Upcoming Events
Writing Hackney’s Black History
Writing Hackney’s Black History. Come to a free event to find out more about the Hackney Black History Book Project. Hear from some of the authors about what their research has uncovered and how you can get involved.
After dark bat walk and survey at Abney Park
Join Abney Park Trust for a night walk to encounter the bats who are just one of the many species of wildlife who reside in our nature reserve.
“Where a brook flew by”: an evening of poetry with Hilary Davies
Join poet and former Poetry Society Chair Hilary Davies for a special evening of poetry in Abney Park’s Harriet Delph Room.
Dreaming for Dreamers: Visionary Tools for Life & Creativity
Gates of the Abode - A season of talks and workshops on death, departure and the unseen at Abney Park; this event is part of the Second Sight series. Dreaming for Dreamers is a workshop exploring how dreams can become an active part of our creative process - in both art and life. Blending information-sharing, practice and ritual, the session opens with the many ways dreams have been worked with across traditions: as oracle, as medicine, as another plane of existence for meaning making.
Honouring Our Own: A Black History Month Walking Tour of Abney
Honouring Our Own: A Black History Month tour of Abney Park
‘Resting in a cemetery’ - Legends and Legacy of the Whittington Stone
Gates of the Abode - A season of talks and workshops on death, departure and the unseen at Abney Park; this lecture is part of the Tales of Departure series. What significance lies in the early legend of Dick Whittington resting in a cemetery, and how does this imagery reflect the deeper themes of life and fate, and their connection with London history? This talk will delve into the early texts and chronicles that trace the roots of Whittington's legend, revealing how historical narratives and folklore have evolved over time.
Beyond the Veil: an illustrated talk by author Paul Gambino
Join Paul Gambino an internationally published author specialising in topics of the macabre for an Illustrated talk in the Chapel. Step into the shadows of Victorian England — an era when death was not hidden away but was an unavoidable presence woven into everyday life. This richly illustrated lecture goes beyond the familiar story of Victorian mourning to ask a larger question: Why did death become such a defining feature of Victorian culture?
‘Ghosting Up’ Against the Sensitive Plate – A history of London Spirit Photography
Gates of the Abode - A season of talks and workshops on death, departure and the unseen at Abney Park; this lecture is part of the Tales of Departure series. It's 1872, and a new phase of British Spiritualism is developing. Driven by the Victorian need for evidence of the afterlife, the collodion process of early photography seemed to hold the key to ghost manifestation — a potential upgrade for Spiritualism from faith to science. This talk explores the concept of capturing spirits on camera, and the deceptions of the first UK spirit photographer, unmasked in the 1870s by none other than the Psychic and Spiritualistic societies themselves.
Telepathic Drawing: Creative Encounters in the Astral Plane
Gates of the Abode - A season of talks and workshops on death, departure and the unseen at Abney Park; this event is part of the Second Sight series. Telepathic Drawing is a practice-based workshop exploring the astral plane, non-verbal communication, intuition and shared awareness through mark-making. Participants will be guided through a series of exercises that invite deep concentration and attention to subtle cues. This event is aimed at all those who wish to explore their extra-sensory abilities. Participation is intuitive; no previous experience or artistic background needed.
Life Drawing Theatre – ‘Through me is the way to the sorrowful city’ (Divine Comedy – Inferno epic stanzas)
Gates of the Abode : A season of talks and workshops on death, departure and the unseen at Abney Park. This workshop is part of the Tales of Departure series. The medium of life drawing theatre is a unique type of interactive storytelling. This performance of sonnets from The Divine Comedy, narrated by Paul McGill, will give attendees the opportunity to create their own storyboard of sketches inspired by the model's pose or by the overall meaning of the poetry and its folkloric analysis.
