Local Info
Hampstead Garden Suburb
Hampstead Garden Suburb was founded in 1907 by Dame Henrietta Barnett. The area is internationally recognised as one of the finest examples of early twentieth century domestic architecture and town planning and home to approximately 13,000 people.
Located in North West London approximately 7 miles from the centre of London, Dame Henrietta Barnett’s ideals were that the area should cater for all classes of people, and all income groups. That there should be a low housing density, roads should be wide and tree-lined, houses should be separated by hedges and not walls, woods and public gardens should be free to all and it should be quiet (no church bells). All these ideals needed a Private bill before Parliament as it was counter to local bylaws.
In March 1906 the Hampstead Garden Suburb Trust Limited (the Old Trust) came into being for the purpose of buying 243 acres of land near the Hampstead Heath Extension from the Trustees of Eton College. In 1911 the Old Trust took possession of a further 112 acres which included Big and Little Woods, from the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. Part of this land was developed by the co-partnership societies under strict Trust control and the whole eventually re-leased to them in 1919.
The co-partnership societies took another 300 acres from the Ecclesiastical Commissioners with the consent of the Old Trust, and Oakwood Tenants Limited and Hampstead Heath Extension Tenants Limited were constituted to undertake this development.
In 1906 the Board of the Trust appointed Raymond Unwin as Architect and Surveyor and he was responsible with his partner, Barry Parker, for the preparation of the plan of development and for designing a large number of the early houses and supervising the plans and elevations of houses designed by other architects. From the start, Edwin Lutyens was associated with him as Consulting Architect and he designed many of the principal buildings.
In the 1930s the "Suburb" (as it is known by locals) expanded to the north of the A1.
Highgate Village
Highgate is a suburb in North London on the north-eastern corner of Hampstead Heath. Divided between three London boroughs, Haringey to the north, Camden to the south and west, and Islington to the south and east, the area is one of the more expensive suburbs to live in and has an active conservation society, The Highgate Society, to protect its character.
Hampstead Lane and Highgate Hill contain the red brick Victorian buildings of Highgate School and its adjacent Chapel of St Michael. The school plays a paramount role in the life of the village and has existed on its site since its founding was permitted by letters from Queen Elizabeth I in 1565. Highgate is noteworthy for its Cemetery and Georgian architecture. It is also the location of Berthold Lubetkin's two Highpoint apartment buildings.
Historically it adjoined the Bishop of London's hunting estate. The Bishop kept a toll-house where one of the main northward roads out of London entered his land. A number of pubs sprang up along the route, one of which, the Gatehouse, commemorates the toll-house. In later centuries Highgate was associated with the highwayman Dick Turpin.
Highgate Hill, the steep street linking Archway and Highgate village, was the route of the first cable car to be built in Europe. It operated between 1884 and 1909.
The area now is a popular vibrant place with many bars, pubs and restaurants.
Crouch End
Crouch End is in a valley between Harringay to the east, Hornsey, Muswell Hill and Wood Green to the north, Finsbury Park and Archway to the south and Highgate to the west and has a busy town centre with many shops and restaurants. A large number of open green spaces give the area a green aspect. To the immediate west, it is bounded by Highgate Woods, and the adjacent Queen's Wood, as well as a large expanse of playing fields. To the North is Alexandra Park and to the south Finsbury Park. 'The Parkland Walk', a former railway line, connects these two parks.
Crouch End grew up as a hamlet on the old medieval route from London to the north. At this time it was governed as part of Hornsey which became a parish in around 1300. This heavily wooded area contained farms and villas, one of which was Crouch Hall, probably built in 1681 at the crossroads of what came to be known as Crouch End.
Crouch End remained rural until around 1880, probably because of the lack of adequate sewerage. Large parts remained in private ownership, inhibiting development. But the railway was to change the area significantly and by 1887 there were seven nearby railway stations. Crouch End became a prosperous middle class suburb due to an influx of mainly clerical workers who could easily commute to the city. The large old houses were replaced by comfortable middle class housing and public parks were opened and number of new roads and avenues, such as Elder Avenue and Weston Park were laid out.
It expanded greatly in the late Victorian period and most of its present-day streets were built up in the late 19th century. By the mid-1930s Crouch End was a solid, middle-class borough with a thriving and popular shopping centre that included an Opera House in the middle of Topsfield Parade.
Until 1965 it was administratively part of the Municipal Borough of Hornsey and that body's forerunners. In 1965, when local government in London was reorganised Hornsey merged with the Municipal Borough of Tottenham and Crouch End became part of London Borough of Haringey.
