Fassett Square
Encyclopedia
London Borough of Hackney
The London Borough of Hackney is a London borough of North/North East London, and forms part of inner London. The local authority is Hackney London Borough Council....
between Hackney Central
Hackney Central
Hackney Central is the central district of the London Borough of Hackney in London, England. It comprises the area roughly surrounding, and extending north from Mare Street. It is situated north east of Charing Cross...
and Dalston
Dalston
Dalston is a district of north-east London, England, located in the London Borough of Hackney. It is situated northeast of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London...
, just to the north of Graham Road.
It was built in the early 1860s on land owned by the Graham family. The north west part of the square contains the bauhaus-influenced new extension to the German Hospital, which was built in 1935 and closed in 1987. To the north is the stretch of railway track that carries the North London Line
North London Line
The North London Line is a railway line which passes through the inner suburbs of north London, England. Its route is a rough semicircle from the south west to the north east, avoiding central London. The line is owned and maintained by Network Rail...
.
The square is unremarkable but for the fact that it was used in the design of the fictional Albert Square
Albert Square
Albert Square is the fictional location of the BBC soap opera EastEnders. It is ostensibly located in the equally fictional London borough of Walford in London's East End. The square's design was based on the real life Fassett Square in Hackney, and was given the name Albert Square after the real...
in the long-running BBC TV soap EastEnders
EastEnders
EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
. When the creators of the soap were thinking of the design of the square in the 1980s, they needed a group of typical East London former merchants' houses all facing a well-kept square, giving a sense of community. There were plans to actually film the series in the square, but the hospital was difficult to insert in the script.