Introduction
Features of Aske Gardens include a tennis court and mature trees.
Aske Garden is on the site of Aske's Hospital, one of the earliest and grandest almshouses to be built in Shoreditch, which took its name from its benefactor Robert Aske, who also bequeathed money for Haberdasher Aske's School.
The buildings were rebuilt in 1825-27 and used as schools and later the Shoreditch Technical Institute. They have now been converted to housing.
- Visitor Access, Directions & Contacts
Telephone
020 8356 8428Access contact details
Please note: The information on this website is advisory, but please always check the website of the house or garden you intend to visit before travelling.
The site is open from 7.30am - dusk (summer 9.30pm, winter 4pm).
Directions
Rail/Tube: Old Street (Northern). Bus: 55 [243]
Owners
London Borough of Hackney
- History
17th - 18th Century
The original 17th-century almshouses accommodated 20 single men and a school for 20 boys, but were rebuilt in the 1820s with additional facilities for education, forming three sides of a square.
The school opened in 1690 as Haberdashers’ Boys’ School and had strict entry requirements. Students already had to be able to read, but also of proven poverty and were kicked out if they inherited more than £100.
19th Century
By 1882 there were no longer almshouses and the enlarged school buildings catered for 300 girls and 300 boys. In 1898 the two schools transferred elsewhere and the buildings became the LCC's Shoreditch Technical Institute, the open space in front designated as public open space, which remains today as Aske Gardens, although the buildings are now private housing.
21st Century
The gardens were refurbished in 2012 and in 2014.
- Key Information
Type
Garden
Purpose
Ornamental
Principal Building
Parks, Gardens And Urban Spaces
Survival
Extant
Open to the public
Yes