About Chatsworth Road

Chatsworth Road

Chatsworth Road runs between Homerton and Lower Clapton in the east of the London Borough of Hackney. It is situated a short walk from Millfields Park, the River Lea and Hackney Marshes. It is one of London’s longest high streets.

The street was laid out from 1867 onwards, along a path through open fields, specifically designed to provide shops for a bustling new Victorian suburb. It’s a fine example of a planned high street, purpose built to serve all the needs of a community. The handsome architecture and relatively generous width speak of a self-confident time when London was the world’s biggest city and still growing fast. 60 years after its completion, Chatsworth Road was lucky to escape heavy local WW2 bombing largely unscathed. Chatsworth Estate, by Lockhurst Street, stands on the site of some of the most severe direct hits.

In recent years the street has experienced a great deal of change but it continues to provide a vital hub of a wide variety of shops and services. Unusually, most of the businesses on Chatsworth Road are independents rather than chains and combined with the market on Sundays the street is a great place to find more unusual items alongside the everyday essentials.

Visit

Buses

Homerton Hospital: W5, 236, 242, 276, 308, 394, 488

Lower Clapton Road: 38, 48, 55, 106, 253, 254

Clapton Pond: 30, 56

Overground: Homerton, Hackney Central, Clapton and Hackney Downs

Tube: Connections at Highbury & Islington, Stratford and Bethnal Green

Journey

Bike: Lots of cycle parking on Chatsworth Road and surrounding streets

About Chatsworth Road Traders & Residents Association

Chatsworth Road Traders and Residents Association CIC (CRTRA) is a not-for-profit organisation. We aim to offer a voice to local traders and residents. We’re committed to promoting Chatsworth Road as a vibrant high street, as a safe and enjoyable public space, and as the community hub for a large and highly diverse residential area. See our vision statement here or download our constitution.

Directors of the CIC are: 

Damian Patchell
James Purnell

Everyone involved is a local resident or business and volunteers their time. We’re always looking for more people to get involved so we can get more input from residents and businesses on the street. Lots of other people get involved on an ad hoc basis be it running the Christmas markets, Chatsfest, taking photographs or developing the website. 

To contact any of the committee email us at: info@chatsworthroade5.co.uk 

Some of the things we do include:

  • Promoting the street as a place to us and visit via this website, press articles, commissioning posters, postcards and other promotional material and getting involved with council initiatives
  • Advising new businesses interested in opening on the street.
  • Reporting breaches of planning, problems with roads/pavements/rubbish or other issues that affect the look of the street
  • Organising and running the Chatsworth Road Festival
  • Answering email enquiries about the businesses or the street

Details of minutes of historical meetings 2010-2013 can be found here. Any meetings between the association and Hackney Council are minuted by the council and available to everyone to view via their website or on request.

Hopefully that will be a chance for everyone to find out more about what goes on at future meeting.

ANY OTHER IDEAS?

If you have an idea for a project or another ways in which you can help, please contact us or sign up using the form below.

Fields marked with an * are required

In the meantime, if you would like to help in some way, please get in touch.

The small print
Chatsworth Road Traders and Residents Association CIC (CRTRA) is a not-for-profit organisation, company registration number 8087117. We are limited by guarantee.

Our Vision

In January 2011 we embarked on a project to identify the common aspirations that local people have for the area. In order to do this we had approximately 300 local residents fill out surveys; we undertook 14 in-depth case study interviews with a hand-picked diverse range of residents; we had 60% of local businesses give their views via a trader specific survey; we met with 14 local community group representatives, including religious groups, tenants organisations and elderly and youth clubs, local councillors and police; and took part in a project with students from the City Academy considering the future of the area.

We consolidated this work and distilled  five key aspirations that we believe best reflects local people’s values about the area, these are set out below:

1. Sociable
There is more to a great neighbourhood than just people living in the same area. We want a neighbourhood that has a strong sense of community, a place rich in social capital.  A neighbourhood where we recognise people who use the same shops, streets and spaces that we do, where we often bump into people we know, and can go to places where we can meet others who might have the same interests as us.

2. Diverse
We want a neighbourhood defined by its diverse mix of people, rather than any single dominant group.  A place where people of all ages, incomes and creeds live and work side by side, where we are exposed to different cultures, tastes and beliefs to our own but still feel at home. A place that is open to incomers but values its longer-term residents.  We need to encourage this diversity and nurture shops, provide homes and build workplaces that can serve our diverse community.

3. Accessible
We want to live in a neighbourhood that is easy to get around, whether walking, cycling, driving or in public transport. A place where it is safe and attractive to walk to shops, parks and schools, where the less abled feel they can get around with as much ease as the abled, where you can cycle without feeling intimidated by motor vehicles, but where you can easily drive through to get to go farther afield. We need a neighbourhood with a simple and legible network of streets, where the burden of traffic is shared equally. Streets that can accommodate a variety of users whilst prioritising the most vulnerable.

4. Independent
We want a neighbourhood with a healthy and resilient local economy, a place where money remains in the community and profit is measured not solely in pounds and pence.  A place not dependent on any single company for goods, services or employment.  A place that supports a diverse range of local small and medium-sized business, and provides a nurturing environment where new businesses can flourish.  A place that attracts talented, creative and the entrepreneurial people to live and to work.

5. Sustainable
We want  a neighbourhood that uses resources wisely and actively minimises its ecological footprint.  A neighbourhood where all waste is recycled or re-used; where walking and cycling are the primary modes of transport;  where the energy we consume is  produced in a sustainable manner and all buildings use it efficiently; and with places to grow our own food.

Consistution
Download a copy of our founding Constitution.

Minutes
Historic minutes from 2009 to 2013 can be found on this page.

Media enquiries

If you would like to include Chatsworth Road market or any other projects in a feature please email us at press@chatsworthroade5.co.uk for interview requests or images.