Growth from the mid 19th century. (fn. 62)
Modern
Hornsey dates from the late 19th century. New
building at first was confined to existing centres and
was slow, perhaps partly because of poor sewerage, (fn. 63)
until the 1860s. Country houses were being built
until the 1880s but growth was such in 1875 that
the 1871 census was no longer a reliable guide to
population. (fn. 64) In the south part Brownswood Park
was built up in the 1860s and 1870s and Stroud
Green, begun in the 1860s, was almost complete
in the 1870s. Harringay was a product of the 1880s,
while Ferme Park and the Crouch Hall estate were
partly built up by 1894. Eastern Hornsey and
northern Crouch End were built up more slowly
and western Hornsey, Muswell Hill, and Fortis
Green had been little altered by 1891.
Attempts were made to establish select suburbs at
Brownswood Park, Shepherd's Hill, and Muswell
Hill, so that in 1904 Hornsey could be extravagantly
compared with Kensington as North London's
west end. (fn. 65) Elsewhere builders provided terraced
and semi-detached houses for the poorer whitecollared workers. The lack of local employment
excluded the working class, except for domestic
servants: in 1901 there were 7,852 people in
service, of whom 6,598 worked indoors, 6,548 being
female, and there were still 7,217 in 1931. (fn. 66) Hornsey
attracted men from the metropolitan parishes
who worked in the City (fn. 67) and in 1901 11 per cent
of the population were clerks, (fn. 68) who needed to
live near railway stations. Access to London was
emphasized, as early as 1867 it was assumed that
most men travelled thither by the G.N.R., (fn. 69) and
in 1886 Hornsey's seven stations were considered
sufficient explanation for its expansion. (fn. 70) After
1873, when trains were running to all parts of the
parish, building depended mainly on the availability
of land. At Hornsey and Crouch End building was
thwarted for decades by private landowners and
Harringay's rapid growth took place only on the
sale of a large estate. In the west the vast property
of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners was not on the
market until relatively late and much of it was
preserved for recreation. The establishment of
Finsbury Park as an open space ensured that
Brownswood evolved independently from the rest
of Hornsey. The high proportion of parkland partly
explains why 'Healthy Hornsey' had the lowest
death-rate on record in 1905 and the lowest of all
large towns in 1906. (fn. 71) In 1906-7 the density of
population was only 30.2 people per acre. (fn. 72)
The first public open spaces were Finsbury Park,
opened in 1869, Highgate wood, opened in 1886,
and Clissold and Waterlow parks, opened respectively in 1889 and 1891. All passed to the L.C.C.
except Highgate wood, which remained with the
City of London, and from 1899 Clissold Park lay
within Stoke Newington. (fn. 73) Crouch End playing
fields, bordering Park Road, were leased from the
Ecclesiastical Commissioners by a company formed
in 1892. Originally 18 a., (fn. 74) they covered c. 40 a. by
1926 (fn. 75) and 53 a., mostly serving private clubs, by
1956. (fn. 76) Hornsey recreation grounds originated in a
plot of wasteland opposite the Rectory, acquired by
the local board in 1887, and in c. 8 a. along Middle
Lane, which were to be laid out as gardens in 1894. (fn. 77)
A field beside Priory Road was also acquired in
1921-2 (fn. 78) and, with a further 9 a. acquired in 1926,
formed Priory Park. (fn. 79) Queen's wood, an eastern
extension of Highgate wood, was so named on its
acquisition by Hornsey U.D. in 1898. (fn. 80) By 1918
over 460 a. or 16 per cent of the borough consisted
of open spaces; they included 17 a. of allotments,
Highgate golf course, and 38 a. of Alexandra Park. (fn. 81)
Coldfall wood was added in 1934 (fn. 82) and on the north
bordered Muswell Hill sports ground, a reclaimed
rubbish tip, from 1962. (fn. 83)
Muswell Hill and Fortis Green were affected by
the G.N.R.'s stations at Finchley (1867) and Muswell Hill (1872) and by the opening of Alexandra
Park in 1872. The Alexandra Palace's workforce,
however, was housed in Friern Barnet (fn. 84) and few
visitors to the palace chose to settle. Near the
western end of Fortis Green was the Woodlands,
erected regardless of expense c. 1863 for Frederic
Lehmann and visited by many leading literary and
musical figures. (fn. 85) At Fortis Green 20 houses were
built in the decade to 1861, (fn. 86) most of them probably
on the estate south of the road acquired in 1852 by
the National Freehold Land Society and called
Haswell Park. Intended for superior villas, (fn. 87)
it was divided into 180 plots facing Eastern,
Western, and Southern roads and the paths later
called Haswell Passage, Francis Road, and Shakespeare Gardens. (fn. 88) Some roads existed by 1855 (fn. 89)
and in 1856 it was claimed that all lots were fenced
and connected to main services. (fn. 90) In spite of auctions in 1852 and 1856 (fn. 91) some lots were unsold in
1858; (fn. 92) there were only 28 houses in 1871, (fn. 93)
vacant plots remained in 1896, and the southern
part of the estate was never built on. The delay
in building may have stemmed from poor communications via Finchley High Road. (fn. 94) In 1871
twelve houses, six built during 1867-8, stood north
of Fortis Green (fn. 95) and in 1896 two large houses
alone lay between Eastern and Muswell Hill roads.
