Still farther to the north on this line is Stoke Newington, with Clapton to the north-east Stoke Newington (population 52, 167) is mainly occupied by small villas. On its west side lies Clissold Park, 54 acres in extent. It is intersected by the New River, and a little to the north are the main reservoirs and waterworks of the New River Co. In Church St., at the east angle of Clissold Park, is the old parish church of St. Mary, still venerable in spite of restoration. It contains an interesting monument of 1580 (to John Dudley and his wife), and in the churchyard is buried Mrs. Barbauld (1743-1825). Church St. passes the south side of Abney Park Cemetery, the burial-place of General Booth of the Salvation Army (died 1912) and Mrs. Booth, and containing many monuments to Nonconformist divines. Among these is a statue (by Baily; 1845) of Dr. Isaac Watts, the hymn-writer (buried in Bunhill Fields), who lived with the family of Sir Thomas Abney (then owner of this property) for many years before his death in 1748. The name of Daniel Defoe (1661 ?-1731), who was educated in a school on Newington Green, where he had a comrade named Crusoe, is commemorated in Defoe Road. Edgar Allan Poe was at school at Stoke Newington from 1817 to 1819, and in his 'William Wilson' he describes it as a 'misty-looking village of England, where were a vast number of gigantic and gnarled trees, and where all the houses were excessively ancient.' Thomas Day (1748-89), author of 'Sandford and Merton'; John Howard; Isaac Disraeli (1766-1848), father of Lord Beaconsfield; and Samuel Rogers (1763-1855) are others associated with Stoke Newington. The open spaces in Clapton include Clapton Common (7+ acres) and Springfield Park (32+ acres). At the north end of Clapton Common is a church (closed) known as the 'Ark of the Covenant,' built in 1895 by the 'Community of the Son of Man' or 'Agapemonites' (remarkable sculptures; stained glass by Walter Crane). To the north-west of Stoke Newington is Hornsey, with Finsbury Park .