‘The Departing Sailor’ – The Sailor’s Tear and the emotional Jack-Tar
Gates of the Abode - A season of talks and workshops on death, departure and the unseen at Abney Park; this lecture is part of the Tales of Departure series. Seafarers embodied intangible values such as bravery, stoicism, and loyalty at a time when the prevailing military ideals condemned any display of vulnerability or excessive sensitivity, fostering an environment rife with homophobia. This talk explores the folk narrative of the departing Jack Tar, the epitome of manhood for the whole nation during the Georgian and Victorian era.
‘Forever Near’ - Hairwork history and techniques
Gates of the Abode - A season of talks and workshops on death, departure and the unseen at Abney Park; this lecture is part of the Tales of Departure series. Hairwork is the almost forgotten craft of manipulating human hair into decorative designs for jewellery or artwork. Some are purely ornamental, others for commemoration, but always imbued with meaning, folklore and ritual significance. Join us for a lecture exploring four distinct hairwork techniques from the Georgian and Victorian eras, examining their applications for the deceased, the living, or both, and the cultural contexts that shaped them.
Grave Gazers Club: A Drawing Safari at Abney Park
Grave Gazers Club is an observational drawing workshop exploring the monuments, symbols and inscriptions of Abney Park Cemetery. All Hallows’ Eve marks the opening of the three days traditionally given over to the dead: a time for visiting and attending to those who are gone. In this workshop, we’ll explore looking as a form of contact - with the site, its heritage and the people held within it. Participants will be guided on a walkabout around the park, recording gravestones, lettering, symbols and details through the medium of drawing.
DIY Card Studio: Make Your Own Tarot Card
Gates of the Abode - A season of talks and workshops on death, departure and the unseen at Abney Park; this event is part of the Second Sight series. This hands-on workshop invites participants to create a personalised Major Arcana tarot card using the art of collage. Drawing inspiration from traditional tarot symbolism, attendees will design their own unique card, selecting images, textures, and colours that resonate with their personal journey, intention or interpretation of the card drawn.
Remembrance Sunday 2026
Join us on Sunday 9th November at 10.15am at the War Memorial in Abney Park Cemetery, where local choirs will perform songs and poetry to commemorate Remembrance Sunday.
War Graves tour with Abney Unearthed
Join Abney Unearthed for a tour held in recognition of War Graves Week and VE Day. Learn more about the lives of those who died in service who are buried in Abney Park - including those with Commonwealth War Grave Commission memorial stones and those commemorated on the headstone of their family grave.
One Jazz presents Coltrane at 100 - with Denys Baptiste and Gary Crosby
Two of the UK’s most acclaimed musicians celebrate saxophonist John Coltrane's centenary year by playing a selection of classics from his spiritual jazz canon. This is the latest in a series of sold-out One Jazz shows in the beautiful and intimate surrounds of the restored Chapel of North London's Abney Park Cemetery.
One Jazz presents Coltrane at 100 - with Denys Baptiste and Gary Crosby
Two of the UK’s most acclaimed musicians celebrate saxophonist John Coltrane's centenary year by playing a selection of classics from his spiritual jazz canon. This is the latest in a series of sold-out One Jazz shows in the beautiful and intimate surrounds of the restored Chapel of North London's Abney Park Cemetery.
Murnau’s Faust (1926) - a Live & Immersive Centenary Score with the Enchanted Cinema
Murnau’s Faust (1926) is reimagined in a new immersive live cinema performance marking 250 years since Goethe’s first draft of Faust and the centenary of its landmark expressionist adaptation. After last year’s sell-out staging of Nosferatu at Abney Chapel, The Enchanted Cinema returns to the atmospheric chapel reached through Abney Park Cemetery at night, presenting a live score.
How to Get on With Everybody
A film by Elin Moe and Winstan Whitter, How To Get On with Everybody is an intimate portrait of the unique life of Herschel Gluck, a Rabbi from the Haredi Jewish community. One of life's true optimists in a time of global tension, Rabbi Gluck reminds us that power lies in empathy and in our shared humanity.
Monthly History Tour
Occurring on the first Sunday of every month and led by Abney Park Trust, this tour focuses on Abney Park's uniqueness – from its diverse permanent residents to the striking funerary architecture, as well as its historic dual function as both burial ground and arboretum since it opened in 1840.
