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