COMMONS & OPEN SPACES 189 



(over 40 acres) on the north, and Hackney Marshes 

 (337 acres) on the east. These were Lammas Lands, and 

 the marshes were used for grazing until within the last 

 few years, when the rights were bought up and the land 

 finally thrown open to the public in 1894. The river 

 Lea skirts the marsh, and used not unfrequently to 

 flood, doing considerable damage. The London County 

 Council have made four cuts across the bends of the 

 river, forming islands. The water now can more easily 

 flow in a wet season, and the periodical inundations no 

 longer occur. The planting of these islands has not 

 been carried out at all satisfactorily. An utter want 

 of appreciation of the habits of plants or the localities 

 suited to them has been shown. A stiff row of the 

 large saxifrage, ^S". cordifolia^ charming in a rock garden 

 or mixed border, has been put round the water's 

 edge, and behind it, berberis, laurels, and a few flower- 

 ing bushes suited to a villa garden shrubbery. The 

 opportunity for a really pleasing effect has thus been 

 missed, and money wasted. A few willows and alders, 

 with groups of iris and common yellow flags, and free 

 growing willow herb, and purple loosestrife, would soon, 

 for much less expense, have made the islands worthy of 

 a visit from an artist. Instead, an eyesore to every 

 tasteful gardener and lover of nature has been produced. 

 The beauty of the marsh has always been appreciated by 

 the dwellers in Hackney and Clapton. The view over 

 the fertile fields from the high land was one of the attrac- 

 tions since the time when Pepys wrote, " I every day 

 grow more and more in love with" Hackney. 



Hackney Downs now form a large open area for 

 recreation, but they were fruitful fields sixty years ago. 

 An engraving, from a drawing by W. Walker, dated 



