The Old Church

Originally built in the sixteenth century, damaged by bombings during The Blitz and restored in the ’50s, this Grade II-listed former parish church on the corner of Stoke Newington’s Clissold Park. The only surviving Elizabethan church in the whole of London, it now functions as an atmospheric performance community events space. Mostly used as a grassroots music venue, it plays host to a hugely eclectic range of gigs and clubnights each year, ranging from folk and gospel to drone music, ethereal electronica and thumping industrial techno. One or two pretty big names have played small shows here too, including Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore (who used to live down the road in Dalston) and MUNA frontwoman Katie Gavin.