Muswell Hill
Muswell Hill is a district of the London Borough of Haringey, north London. The hill, which reaches over above sea level, is situated north of Charing Cross.
Neighbouring areas include Highgate, Hampstead Garden Suburb, East Finchley and Crouch End. It has many streets with Edwardian architecture.
History
presence in the area has been attested to through the discovery of Roman coins near Southwood Lane and Muswell Hill Road.The earliest records of Muswell Hill date from the 12th century. The Bishop of London, who was the Lord of the Manor of Haringey, owned the area and granted, located to the east of Colney Hatch Lane, to a newly formed order of nuns. The nuns built a chapel on the site and called it Our Lady of Muswell.
The name Muswell is believed to come from a natural spring or well, said to have miraculous properties. A traditional story tells that Scottish king Malcolm IV was cured of disease after drinking the water. The area became a place of pilgrimage for healing during medieval times. The River Moselle, which has its source in Muswell Hill and Highgate, derives its name from this district; it was originally known as the Mosa or Mosella. Until the 1950s, the town's name was often pronounced "Muzzle Hill".
In the 18th century Muswell Hill was a scattered village consisting mainly of detached villas with large gardens. In 1787 one commentator wrote that nowhere within of London was there a village so pleasant or with such varied views. Little had changed by the middle of the 19th century. One of the houses of the time was The Limes. This house occupied the angle of Muswell Hill Road with Colney Hatch Lane and was a three-storeyed house with portico and two-storeyed wing approached by a double carriage drive through impressive gateways. The large grounds of the house extended to Tetherdown and included a lake. Opposite The Limes was Muswell Hill pond and beyond that the Green Man inn, built of stone and likely dating to at least 1552. Colney Hatch Lane itself was part of an ancient route from London to the north, and was once known as Muswell Hill Lane.
Further down the hill past the Green Man was The Elms, a squat three-storeyed house later improved by Thomas Cubitt standing in, part of the grounds of which were laid out by Joseph Paxton. A short distance down the north side of Muswell Hill was The Grove, which was three storeys high and had nine bays with pedimented projections at each end. It stood in of grounds which contained a avenue of oaks. In 1774 the house was occupied by Topham Beauclerk. The Elms was demolished in 1900 to make way for Dukes Avenue.
19th century
A little farther down the hill stood Grove Lodge, also in wooded grounds. Altogether there were eight properties in Muswell Hill worthy of note in 1817.File:Muswell hill odeon.jpg|thumb|The former Odeon cinema, now an Everyman, in Muswell Hill is a Grade II* Listed Building
Parallel with Muswell Hill was a track known as St James's Lane which ran across a triangle of wasteland. By the middle of the 19th century, houses were already dispersed along the lane at the foot of which was Lalla Rookh, a two-storeyed villa with a wide verandah. Other buildings there were apparently cottages or huts, both single and in terraces.
It was not until the end of the 19th century that Muswell Hill began to be developed more densely from a collection of country houses to the London village that it is today. The development was spurred by the opening in 1873 of Alexandra Palace, a massive pleasure pavilion built on the most easterly of north London's gravel hills and intended as the counterpart to the Crystal Palace on Sydenham Hill in south London. Alexandra Palace was served by a branchline railway from Highgate, with an intermediary station at Muswell Hill. The foot of Alexandra Palace was served by another rail network with connecting services to Finsbury Park and Kings Cross stations.
20th century
Most development was initiated in the early 20th century when the current street pattern was set out and elegant Edwardian retail parades were constructed. The shopping centre is based on roads that form three sides of a square: Fortis Green Road, Muswell Hill Broadway and the extension of the Broadway into Colney Hatch Lane. At each node point is a church: United Reformed, Church of England, Methodist, and Roman Catholic. One of the nodes, opposite St James CoE, was also the site of the Athenaeum music hall, opposite which a surviving art deco Odeon cinema was built in the 1930s. The site of the Ritz, a cinema formerly at the top of Muswell Hill on the next node to the east, has been redeveloped as offices.Until the mid-20th century there was a rail branch line, the Muswell Hill Railway, from Highgate which passed through Muswell Hill, terminating at a station at Alexandra Palace. It was intended under the Northern Heights plan to integrate this into the London Underground Northern line; some contemporary tube maps showed the line as being under construction. However, this plan was cancelled after the Second World War, and the railway line was abandoned in 1954. The line was later converted to become the Parkland Walk.