Building had spread up both sides of Tetherdown
since 1871, (fn. 96) when eight houses stood in Page's
Lane. (fn. 97)

HORNSEY
Development from the mid 19th century
At Muswell Hill itself Bath House and the Grove
made way for Muswell Hill station, (fn. 98) and a threestoreyed terrace was erected facing the road by the
Imperial Property Investment Co. as its Grove
House estate. (fn. 99) Farther down the hill Grove Lodge
was rebuilt in 1854 as a large two-storeyed stuccoed
house. (fn. 1) The number of houses in Colney Hatch
Lane grew slowly and in 1871 most were large
detached villas like Carisbrooke Cottage, built by
1861, Wood Villa, Milford Lodge, and Laurel Bank
Cottage. (fn. 2) In Clerkenwell detached 12 a. were laid out
in small plots for building c. 1878. Two plots facing
the main road were built on and four more houses
were never finished. (fn. 3) It was probably on the same
estate that c. 1879 plots were bought cheaply by people
who squatted rate free in shanties until at least 1888. (fn. 4)
Not all the 12 a. of c. 1878 had faced Colney Hatch
Lane. About the same time land formerly part of Alexandra Park and stretching eastward into Wood Green
was acquired by the London Financial Association.
In 1884 Muswell Avenue and Muswell and Coniston
roads had been laid out and the last 125 lots west of
Muswell Avenue were auctioned. Only two houses
had been erected and the company evidently had
difficulty in selling plots. (fn. 5) In 1891 only 54 houses
with 318 residents stood in Clerkenwell parish (fn. 6)
and little change had occurred by 1896. Muswell
Hill was still a place where the rich built seats. (fn. 7)
At Hornsey village, after the opening of Hornsey
station, building in the late 1860s was proceeding as
rapidly as land became available. By 1861 the
village had spread east of the railway over the former
Cocksfields. (fn. 8) In 1861 sixteen houses stood in
Clarendon Road, where the gas-works was moved
in 1867, and the first house fronting Turnpike
Lane itself was let in 1860. (fn. 9) The Hornsey Park
estate, which by 1881 comprised the later Hornsey
Park, Alexandra, Ravenstone, and Brook roads,
Malvern Parade, Park Ridings, and the Avenue in
Hornsey and Tottenham, (fn. 10) was being laid out by
1869; (fn. 11) in 1879 it belonged to the Imperial Property
Investment Co. (fn. 12) Six-roomed houses there were
selling well in 1880, (fn. 13) and by 1896 the whole
district was built over; Turnpike Lane was coming
to be a major thoroughfare in the 1880s but even in
1900 it contained only 30-40 houses. (fn. 14) West of the
G.N.R. the Birkbeck Freehold Land Co. had
acquired the Grove House estate, on the corner of
Middle Lane and High Street, by 1866 and had
built up the frontages to Middle Lane and the new
Grove House and Birkbeck roads. (fn. 15) The estate had
been bounded on three sides in 1855 by the land of
John Holland, which adjoined the Three Compasses inn. (fn. 16) In 1865 the National Freehold Land
Society acquired his estate (fn. 17) on which Haringey,
Lightfoot, St. Mary's, Westfield, Rectory, and
Holland roads were constructed. By 1870 street
lighting could be supplied to St. Mary's estate,
perhaps the area known as Lister Park between
High Street and Church and Tottenham lanes. (fn. 18)
Campsbourne Lodge and 24 a. north of High
Street were acquired in 1866 by the British Land
Co., (fn. 19) which laid out the Campsbourne estate of
small terraced and semi-detached houses in the
Campsbourne and in Newlands, Campsbourne,
Boyton, and Myddelton roads. By 1871 1,294
houses, more than a quarter of them uninhabited,
had been built at Hornsey, 117 were under construction, and the population had risen to 3,116. (fn. 20)
Despite near-by building the village had changed
little in 1876 when viewed from High Street, which
remained broad and tree-lined; (fn. 21) nothing had been
built west of the Rectory and Middle Lane or south
of the church on the glebe, which the rector refused
to sell. Although he had started leasing land by
1881, (fn. 22) the glebe was only partly built up in 1896,
when Middle Lane still marked the eastern limit
of building. Farther south growth was halted by the
grounds of the new Rokesley House, Hermiston
Lodge, and Elm House. (fn. 23) In 1887 builders could not
obtain freehold sites because all were held by one
proprietor. (fn. 24) In Hornsey village there were 62
people to the acre in 1906-7. (fn. 25)
At Crouch End, where building strained the
sewerage system, Christ Church replaced the
smaller Broadway chapel in 1862 but itself needed
a new aisle by 1866. (fn. 26) Both villas and labourers'
cottages sprang up. In 1856 there were already
156 houses in Park Road, 29 in New Road, and 5
in Middle Lane. (fn. 27) Park Villas and Park Terrace, on
either side of Park Road, and Richmond Villas,
west of Middle Lane, extended north of New Road
by 1871. (fn. 28) The ribbon of housing stretched little
farther north in 1896, when it was barred by the
Chestnuts in Middle Lane, but substantial terraces extended as far as Palace Road. As early as
1869 houses had been erected in the Grove (fn. 29)
and 57 cottages had been built by Thomas Beall
in the Grove, Willow Walk, and Park Road. (fn. 30)
West of Tottenham Lane, north of the Topsfield
Hall estate, the road was lined with shops and
cottages as far as Holy Innocents' church (1877). (fn. 31)
Likewise Crouch End Hill, where Christ Church
stood by itself in 1869, was lined on both sides with
humble shops of brick or weatherboard with mansard roofs as far as the church c. 1885. (fn. 32) Nevertheless
Crouch End was still a pleasant, even rural, place in
1876. (fn. 33) Well-spaced houses extended along the
eastern side of Tottenham Lane through Crouch
End and up Crouch Hill, the newer ones in Crouch
Hill including Amedee Villa, home of Ambrose
Heal, and Cecile House. (fn. 34) At the summit but standing back from the road in 2 a. was Womersley
House, apparently built for the London draper
Peter Robinson, who lived there in 1871. (fn. 35) At right
angles to Crouch Hill, Haringey Park had been
laid out by 1855, with 15 large houses in 1861 and
25 in 1871. (fn. 36) Another large houses, the Limes, stood
by 1869 at the top of Crouch End Hill opposite
Crouch End station. The opening of the station had
contributed by 1871 to the transformation of Hornsey Lane, where 21 detached houses joined Hornsey
Lane Farm, and to the construction of Crescent
Road. (fn. 37)
In 1855 the Ecclesiastical Commissioners obtained possession of 156 a. of the Brownswood
demesne. Bounded by Seven Sisters and Blackstock
roads and by Green Lanes and wholly undeveloped,
the land's accessibility from London made it ideal
for building. The road system had been decided by
1861 (fn. 38) and plots were let to individual builders.
