Julie PHIn Pictures: Climbing St Augustine's Tower With Iain SinclairOn the second floor, the ticking of the tower clock provided the backdrop to Kirsten Norrie's haunting vocals. Here, details of the clock mechanism, which dates to the late 16th or early 17 century. Image / i,maxThe sun sets on Hackney, that rose-red empire Image / Julie Palmer-HoffmanIain Sinclair with sound installation artist and musician Susan Stenger on the top of St Augustine's Tower Image / WowtheWorldStory-time in the third-floor bell room: Sinclair shared tales of lives lived in Hackney to the real-time accompaniment of the streets of Hackney below. Image / WowtheWorldStenger and Sinclair survey the view from the top. Image / WowtheWorldThe Grade 1 listed building, Hackney's oldest, dates from the late 13th century and opens its doors to visitors only occasionally (for more details, contact the Hackney Historic Buildings Trust). Image / Ewan-MTower interior, first floor, where festival-goers paused to listen to Susan Stenger's sound installation, an interpretation of Hackney voices past and present Image / i,max
Another day, another tower to climb. Not content to sit back and rest on our laurels, the first full day of spring saw Londonist scaling a treacherous four stories of medieval spiralling staircase in Hackney's St Augustine's Tower with Hackneyite (though never hackneyed) urban chronicler Iain Sinclair. Though the event was a one-off as part of the London Word Festival, you can still catch Sinclair making the rounds to promote his latest book or, if you plan it right, explore the tower for yourself during one of its rare openings. Or you can climb it virtually here...
