Two members of the Creative Engagement team visited the Bruce Castle Museum, though technically not a castle, this 16th-century former manor house in Tottenham holds an ever-expanding collection of the local history of Haringey, which fortunately for us, holds the story of Jacksons Lane since 1905, when it was first built as a Methodist church.
‘We like to call ourselves Haringey’s attic’, the head archivist said, sliding three big cardboard boxes onto our wooden desk, and we could see what she meant.
Packed to the 16th-century rafters with books and boxes, pamphlets and photographs, this building is the go-to destination for foragers of our borough’s rich local history. Pencils (the Museum is a no-pen zone) and phone cameras (a modest £6 fee applies for photography), we found an array of fabulous and surprising documents.
Did you know that Jacksons Lane cost £12,000 to build? This article, on yellowing paper from 1905, came complete with an original floorplan of the New Wesleyan Church, pulpits and all. Flash-forward to 1989, and Jacksons Lane’s modern identity as community center and safe space started to materialize between our rifling fingers.
One box labelled ‘Haringey Vanguard’ contained more than a few treasures. This is a valuable project, dedicated to memorialising the contributions of BIPOC and Asian LGBTQIA+ community activists in the late 20th century. In the box we found gorgeous posters signaling a ‘Haringey Lesbian Do’ and a Lesbian Multi-Cultural Cabaret and Social – both hosted here at Jacksons Lane in the final year of the 80s. On purple paper, a favorable accessibility assessment of the building written by Sisters Against Disablement, a feminist group that radically welcomed woman of all sexual orientations.
We also folded out a flourishing youth programme designed for our tenth anniversary in 1985, featuring a matinée of poetry readings by young women from the area, a series of cabarets by young people in the reception area, and a week-long youth festival. Tucked away in Tottenham, we closed the boxes, handed in our pencils and gave thought to the significance of preserving local history, grateful to Bruce Castle Museum for their dedication to the cause.
Huge thanks to the Bruce Castle Museum for welcoming the Jacksons Lane team. To find out more about our history visit our about page www.jacksonslane.org.uk/about-us/ and for more on the local history of Haringey visit www.brucecastle.org
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