John Brookes Porter, later chairman of South
Hornsey local board (fn. 39) and a bankrupt, built the
earliest houses from 1862. Most of the frontages
of Seven Sisters Road and Green Lanes were built
up in the 1860s, the bulk of Queen's Road (later
Drive) and King's Road (later Crescent) were completed by 1871, (fn. 40) and the remainder of the estate,
except for Prince's (later Princess) Road, was built
up in the 1870s. Green Lanes and Brownswood and
King's Road were to contain detached or semidetached houses and Queen's Road was to have
terraces or semi-detached houses, but the builders
were more lavish. Stressing the good communications and rural setting, Porter advertised fourstoreyed terraced houses in both Queen's and
King's roads; (fn. 41) houses in Green Lanes and Seven
Sisters Road were even larger. Brownswood Park,
as the district was called, was regarded as a particularly good part of a select suburb. (fn. 42) The copyhold land on the east became the Sluice-House
estate, (fn. 43) with similar houses built, for the most
part, by the same men. The first houses were completed in 1869 and at least 84 were ready in 1873. (fn. 44)
In 1894, when the area had been built up for five
years, there were 1,077 houses with 7,359 inhabitants in the 164 a. of Brownswood Park. (fn. 45)
Stapleton Hall was the only house in Hornsey
between Crouch End and Seven Sisters Road as
late as 1861 (fn. 46) but the streets of Islington were approaching Stroud Green Road, along the east side
of which stood several large houses. Rapid growth
followed the opening of Seven Sisters, Crouch Hill,
and Crouch End stations. In 1863 Joseph Lucas
of Stapleton Hall leased land for building (fn. 47) and in
1868 Mount Pleasant Road had been built from the
corner of Stapleton Hall and Stroud Green roads
over the T. & H.J.R. (fn. 48) to meet Mountview Road,
which already crossed the railway farther north.
There were 25 houses in Mount Pleasant Road in
1871. (fn. 49) Stapleton Hall Road had been laid out by
1876 and Ferme Park Road was driven over the
ridge towards Tottenham Lane in 1880. (fn. 50) To the
south the grid of streets was already planned in
1868 (fn. 51) and Osborne and Albert roads and Upper
Tollington Park contained 49 houses in 1871, (fn. 52)
by which time the roads in the angle of Stroud Green
Road and the G.N.R. were largely built up. (fn. 53)
In the 1870s they were considered to be in the illdefined area called Finsbury Park, which included
Brownswood Park and parts of Islington. By 1877
Finsbury Park was a growing neighbourhood (fn. 54)
with a strong community feeling and its own
newspaper (fn. 55) and was inhabited mainly by commuters with third- and second-class season tickets. (fn. 56)
When Hornsey was divided into wards in 1894 the
southern part became Finsbury Park ward and the
area farther north Stroud Green ward. Endymion,
Lothair, and adjoining roads carved out of the
park were completed in 1885 by the British Land
Co. (fn. 57) All roads south of the ridge existed by 1880, (fn. 58)
when Holy Trinity church was consecrated.
Building continued as late as 1893 in Stapleton
Hall Road (fn. 59) and in 1896 the area was virtually
built up.
From 1840 (fn. 60) the whole area between Green
Lanes, Turnpike Lane, the G.N.R., and the T. &
H.J.R., in both Hornsey and Tottenham, was
attached to Harringay House. The land was undulating, wooded, and crossed by the meandering
New River. (fn. 61) Both north of Turnpike Lane and
south of the T. & H.J.R. sites were prepared by the
British Land Co., which bought the whole estate
during 1880-1. (fn. 62) The land was laid out on a grid
between Green Lanes and the parallel Wightman
Road, with a total of 23 streets, and was divided
into Harringay Park estate in the south and Hornsey
Station estate in the north. Only half was laid out
in 1885 but the first auction of plots in the southern
portion had been in 1881 and in the northern part
in 1882. Sewerage was difficult because of the
contours and the New River had to be diverted into
tunnels. Advertising stressed access to London, in
particular via Hornsey and Harringay (West)
stations, the second of which was provided at the
company's insistence. Uniform two-storeyed terraced or semi-detached houses were erected throughout and were inhabited mainly by clerks in 1901.
