From “The Camden-Town Railway”, The Illustrated London News, Nov 15th 1851, page 603.
We have now arrived at the Hackney Station. On the right, from the midst of roofs of houses and the thickly-planted trees in the churchyard and adjacent gardens, rises the picturesque tower of the old church; and to the right, the pyramidal tower of the new church. Looking leftward, we were somewhat puzzled at the appearance of several long ditches, or rather trenches, filled with running water, nearly covered with what we took to be weeds; but, upon inquiry, we found this was one of the artificial streams for the continual growth of watercresses for the London market, which affords a living to a great number of poor men, women, and children.