Chapel Open Morning
Between 11am and 1pm join us for an opportunity to view inside the newly restored Abney Park Chapel.
And at 12 noon, as part of a celebration of Black History Month, come to our free talk about the life and times of JJ Fuller. Minister, orator and mission leader, Joseph Jackson’s spent over 40 years working in Cameroon before settling in Stoke Newington for his later life.
Introduction to Abney's Ecology
Join Abney Park Trust for a walk through the site and an introduction to the site’s delicate and unique ecology. Abney Park was designated a local nature reserve in 1993, a central London woodland, a place where fungi can flourish on fallen trees and invertebrates find a home. 33 years on, as the climate emergency increases, inevitably the site’s importance and vulnerability increases and the need for support from its local community becomes more vital.
‘Absent Yet Near’ – The narrative of Military Pin-Stuck Cushions
Gates of the Abode : A season of talks and workshops on death, departure and the unseen at Abney Park. This lecture is part of the Tales of Departure series. Between the Crimean War and WWI, Military Pin-Stuck Cushions (MPSCs), commonly known as sweetheart pincushions, hand-made by men, were gifted in their thousands. This lecture will reveal how the Salvation Army, the YMCA and the Church Army played an important role in the life of the military, and what their work meant in conjunction with these deeply personal trench art keepsakes.
Introduction to Abney's Ecology
Join Abney Park Trust for a walk through the site and an introduction to the site’s delicate and unique ecology. Abney Park was designated a local nature reserve in 1993, a central London woodland, a place where fungi can flourish on fallen trees and invertebrates find a home. 33 years on, as the climate emergency increases, inevitably the site’s importance and vulnerability increases and the need for support from its local community becomes more vital.
Radical Writers: 100 Years of John Berger, with guest speaker Lisa Appignanesi
On this special evening, his lifetime friend and collaborator, Lisa Appignanesi – writer, former Chair of The Royal Society of Literature and the 2018 Man Booker International Prize – will be in conversation with writer and social historian Ken Worpole.
Monthly History Tour
Occurring on the first Sunday of every month and led by Abney Park Trust, this tour focuses on Abney Park's uniqueness – from its diverse permanent residents to the striking funerary architecture, as well as its historic dual function as both burial ground and arboretum since it opened in 1840.
Chapel Open Morning
Between 11am and 1pm join us for an opportunity to view inside the newly restored Abney Park Chapel.
And at 12 noon come to our free talk about the work of the Abney Unearthed project and its incredible work mapping the cemetery’s lost graves.
Introduction to Abney's Ecology - rescheduled to Sun 20th Sept
Join Abney Park Trust for a walk through the site and an introduction to the site’s delicate and unique ecology. Abney Park was designated a local nature reserve in 1993, a central London woodland, a place where fungi can flourish on fallen trees and invertebrates find a home. 33 years on, as the climate emergency increases, inevitably the site’s importance and vulnerability increases and the need for support from its local community becomes more vital.
After dark bat walk and survey at Abney Park
Join Abney Park Trust for a night walk to encounter the bats who are just one of the many species of wildlife who reside in our nature reserve.
Monthly History Tour
Occurring on the first Sunday of every month and led by Abney Park Trust, this tour focuses on Abney Park's uniqueness – from its diverse permanent residents to the striking funerary architecture, as well as its historic dual function as both burial ground and arboretum since it opened in 1840.
Chapel Open Morning
On 2nd August, join Abney Park Trust to explore the newly restored Chapel, with a free talk at 12 noon about the history of the chapel.
After dark bat walk and survey at Abney Park
Join Abney Park Trust for a night walk to encounter the bats who are just one of the many species of wildlife who reside in our nature reserve.
Monthly History Tour
Occurring on the first Sunday of every month and led by Abney Park Trust, this tour focuses on Abney Park's uniqueness – from its diverse permanent residents to the striking funerary architecture, as well as its historic dual function as both burial ground and arboretum since it opened in 1840.
