Abney Park Cemetery and Clissold Park
Abney Park Cemetery OS grid ref: TQ333868
Site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation.
Abney Park is Hackney’s first Local Nature Reserve. Opened in 1840, two and a half thousand trees were planted creating a garden cemetery of 13 hectares - central London's largest woodland. Resident bird species include Sparrowhawk, Tawny Owl and Coal Tit. Scarcer visitors include Firecrest (Regulus ignicapilla, left, often seen in Autumn), Pied Flycatcher and Lesser Redpoll. Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Nuthatch and Treecreeper have been recorded.
Butterflies include the largest inner London population of the Speckled Wood. Purple and White-letter Hairstreaks are found here. Silver-washed Fritillary is recorded every few years.
Nationally scarce invertebrates include the fly Leopoldius brevirostris, the hoverfly Pocota personata and the Girdled Mining Bee (Andrena labiata).
Approximately four hundred plant species have been recorded in Abney Park. Wildflowers of note include Wood Spurge and Hairy St. John’s Wort (neither believed to grow elsewhere in Hackney), Deadly Nightshade, Enchanter’s Nightshade, Dog’s Mercury, Ivy Broomrape, Wood Forget-me not, Lesser Celandine, Creeping Jenny, and Hoary Ragwort.
About three hundred species of fungi have been found including scarce Earthstars and Dyer's Mazegill (Phaeolus schweinitzii) which is scarce in London.
Clissold Park OS grid ref: TQ326866
Clissold Park is a Grade 1 Site of Borough Importance
Described as "singularly attractive" by nineteenth century ornithologist W.H. Hudson, Clissold Park was originally a private estate. Opened to the public in 1889 there are 21.5 hectares of landscaped grounds. Paths bordered by mature Chestnuts surround a curving section of the New River, next to the deer enclosure, aviary, and butterfly dome (latter open from the 1st of May to September on Mondays at 1 p.m., Tuesdays at 5 p.m., Wednesdays at 4 p.m., and the second Saturday of every month). Two artificial lakes, each with an island, and adjacent areas at the north end of the park are managed as wildlife refuges.
Common Pochard and Little Grebe breed on Beckmere Lake. Scarcer birds which have been recorded in Clissold Park include Common Sandpiper, Firecrest, a Wood Warbler, Waxwing and Brambling.
N.b: Clissold Park is Hackney's most popular green space so visit early in the morning to see its wildlife.
Allens Gardens
Created in 1868, the main entrance is in Bethune Road, north of Abney Park. An attractive, small, woody public park beside Holmleigh Cuttings west bank nature reserve it's home to woodland species and warblers. In March 2005 up to 30 Waxwings roosted. The Slow Worm (Anguis fragilis, photo, in fact a legless lizard) has been found in Allens Gardens and adjacent Holmleigh Cuttings - the only place in Stoke Newington they have been recorded.
