You know that much-photographed spot on Great Eastern Street, with the tube trains perched on the viaduct? Well — like the Beatles returning to the top of the music charts — you're about to see it all over Instagram and TikTok again. A pocket park just opened on top of the neighbouring bit of viaduct, and it offers eye-level views of Shoreditch's most famous landmark.
The park is accessed by means of a set of steps on the western side of the viaduct. There are no signs to advertise the space, nor to deter non-residents. Anyone can go up — and there's even a lift to make the park fully accessible.
We visited on a grey, blustery autumn day, so the photos don't really show the park at its best. It should be a very attractive spot come spring. Besides the shrubberies and benches, the garden also contains a few pieces of playground equipment, something that's in short supply hereabouts. The real draw, however, is the view across the road towards the tube trains of Village Underground.
The elevated park is part of The Stage development, which features a massive new residential tower, a public square and (soon) a museum of Shakespeare. The Bard was a regular at the Curtain theatre, whose remains were discovered on the site a few years back.
The viaduct stands beside the northern entrance to the new development. It's a remnant of the old Kingsland Viaduct which fell into disuse with the closure and demolition of Broad Street station (adjacent to Liverpool St station) in 1986. Much of the viaduct has since been recalled to life, to carry the Overground north from Shoreditch, but this tiny fragment remained isolated and unused until now.