Chapel Open Morning
Between 11am and 1pm join us for an opportunity to view inside the newly restored Abney Park Chapel. And at 12 noon come to our free talk about the Abney Deaconesses, a group of remarkable women whose graves and stories were recently rediscovered by the volunteers of Abney Unearthed.
Introduction to Abney's Ecology
Abney Park was designated a local nature reserve in 1993, a central London woodland, a place where fungi can flourish on fallen trees and invertebrates find a home. 33 years on, as the climate emergency increases, inevitably the site’s importance and vulnerability increases and the need for support from its local community becomes more vital. Join Abney Park Trust for a walk through the site and an introduction to the site’s delicate and unique ecology.
After dark bat walk and survey at Abney Park
Join Abney Park Trust for a night walk to encounter the bats who are just one of the many species of wildlife who reside in our nature reserve.
Monthly History Tour
Occurring on the first Sunday of every month and led by Abney Park Trust, this tour focuses on Abney Park's uniqueness – from its diverse permanent residents to the striking funerary architecture, as well as its historic dual function as both burial ground and arboretum since it opened in 1840.
Chapel Open Morning
On 7 June 2026, join Abney Park Trust to explore the newly restored Chapel, with a free talk at 12 noon about Eric Walrond, and hear about the award winning author, buried here in Abney, who wrote about “Gun toting drunks, boy eating sharks and blood sucking babies”
2pm: One Jazz Presents Afternoon Jazz At The Chapel - Miles at 100; a Centenary Celebration. Jay Phelps plays Miles Davis.
2pm show: One Jazz Presents Afternoon Jazz At The Chapel: Acclaimed trumpeter Jay Phelps celebrates the vast repertoire and incredible and enduring impact of Jazz’s most enduring star - Miles Davis. A Miles at 100 celebration in the beautiful and intimate surrounds of the Abney Chapel. Another show at 12.30pm.
12.30pm show: One Jazz Presents Afternoon Jazz At The Chapel - Miles at 100; a Centenary Celebration. Jay Phelps plays Miles Davis.
12.30pm show: One Jazz Presents Afternoon Jazz At The Chapel: Acclaimed trumpeter Jay Phelps celebrates the vast repertoire and incredible and enduring impact of Jazz’s most enduring star - Miles Davis. A Miles at 100 celebration in the beautiful and intimate surrounds of the Abney Chapel. Another show at 2pm.
Dawn Chorus bird walk
Join us bright and early for a chance to discover the birds of Abney Park. Image: Jack Ferris
After dark bat walk and survey at Abney Park
Join Abney Park Trust for a night walk to encounter the bats who are just one of the many species of wildlife who reside in our nature reserve.
Dawn Chorus bird walk
Join us bright and early for a chance to discover the birds of Abney Park. Image: Jack Ferris
How to Get on With Everybody
A film by Elin Moe and Winstan Whitter, How To Get On with Everybody is an intimate portrait of the unique life of Herschel Gluck, a Rabbi from the Haredi Jewish community. One of life's true optimists in a time of global tension, Rabbi Gluck reminds us that power lies in empathy and in our shared humanity.
Chapel Open Morning
On 10 May 2026, join Abney Park Trust to explore the newly restored Chapel, with a free talk at 12 noon about Alice Zimmern, writer, scholar, teacher and early feminist.
Dawn Chorus bird walk
Join us bright and early for a chance to discover the birds of Abney Park. Image: Jack Ferris
War Graves tour with Abney Unearthed
Join Abney Unearthed for a tour held in recognition of War Graves Week and VE Day. Learn more about the lives of those who died in service who are buried in Abney Park - including those with Commonwealth War Grave Commission memorial stones and those commemorated on the headstone of their family grave.
Monthly History Tour
Occurring on the first Sunday of every month and led by Abney Park Trust, this tour focuses on Abney Park's uniqueness – from its diverse permanent residents to the striking funerary architecture, as well as its historic dual function as both burial ground and arboretum since it opened in 1840.