In 1964, three young Muswell Hill residents, the brothers Ray and Dave Davies and Pete Quaife, formed the Kinks. Categorised in the United States as a British Invasion band, the Kinks are recognised as one of the most important and influential rock groups of the era. The Davies parents’ home at 6 Denmark Terrace, Fortis Green, remains a magnet for rock music tourists.
In 1950, Paul Andrew Smith was born in Muswell Hill at 12 Crown Road, and later became a founding member of the band Wednesday, formed in 1967. Their record success included the chart topping hit, Last Kiss, followed by a series of top ten records in Canada, Australia and the USA. They earned several Juno nominations, a Maple Leaf Award, Gold record award and were nominated into the Hall of Fame with a lifetime achievement in 2022.
In 1979 Wetherspoons opened their first pub, on Colney Hatch Lane.
In March 2013 and June 2020 Muswell Hill was named one of the five most desirable places to live in London in the Sunday Times "Best Places To Live" guide.
Administration and representation
The hill was part of the Bishop of London's Manor of Hornsey, an area served from the medieval period by the ancient parish of Hornsey. Parishes were originally ecclesiastic in purpose, but from the Tudor era onwards had a civic as well as ecclesiastical purpose.In 1903, the area of the civil parish of Hornsey became the Municipal Borough of Hornsey, within the administrative county of Middlesex. Then in 1965 Hornsey merged with Tottenham and Wood Green to form the modern London Borough of Haringey.
Northern parts of the N10 postal area, sometimes also regarded as part of Muswell Hill, were part of the parish of Friern Barnet, which subsequently became Friern Barnet Urban District before becoming part of the London Borough of Barnet.
The area is in the Hornsey and Friern Barnet parliamentary constituency. The area is part of the Muswell Hill ward for elections to Haringey London Borough Council.
Geography
Close to Alexandra Park and Highgate Woods, Muswell Hill's architecture is predominantly Edwardian. Muswell Hill Broadway and Fortis Green Road, the main shopping streets, still maintain their historic character with most of the original facades preserved above street level. The area has a synagogue and six churches, one of which has been converted into a steak house.Education
Primary schools
- Coppetts Wood Primary School and Children's Centre
- Coldfall Primary School
- Eden Primary
- Hollickwood JMI School
- Muswell Hill Primary School
- Norfolk House Preparatory
- Our Lady of Muswell RC Primary School
- Rhodes Avenue Primary School
- St James C of E Primary School
- Tetherdown Primary School
Secondary schools
- Alexandra Park School
- Fortismere School
Special schools
- Blanche Nevile School. A school for deaf and hearing impaired children, based on the sites of Highgate Primary School and Fortismere School.
- TreeHouse School, based at the Pears National Centre For Autism Education.
Transport
Rail
Muswell Hill is not directly served by a tube or National Rail station.Nearby tube stations include Bounds Green, East Finchley, Finsbury Park, Highgate, Turnpike Lane and Wood Green.
National Rail services pass to the east of Muswell Hill, calling at Alexandra Palace, Hornsey and Finsbury Park. Trains are operated by Great Northern and Thameslink to destinations such as Moorgate, Enfield and Welwyn Garden City. To the south of Muswell Hill, London Overground trains serve Crouch Hill station between Gospel Oak and Barking, via South Tottenham.
Bus
Muswell Hill Broadway and Muswell Hill West are both served by London Buses, providing the area with a direct connection to the City of London and the West End. Buses also serve nearby stations.| Route Number | Start | End | Key Destinations |
| 43 | Friern Barnet | London Bridge | Highgate, Archway, Islington, Angel, City of London, Bank |
| 102 | Brent Cross | Edmonton Green | Bounds Green, East Finchley, Golders Green |
| 134 | North Finchley | Warren Street | Highgate, Archway, Kentish Town, Camden Town |
| 144 | Muswell Hill | Edmonton Green | Wood Green |
| 234 | Barnet | Archway | East Finchley |
| 299 | Muswell Hill | Cockfosters | Bounds Green, Southgate |
| 634 | Muswell Hill | Barnet | Whetstone |
| W3 | Finsbury Park | Northumberland Park | Alexandra Palace, Alexandra Palace, Wood Green, Tottenham |
| W7 | Muswell Hill | Finsbury Park | Crouch End, Crouch Hill |