The Village of Hackney

 

Hackney itself was a big and very well known village, famous for its market gardens, where farmers grew fruit and vegetables to sell in London. It was also famous for dairies: butter from Hackney cost ten pence a pound, four pence more than ‘ordinary’ butter, because the quality was so high. It was just far enough out of London to be a good place to change horses if you were going on a long journey, so there were several large inns offering rest and refreshment to travellers. This is the area that John Cass lived in for most of his youth, in the fresh air of the countryside of south Hackney. He attended the parish church of St John at Hackney for all his adult life.