Stamford Hill

Stamford Hill is a place in the north of the London Borough of Hackney, England, near the border with Haringey. It is home to Europe's largest Hasidic Jewish community. To find a flat or house to rent in Stamford Hill, London contact the Black Katz Islin

Stamford Hill is a place in the north of the London Borough of Hackney, England, near the border with Haringey. It is home to Europe's largest Hasidic Jewish community. To find a flat or house to rent in Stamford Hill, London contact the Black Katz Islington office. Black Katz have flats and houses to rent in Stamford Hill and across London. If you are a landlord wishing to rent out your property contact Black Katz.

History

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.

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 (d. 1789) was living there in 1763. His son Joseph (d. 1804) married Rachel Mocatta, and his grandson Abraham Montefiore (d. 1824) married Henrietta whose father, the financier Nathan Meyer Rothschild, lived near the modern Colberg Place from 1818 to 1835. The Montefiores' property a little further south was to be transformed by Abraham's grandson, Claude Montefiore, into Montefiore House school. With the increased development of the area, many distinguished families moved away: in 1842 there were few of the wealthy Jews who had once settled in Hackney. The philanthropist and abolitionist, MP Samuel Morley, had a residence here, from about 1860.

From the 1880s, a new influx of Jews arrived in the area escaping from the poverty of the East End in Stepney, 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 sects, many fleeing both Stalinist and Nazi persecution in the years before and after World War II. Also, many Jewish families came to the area from other areas of London, refugees in their own way from bombing and post-war clearances for new housing. One of the early Hasidic leaders in Stanford Hill was the Shotzer Rebbe. Another notable Jewish resident from 1955 until his death in 2000, was the spiritual head of the Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations, Rabbi Chanoch Dov Padwa.

To find a flat or house to rent in Stamford Hill, London contact the Black Katz Islington office. Black Katz have flats and houses to rent in Stamford Hill and across London. If you are a landlord wishing to rent out your property contact Black Katz.

Orthodox Jewish community

Stamford Hill is at the centre of an Orthodox Jewish and predominantly Hasidic community estimated by Hackney Council and others to be some 20,000 strong. It is the largest Hasidic community in Europe, and referred to as a square mile of piety, reflecting the many Jewish men seen walking in their traditional clothes on their way to and from worship. The congregations often represent historical links with particular areas of Eastern Europe in their dress and their worship. Many also retain international links with other congregations around the world. The largest of these congregations is the Satmar, which has five directly associated synagogues; Belz is another large community with several synagogues. In the surrounding area there may be over 50 synagogues and many observant Jews in the neighbouring areas of Stoke Newington, Upper Clapton and Tottenham identify with Stamford Hill.

An emergency response first-aid service called Hatzola - the Hebrew word for rescue - is run by Haredi volunteers. The need for dietary observance means that Stamford Hill has a large number of shops selling specifically Kosher food.

The orthodox Jewish community relies mostly on private education for schooling, with almost all Jewish children attending Jewish private schools which are segregated between boys and girls. Recently, however, the Stamford Hill Yesodey Hatorah senior girls’ school has achieved state-aided status. The school has made headlines several times, most recently when some of its pupils refused to study Shakespeare due to his supposedly anti-Semitic views and the school's principal, Rabbi Abraham Pinter saluted the girls for having pride in what they believe in.

Haredi families have on average 5.9 children, almost 2.5 times the average for England and Wales, and many families live in overcrowded flats. National planning regulations are applied by the local council, prohibiting "excess" development of family housing. This has inevitably led to conflict between the council and the Jewish population, represented by the Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations. Agudas Israel Housing Association is active in developing housing for the Jewish community in Stamford Hill.

Transport

Nearest places

Rent a flat, house or apartment in Stamford Hill with Black Katz.

Nearest stations

  • Stamford Hill railway station
  • South Tottenham railway station
  • Manor House tube station
  • Seven Sisters station
  • Stoke Newington railway station

Rent a flat, house or apartment in Stamford Hill with Black Katz.