By 1899, when building was completed, there were
1,016 houses in the north part and 1,400 in the
south. South Harringay ward had 53 people to
the acre in 1906-7 and North Harringay ward,
which probably included the area north of Turnpike
Lane, had 81 per acre. (fn. 63)
After the growth of Stroud Green and Harringay
the fields north of the ridge, henceforth called
Ferme Park, were soon taken for building. Of the
roads across the ridge before 1883 (fn. 64) the most important was Ferme Park Road itself, which had
been laid across Farnfields manor from Tottenham Lane to Stapleton Hall Road by 1880. (fn. 65)
By 1884 Weston Park, Bourne, Landrock, and
Gladwell roads were laid out between it and the
Elder estate to the west and in 1888 plots there
were for sale. (fn. 66) Large semi-detached houses in
Elder Avenue and Weston Park were ready in
1889 and Cecile Park was constructed by 1892. (fn. 67)
Both Cecile and Weston parks were planned by
J. Farrer, architect to the Elder family. (fn. 68) The whole
district west of Ferme Park Road was built over by
1896 but progress farther east was slower. Hornsey
Vale, said to have been the grounds of a house called
Abyssinia facing Tottenham Lane, was laid out as
Spencer, Gordon, Hanbury, Canon, Abyssinia,
Enfield, and Montague roads by 1880, when over
200 terraced houses had been built. (fn. 69) Eastern
Weston Park and the whole of Ridge and Oakworth
(later Nelson) roads were built by 1884. (fn. 70) Some of
Farnfields manor became the Ferme Park estate
of the Streatham and Imperial Estate Co. by 1888,
when it was selling plots in Nelson Road, (fn. 71) and the
eastern part, with the grounds and house of Rathcoole facing Tottenham Lane, formed the Rathcoole
estate of J. C. Hill stretching back to Ridge Road.
Four three-storeyed shops in Milman Terrace,
Tottenham Lane, were built in 1889 (fn. 72) and in 1893
Hill constructed a three-storeyed terrace of shops
near the junction with Church Lane. (fn. 73) Altogether
he planned 257 houses in Rathcoole Avenue,
Rathcoole Gardens, and Harvey and Uplands roads (fn. 74)
but few were completed before 1896. Those built
were terraced and cheaper than those on the Elder
estate. Like Harringay, Stroud Green, and Finsbury
Park, Ferme Park mainly housed commuters of
moderate means, who were contrasted in 1888 with
the richer residents of Shepherd's Hill. (fn. 75)
In 1856 Rowledge farm was divided between the
Ecclesiastical Commissioners and C. S. Dickens:
Dickens received 121 a. bounded by Shepherd's
Hill, Hornsey Lane, Crouch End Hill, and an
intended road, perhaps Stanhope Road; the commissioners were assigned 173 a. bounded by
Churchyard Bottom wood, Shepherd's Hill, and
Park Road. (fn. 76) They also owned Highgate wood, on
which they probably hoped to build, (fn. 77) and even
after surrendering it in 1885 they planned roads
through Churchyard Bottom wood. (fn. 78) From 1870
they leased land for building in Stanhope Road. (fn. 79)
Dickens had built large detached houses along
Hornsey Lane and the new Crescent Road by
1871 (fn. 80) and had laid out Coolhurst Road from
Hornsey Lane to Shepherd's Hill by 1882, when the
Imperial Property Investment Co. was his agent. (fn. 81)
The company also acted for the commissioners
from 1882, (fn. 82) when it acquired the leasehold rights
of the Bird family in Crouch Hall, (fn. 83) treating all
three estates as one. (fn. 84) On its own behalf the company bought c. 1885 as its Muswell Hill estate
Upton farm, consisting of 42 a. bounded by
Muswell Hill Road, St. James's Lane, Churchyard Bottom wood, and, in the east, land stretching
to Park Road. (fn. 85) By 1896 it had acquired land farther
east, called the whole Imperial Park, and apparently
planned an integrated road system for over 350 a.
Both Crouch End and Highgate were considered
good residential areas, which all parties meant to
preserve. (fn. 86) Building began in the east part of
Coolhurst Road, where twelve roads for 588 houses
had been laid out in 1882. (fn. 87) Detached Jacobeanstyle houses in Shepherd's Hill Road, threestoreyed and with nine bedrooms, were advertised
c. 1885. In Wolseley, Coleridge, Coolhurst, and
Crouch Hall roads smaller two-storeyed Queen
Anne-style detached houses were available. (fn. 88) On the
Muswell Hill estate three-storeyed eight-bedroomed
detached houses were built. (fn. 89) Failure to sell some
new houses in 1886 (fn. 90) may partly explain why the
company was reconstituted in 1894 and often sought
improved terms from the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, (fn. 91) in spite of the district's rural attractions (fn. 92)
and convenient railway services. Only the area
near Crouch End and a strip of land along Shepherd's Hill Road, together containing 700 houses, (fn. 93)
and part of Onslow and Cranley gardens had been
built on by 1896. As late as 1920 much of the
southern estate was vacant.
