Victorian London - Entertainment and Recreation - Gardens and Spas - Mermaid Tavern, Hackney

THE MERMAID, HACKNEY

    The assembly-room, connected with the tavern by a covered way, and the extensive grounds, were much frequented during the last century till the forties. The grounds consisted of an upper and lower bowling-green - one of them sometimes used for archery - and an umbrageous 'dark walk' encompassing the kitchen-garden, which was on the west side of the brook which divided the grounds.
    Ballooning was for many years a feature of the place . . .
    The old tavern was pulled down at the end of the thirties, and several houses were built on its site. The assembly-room and gardens continued in existence for many years later, but are now also built over.

Warwick Wroth, Cremorne and the later London Gardens, 1907