Stamford Hill

 

The station opened on the 27th May 1872 as part of the Great Eastern Railways route to Enfield from Bethnal Green. Stamford Hill lies on the old Roman road of Ermine Street, on high ground above Stoke Newington, where it crosses the road from the medieval village of Clopton (the modern Upper and Lower Clapton) into Hackney. By the 18th century, the road was subject to heavy traffic, including goods wagons pulled by six or more horses, and this caused the surface of the road to deteriorate. The local parishes appealed to Parliament in 1713 for the right to set up a Turnpike Trust, to pay for repairs and maintenance. Gates were installed at Kingsland and Stamford Hill to collect the tolls. Development of the area began around 1800, and many prosperous dwellings were built around Stamford Hill over the next 100 years. The London Road became a busy commercial centre to serve the needs of the burgeoning population. Around 1880, not only were railways serving the area, but this was the point where the tram systems coming north from the city met the Hackney tram system, and so it became a busy interchange, with a depot opening in 1873. Electrification commenced in 1902 and by 1924 a service was commenced between Stamford Hill and Camden Town along Amhurst Park.

 

Stamford Hill had many eminent Jewish residents, including the Montefiore family. Italian-born Moses Vita Montefiore (died 1789) was living there in 1763. From the 1880s, a new influx of Jews arrived in the area escaping from the poverty of Stepney in the East End and, in 1915, the New Synagogue was transferred to Stamford Hill to serve this growing population. In 1926, the Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations was established in Stamford Hill, and this became a magnet for other strictly observant Jews, many fleeing Nazi persecution in the years before the Second World War. The area is particularly known for its 30,000 Hasidic Jews, making it the largest concentration of Haredi Jews in Europe. Although not especially large, the station lies in two London boroughs. The entrance hall of Stamford Hill railway station on Amhurst Park lies within the London Borough of Hackney, but the platform area lies within Tottenham in the London Borough of Haringey. The typical off-peak service is two trains per hour to Enfield Town, two trains per hour to Cheshunt, and four trains per hour to London Liverpool Street. The station is in Travel Card Zone 3. The station has wi-fi, a waiting room, payphones and help points, but no toilets.

 

Connections: London Buses routes 253 and 254 and night route N253 serve the station.

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