During the 1890s building spread over Muswell
Hill, Fortis Green, and western Hornsey. The
number of inhabited houses rose from 9,712 in
1891 to 12,571 in 1901 and 19,940 in 1911, (fn. 94)
giving the parish its modern appearance. The
hamlets survived much as they were in 1851 or
even 1816 until, during the 1890s, the old centres
of Crouch End, Muswell Hill, and, to a lesser
extent, Hornsey itself, made way for municipal
buildings and shopping parades. Meanwhile estates
merged into a continuous suburb that extended into
neighbouring parishes. Only a third of Hornsey
was built over by 1894 (fn. 95) and it was expected that
the population would exceed the level it ultimately
reached. Combined with relative prosperity and
good public services, such confidence encouraged
Hornsey's desire for borough and even county
borough status. (fn. 96)
Building activity had slackened by 1914 (fn. 97) in
spite of a continuing demand and, by 1923, a
shortage of houses. (fn. 98) There was a lack of sites as
large areas remained open, notably Muswell Hill
north of Creighton Avenue, Highgate wood, and
Crouch End playing fields. (fn. 99) No more building
was possible in Stroud Green or Harringay between
1901 and 1911, when their populations fell. (fn. 1) The
declining size of families, however, (fn. 2) permitted
multiple occupation of houses and the provision of
blocks of flats, which were associated with lower
standards as early as 1900. (fn. 3) Subdivision of houses
caused concern by 1911, particularly in North and
South Harringay and Stroud Green. (fn. 4) In 1921
1.35 families on average lived in each house, (fn. 5)
the trend being especially marked in the south and
east and in 1923 linked to working-class immigration from Islington and correlated with a recent
increase in poor-law cases. (fn. 6) At Stroud Green
houses were divided and the district was in decay
c. 1925. (fn. 7) Hornsey council accordingly built its
own working-class housing, providing 424 dwellings
by 1913, including 248 in Hornsey Side, 634 by
1926, and 1,072 including 839 in Hornsey Side,
by 1939. (fn. 8) From 1930 it concentrated on replacing
obsolete houses (fn. 9) and from 1932 supported the
Hornsey Housing Trust, (fn. 10) which by 1939 had
divided 50 houses into 237 flats. (fn. 11) Nowhere did
overcrowding exceed the legal limits in 1923 and
there were no slums then or in 1932, although there
were pockets of poverty in the Campsbourne and
St. Mary's estates at Hornsey, at Hornsey Vale, and
at St. James's Lane, Muswell Hill. (fn. 12) Only the last
was concerned in the demolition of 148 houses
between 1920 and 1938. (fn. 13) In 1923 it was recognized
that as the wealthy moved farther out Hornsey's
prosperity would decline. (fn. 14) The borough nevertheless consisted mainly of houses for the well-to-do in
the 1920s (fn. 15) and many clerks still lived in Hornsey,
Harringay, Crouch End, and Stroud Green in
1925. (fn. 16)
At Muswell Hill building was in progress on
various sites before 1896, when it accelerated as land
became available and when visitors were attracted
to Tetherdown, scene of the notorious Muswell
Hill murder. (fn. 17) Building was still proceeding on the
Alexandra Park estate in 1900 when the Elms,
north-east of Muswell Hill, was demolished and
laid out in conjunction with James Edmondson
& Son of Highbury as the Station estate. (fn. 18) The
frontage became a terraced crescent of fourstoreyed shops called Station Parade, (fn. 19) similar to
Edmondsons' contemporary parade at Crouch End,
and Station (later Duke's) Avenue and other
roads were built between Muswell Hill and Wood
Green. (fn. 20) Edmondsons were still building there in
1910. (fn. 21)
On the opposite side of Muswell Hill two large
houses, Belle Vue and Summerlands, were replaced
respectively by a dairy in 1900 and by the shops
and flats called Summerlands Mansions by 1904. (fn. 22)
Farther north, on the west of Colney Hatch Lane,
North Lodge was replaced by Edmondsons' North
Lodge estate, which included Woodberry Crescent. (fn. 23)
By 1900 other builders had laid out the curved
Creighton Avenue from Page's Lane to Coldfall
wood and were selling houses in Eastwood Road; (fn. 24)
in 1908 Burlington Road and the western frontage of
Tetherdown were built up. (fn. 25) In 1896 Edmondsons
bought the Limes, with grounds stretching to
Fortis Green, and promptly laid out Queen's
Avenue. Immediately to the south the triangle facing
Fortis Green and Muswell Hill roads was sold soon
after, probably to Edmondsons, who in 1900 built
the shops and flats called St. James's Mansions
fronting Fortis Green Road. (fn. 26) By 1900 (fn. 27) W. J.
Collins had laid out the area south of Fortis Green
and west of Muswell Hill Road, previously the
site of Midhurst, Fortismere, and the Firs, which
were replaced before 1905 by six streets of tightly
packed terraces running southward from Fortis
Green to Grand Avenue. (fn. 28) South of Fortis Green
Road, on opposite sides of Firs Avenue, flats in
Birchwood Mansions and Firs Mansions were
erected c. 1910 and c. 1907. (fn. 29) South of Fortis Green
itself, Leaside Mansions and the Gables dated from
c. 1907 (fn. 30) and Midhurst Mansions, on the site of
Midhurst itself, from 1902. (fn. 31) Farther west building
was in progress in Lynmouth and Southern roads
and Springcroft Avenue in 1908 (fn. 32) and to the south
large houses had been erected on the Hall estate
by 1900. (fn. 33) East of Muswell Hill Road cottages
fronting Queen's Road were replaced in 1898 by
27 three-storeyed semi-detached houses. (fn. 34) Immediately to the north, in Cranley Gardens, R.
Metherill was building in Woodland Gardens and
in 1900 houses were planned in Woodland Rise. (fn. 35)
There was no direct connexion with Shepherd's
Hill but Cranley Gardens was linked to the Rookfield estate on the lower slopes of Muswell Hill and
St. James's Lane. The Rookfield Garden Village (fn. 36)
of W. J. Collins contained two-storeyed semidetached houses in short streets lined by trees.
Building was in progress before 1910 (fn. 37) and involved
the demolition of Lalla Rookh, already threatened
in 1898. (fn. 38) In 1934 26 cottages in St. James's Lane
were replaced by Valette Court, a block of council
flats. (fn. 39)
In 1896 Muswell Hill, with its natural advantages,
seemed likely to achieve distinction. (fn. 40) To encourage
the trend Edmondsons (fn. 41) built an Athenaeum and
gave sites for chapels and a public library. (fn. 42) The
broad streets were lined with shops, which in 1908
it was hoped would make Muswell Hill the finest
shopping centre in London, (fn. 43) and flats and houses
were built in quiet and accessible roads. In 1908
it was select (fn. 44) and in 1926 it still attracted the
wealthy, although the residents were less eminent
than some in Highgate. By 1911 Muswell Hill,
with 11,391 inhabitants, (fn. 45) was joined to neighbouring suburbs.
