial Ground; Hackney Road Recreation Ground

Site location:

Hackney Road

Postcode:

E2 8HQ

What 3 Words:

bunny.long.joined

Type of site:

Public Gardens

Borough:

Hackney

Open to public?

Yes

Opening times:

unrestricted

Special conditions:

Facilities:

Table tennis table

Events:

Public transport:

London Overground: Shoreditch High Street. Bus: 56, 48, 55

Citymapper    
Google Map    
streetmap.co.uk

Research updated:

15/10/2025

Last minor changes:

15/10/2025

Please check with the site owner or manager for latest news. www.hackney.gov.uk/hackney-road-recreation-ground.htm

Hackney Road Recreation Ground was the site of Shoreditch Burying Ground in the C18th, which was superseded in the C19th by a range of almshouses. The site still contains the memorial stone marking the grave of Thomas Fairchild (d.1729) who, according to the Worshipful Company of Gardeners, was buried 'by his own request in the furthest corner of the churchyard of the Parish of St Leonard in Shoreditch [q.v.], where the poor were usually buried, some 200 yards from the church'. His tomb was restored by The Gardeners Company in 1846, 1891 and again in 1949. Fairchild was a leading early C18th nurseryman and botanist, and first publicist of London Town Gardening with his publication of 'The City Gardener' in 1722 in which he described all the plants that would thrive in the polluted air of the capital. In c.1717 Fairchild crossed the Carnation with the Sweet William to create 'Fairchild's Mule'. He was head of the London Society of Gardeners, which published the first union-catalogue of stock in 1730. Fairchild's Nursery was in Shoreditch from 1691 - 1740 and specialised in flowering plants.

Writing in 1896, Mrs Basil Homes referred to an 'ancient watch-house' in the burial ground that was later used as a cholera hospital. In 1892 it was laid out by the Metropolitan Public Gardens Association as a public playground and was maintained by the Shoreditch Burial Ground. It later provided tennis courts and a planted area with paths, seating and shrubs in timber planters, and a ping pong table. The site is bordered on Hackney Road by iron railings with a gateway featuring a sunburst above it. The Recreation Ground was for a time home to artist Tom Wolseley, who exhibited his Cabin/et exhibition in a recycled shipping container, changing on a monthly basis.

In 2017 Hackney Council appointed Ares Landscape Architects to transform the public garden, with the aim of making it more welcoming and accessible. The recreation garden was renamed Fairchild's Garden, following extensive re-landscaping which included a wider new entrance and railings, planted beds, paths, steps to a raised circular paved area, kiosk and seating. The three gravestones remaining in the garden were placed upright within planted beds. Aside from that of Thomas Fairchild is the headstone 'Sacred to the Memory of Elizabeth, the Wife of L. G. Goold and Daughter of James & Susannah Eagles'  who died 3 October 1820 at 31. A metal plaque providing the history of the site and Thomas Fairchild is set into the paving adjacent to one of the seats.

Sources consulted:

John Harvey 'The Nursery Garden' (Museum of London) 1990; Mrs Basil Holmes 'The London Burial Grounds', London 1896; https://aresdesign.co.uk/projects/fairchilds-garden/

Grid ref:

TQ335828 (533572,182855)

Size in hectares:

0.2025

Site ownership:

LB Hackney

Site management:

Hackney Parks Service; Friends of Hackney Road Recreation Ground

Date(s):

C18th, C19th; 1892

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:

No

Nature Conservation Area:

No

Green Belt:

No

Metropolitan Open Land:

No

Special Policy Area:

No

Other LA designation:

None

Fairchild's Garden, October 2025. Photograph Sally Williams

Click a photo to enlarge.