HACKNEY, (Middlesex) on the N.E. side of London, bel. of old to its Bp. till Bp. Ridley granted it to K. Edward VI. his
heirs and successors, for ever; but he soon gave it to Tho. Ld. Wentworth, in whose family it remained, till they
alienated it; and it was not long ago in the hands of Tho. Cook, Esq;. An old MS. says, it was given by K. Edward and his
council to Sir Will. Herbert; and there it is called part of the K's. purchased lands. London-Field in this. p. which was
parcel of a mon. without Bishopsgate, was given by Hen. VIII. at the Diss. to Sir Tho. Darcy, in exchange for other lands.
Here are no less than 12 hamlets in this p. and near 100 coaches are kept in it. At the bottom of Hackney-Marsh, through
which the r. Lea runs, bet. Old-Ford and the Wyck, there have been discovered within these few years the remains of a
great stone causey, which, by the Roman coins, &c. found there, was no doubt one of the famous highways made by the
Romans. The Ch. here is of a very ancient foundation, so old as Edw. II. and the number of houses near 700. That part next
London is called Mare-Street; the middle, Church-Street; and the N. part Clapton; Derlesten and Shaklewell are on the W.
and Hummerton, which leads to the Marsh, on the E. Here are 3 meeting-houses, and six boarding-scs. besides the fr. sc. in
the Ch.-yard, a ch. sc. and 17 almshs.