By 1920 almost the whole area north of Crouch
End playing fields, Queen's wood, and Woodside
Avenue, and south of Coldfall wood and Page's
Lane was built over. Many large houses were subdivided or replaced, particularly in Colney Hatch
Lane. A small shopping centre had sprung up near
the northern boundary by 1926 and on the western
side a row of houses made way for four blocks of
flats, Seymour Court c. 1936, and Barrington, St.
Ivian, and Cedar courts c. 1937. (fn. 46) After 1920
building was possible only at the expense of the
remaining open spaces, in Woodside Avenue and
adjoining roads or over Coldfall wood, through
which Creighton Avenue had been built. On land
carved out of the wood facing Fortis Green several
blocks of flats were erected: Woodside by 1921, (fn. 47)
Long Ridges by 1930, and Twyford Court by
1933. (fn. 48) The other roads running northward were
not constructed until after 1935. The original
mission church of St. Matthew was established to
serve the council's Coldfall estate, a grid of five
roads of 412 terraced houses erected during 1924-6 (fn. 49)
between Coppetts Road and Coldfall wood. As the
attenuated wood and open area to the north were
preserved, Muswell Hill had attained its modern
limits by 1939. Although much larger and more
diverse than had been hoped, it was the newest and
most prosperous part of Hornsey.
Hornsey village was considered quaint, partly old
and partly new, in 1900. (fn. 50) Shortage of land delayed
its spread westward until c. 1896 when the Priory
estate, known as Priory Park, was sold. (fn. 51) The seven
roads constructed across it from Priory Road
northward to Alexandra Park contained mainly
three-storeyed terraces. The Priory itself was demolished c. 1902. (fn. 52) Campsbourne, a field to the
north-east adjoining Nightingale Lane, was acquired
by Hornsey U.D.C. for its first working-class housing in 1897. By 1899 108 terraced cottages on 4½ a.
had been erected in Northview and Southview
roads and in Nightingale Lane itself, (fn. 53) where older
weatherboarded cottages had been demolished in
1896. (fn. 54) An enthusiastic observer compared the new
terraced houses with villas. (fn. 55) A second scheme in
1904 consisted of 140 cottages in Hawthorne and
Beechwood roads on 6 a. acquired in 1902. (fn. 56)
Building to the west was halted by Alexandra Park
and Grove Lodge but south of Priory Road only
Park Road separated Muswell Hill's Rookfield
estate from Hornsey after c. 1900. By then building
had begun on the farm-land in the angle of Park
and Priory roads. The weatherboarded Rose Cottage
on the corner was pulled down in 1902 and Farrer
Road and Park Avenue South were built. (fn. 57) The
western sprawl of Hornsey village thus met the
northward advance of Crouch End up Park Road.
East of Middle Lane and immediately south of
Priory Park, created in 1926, (fn. 58) Chestnut Avenue
replaced the Chestnuts, part of the 13½-a. Elm
House estate of Leopold Keller (d. 1905), which
was auctioned in 1909. It included Hermiston
Lodge, Rokesley House, and Elm House, whose
grounds, all stretching to Tottenham Lane, barred
the spread of building between Hornsey and Crouch
End, Hermiston Lodge, the northernmost, was
replaced by Rokesley Avenue and Holy Innocents'
Road (later part of Hermiston Avenue), but it was
not until c. 1934 that the other two houses made
way for Elmfield Avenue and the rest of Hermiston
Avenue. (fn. 59) The latter joined Hillyfield Avenue and
other roads on the former glebe where houses
were under construction in 1896. The same builder
remodelled that part of High Street (fn. 60) not already
fronted with terraced shops. On its south side the
Three Compasses was demolished in 1896 (fn. 61) and
the Pavement, a three-storeyed terrace of shops,
was erected. To the north Campsbourne Parade
was erected in 1908-9. (fn. 62) The old wooden shops and
Preston's and Allen's courts made way for the
council's bath- and wash-houses in 1920, (fn. 63) whereupon High Street took on its modern appearance.
Only a few older houses were left: Elm Cottage;
the Elms, which was pulled down c. 1939; (fn. 64)
and the Rectory, which in 1928 was partly encircled to the west by Rectory Gardens council
estate. (fn. 65) By 1920 most of the estates were built up
and in 1926 the shops were mainly utilitarian, (fn. 66)
reflecting near-by poverty, especially in the Campsbourne. Rebuilding there was contemplated (fn. 67) but
only Newlands, municipal flats of 1930, dated from
before the Second World War. (fn. 68)
Crouch End village was still recognizable in
1894, in spite of building on all sides and the disappearance of some large houses, notably Crouch
Hall (1885), Crouch End academy (1882), Old
Crouch Hall, and Linslade House (1888). At the
southern end of Broadway the smithy and cottages,
the Harringay Arms, and Park chapel, stretching a
short way up Crouch Hill, formed part of the estate
sold in 1894 on the death of Mrs. Sarah Elder.
Topsfield Hall and its grounds were bought by
Edmondsons, who demolished the house, laid out
Rosebery Gardens and the continuation of Elder
Avenue, and put up substantial terraces. Middle and
Tottenham lanes were widened and on the frontage
of the latter and the corner was built a four-storeyed
parade of good shops. On the other side of Tottenham Lane J. C. Hill replaced houses with a similar
parade (fn. 69) and constructed Felix Avenue and Fairfield
Gardens through their long gardens. In front of
where Topsfield Hall had stood the council erected
Crouch End clock-tower, an ornate red-brick and
stone memorial to Henry Reader Williams. (fn. 70) On
the opposite corner of Broadway, Hill replaced the
smithy with a bank and built shops up the west and
probably the east of Crouch Hill as far as Haringey
Park and Park chapel. (fn. 71) An opera house and
assembly hall were also built. (fn. 72) In 1926 Crouch
End was the main shopping centre for a wide area (fn. 73)
and in 1935 it was chosen as the site for Hornsey
town hall. (fn. 74)
Many of Crouch End's old buildings survived the
1890s. They included Broadway chapel until 1925
and Lake Villa, (fn. 75) both east of Broadway, terraced
shops in Crouch End Hill and Tottenham Lane, (fn. 76)
and large houses in Crouch Hill. East of Crouch
Hill, Womersley and Crouch Hill houses remained
in 1920, as did Oakfield House north of Haslemere
Road and Oakfield Villa in Crouch End Hill.
By then all the large houses in Tottenham Lane
had disappeared and the fields to east and west were
almost built up. More space could be found only
by demolition, which began as early as 1908 in
Haringey Park, where a house gave way to Ravensdale Mansions, three blocks of 47 flats. (fn. 77) Mountview automatic telephone exchange replaced Oakfield Villa (fn. 78) and the terraced shops east of Crouch
End Hill, and Lake Villa made way for the town
hall. (fn. 79) Oakfield House was replaced by 58 flats
in Oakfield Court by 1937. (fn. 80) The terraced shops of
Manor Place, Tottenham Lane, were pulled down
in 1935, (fn. 81) when the town hall was opened amid
streets which showed signs of decay. (fn. 82)
The Priory, Southwood Hall, and the houses in
Wood Lane were the only houses between Shepherd's Hill, Muswell Hill Road, and Queen's wood
in 1898. (fn. 83) In 1899 the Freehold and Leasehold
Investment Co. acquired the Priory and its large
grounds (fn. 84) and by 1920 had laid out Priory Gardens.
By 1935 the whole site was built over. Southwood
Hall, on the corner of Wood Lane and Muswell
Hill Road, was replaced by 1937 by red-brick
blocks of flats. (fn. 85) Nine cottages, called Churchyard
Bottom or Woodside Cottages, were demolished in
1930-1 by the council and replaced by Summersby
Road, which contained eighteen flats. (fn. 86) A little
farther south the frontage to Archway Road and the
streets immediately to the east, including the threestoreyed terraced houses of 1873-4 in Holmesdale
Road, (fn. 87) were built up by 1896. The whole area west
of Archway Road, north of Hornsey Lane, and
south of the G.N.R. was built over by 1920.
Hornsey was heavily bombed during the Second
World War, when over 80 per cent of the houses
suffered damage. (fn. 88) By 1945 131 houses had been
destroyed and 611 required demolition (fn. 89) but only
256 were wholly rebuilt at the government's
expense, most of them apparently in 1949-50. (fn. 90)
Others provided sites for municipal housing. An
acute shortage was alleviated when the council
provided 82 temporary bungalows (fn. 91) and put up
cheap dwellings, most of them model flats. (fn. 92) By
1951, when 1,005 dwellings were complete, 639
had been built by the council, many of them in
Stroud Green. (fn. 93) The council remains the largest
builder and has concentrated on redevelopment,
particularly in Hornsey village. It had completed
930 post-war dwellings by 1956, (fn. 94) 1,164 by 1965, (fn. 95)
and c. 1,900 by 1976. Of those built or under construction in 1965, 85.6 per cent were flats. (fn. 96) A
further 972 flats were provided in Brownswood
Park by Stoke Newington M.B. and Hackney L.B.
and by 1976 Hornsey Housing Trust owned 50
houses, containing 260 flats and bed-sitting rooms,
and three purpose-built blocks. (fn. 97) Private builders,
relatively inactive during the 1950s, completed 91
dwellings in 1960, 167 in 1961, and 245 in 1964-5,
when the 563 under construction (153 by the council) (fn. 98) was the highest yearly total since c. 1902.
Consisting mainly of luxury flats, private building
reached a peak c. 1970 and had resumed by 1976. (fn. 99)
Hornsey's increasingly working-class character
was shown by the presence of only 1,657 domestic
servants in 1951 (fn. 1) and in its change from a safe
Conservative parliamentary constituency in 1945
to a marginal one by 1974. (fn. 2) There was a very long
waiting list for housing in 1964, (fn. 3) in spite of the
departure to new towns of 1,000 people each year
before 1959 and more thereafter. (fn. 4) Between 1959
and 1961 10,000 English-born people left Hornsey
but the population fell by only 147: the newcomers
included over 9,000 born outside the United Kingdom, among them 3,000 from Eire. (fn. 5) Over the same
decade Hornsey was the only Middlesex borough
where the number of rooms with 1.5 or more inhabitants increased, from 7.4 to 8.4 per cent of the
total. The rise was particularly steep in the areas
of immigration, Finsbury Park and Stroud Green
wards, with percentages of 16.9 and 9.8, and at
Harringay. It was 7.6 per cent in Hornsey, little
less in Crouch End, and even in Highgate and
Muswell Hill it was 6 and 5 per cent. (fn. 6) In 1960 the
practice was growing of dividing three- or fourstoreyed houses into ten or twelve bed-sitting
rooms. (fn. 7) In 1961 it was believed that fewer houses
would be converted, since larger ones would be
replaced by purpose-built flats. (fn. 8) In 1976 that had
happened only in the more prosperous western parts,
while other areas became increasingly decayed
towards London. In 1961 most working residents
not only were employed elsewhere, (fn. 9) as in 1867,
but were immigrants and peripatetic flat-dwellers.
In 1976, when Hornsey had been submerged in
a larger local government unit, the districts had
a clearer identity than the old parish.
At Brownswood Park many of the original
families had moved out by 1895 and others were
being replaced by poorer people in 1913. Social
decline continued (fn. 10) until in 1954 the district was
inhabited mainly by students, foreigners, and the
working class, with most houses containing four or
five families and all in decay. (fn. 11) Until the Second
World War only a few houses had been replaced and
by 1959 the area was apparently seen as a potential
slum. (fn. 12) In 1949, as part of Stoke Newington's
Green Lanes development scheme, Lakeside Court
was built in Gloucester Drive, (fn. 13) and by 1958 St.
John's Court, three blocks with 121 flats, had been
built in Princess Crescent. Between Portland Rise,
Green Lanes, and Seven Sisters Road 123 flats
had been erected by 1958, when others were going
up; (fn. 14) the completed Portland Rise estate consists
of 193 flats in eight blocks. (fn. 15) Between Green
Lanes, King's Crescent, and Queen's Drive,
Hackney L.B. built the King's Crescent estate.
Apart from Sawbridge and Barkway courts, each a
nineteen-storeyed tower of 114 flats, there are
houses, eight smaller blocks, and a total of 634
dwellings. (fn. 16) In 1974 Brownswood Park was essentially a dormitory area (fn. 17) and in 1976 its main
frontages in Green Lanes and Seven Sisters Road still
consisted of large houses, some derelict and others
converted into offices or private hotels. Houses on
the corner of Seven Sisters and Adolphus roads
were pulled down in 1975 by Ferme Park Properties. (fn. 18) In the angle of Seven Sisters and Wilberforce
roads was Park House, an eleven-storeyed block of
flats, and on the corner with Queen's Drive the
ten-storeyed Alexandra National hotel.
Hornsey council's first major post-war rebuilding
was at Stroud Green, where most of the land between Victoria, Stroud Green, and Lorne roads
and Upper Tollington Park was cleared. Facing the
main road Wall Court, a balconied block much
admired when new, (fn. 19) was completed in 1947,
Lawson, Wiltshire, and Marquis courts and Brackenbury were built in Osborne Road in 1948, and flats in
Nichols Close between 1948 and 1952. Wisbech and
Fenstanton date from 1953, the flats and shops of
Charter Court from 1954, and Hutton Court from
1960. In 1948 Ronaldshay and Wallace Lodge, on
opposite corners of Florence and Wallace roads,
and Ednam House facing them were built and in
1952 an extension to Ronaldshay was finished.
Carlton Court, 64 flats in Carlton Road, dates from
1947. On opposite corners of Oakfield and Connaught roads Connaught Lodge and Churchill
Court were completed in 1949 and on the corner of
Oakfield and Stapleton Hall roads Norman Court
was completed in 1947. (fn. 20) The cul-de-sac Osborne
Grove was replaced by an old people's home by
1973. (fn. 21) In 1974 Ennis and Woodstock roads were
reprieved from demolition (fn. 22) and in 1976 several
yellow-brick terraced houses were being renovated.
In 1976 many of the modest houses of Ferme Park
and Harringay were occupied by immigrants,
Cypriots being prominent in Harringay (fn. 23) and
coloured people on either side of Ridge Road. (fn. 24)
Since housing is less dense and better preserved
than in Stroud Green, large-scale rebuilding has
been confined to Hornsey Vale, where 147 houses
covered 7 a. (fn. 25) Council dwellings are scattered over
the whole area, among them 84 flats in Fairfax
Road built in 1948, 31 at Quernmore Court,
Quernmore Road, of 1957, and 138 at Chettle
Court, Ridge Road, of 1969. (fn. 26) Hornsey Housing
Trust's Norah Clegg House was built at no. 49
Oakfield Road in 1965, a year when private firms
built only 39 flats in the area, at Upper Tollington
Park, Ridge Road, and Mountview Road. A few
other blocks of private flats existed in 1976.
Private builders have concentrated on the area
between Shepherd's Hill, Crouch Hill, and Hornsey
Lane. In the late 1930s a few large houses made
way for other buildings, including Northwood
Hall, a seven-storeyed tower of 183 flats in Hornsey
Lane, and in Shepherd's Hill itself the flats of Eton
Court and the flat-roofed houses of Broughton
Gardens. (fn. 27) Rebuilding was marked by 1960 (fn. 28)
and in 1976 there were at least twenty post-war
developments in Shepherd's Hill, nine each in
Avenue, Crescent, and Stanhope roads, six in Hornsey Lane, three in Waverley Road, two in
Haslemere Road, and one each in Crouch Hall Road
and Stanhope Gardens. Most are rectangular blocks
of luxury flats, of at least three storeys and standing
on one or more plots, often corner sites. As each
was planned independently, they vary in appearance. Williams Court, on the corner of Coolhurst
and Crescent roads, was erected by the council
in 1948, (fn. 29) and Goldsmith Court replaced the
bombed Coleridge Buildings in 1950. (fn. 30) Southview
in Hornsey Lane, Alyn Bank and Alyn Court in
Crescent Road, Stanhope and Hill Courts in
Stanhope Road, and Priory Court, Dale Lodge, and
Highview in Shepherd's Hill, were all completed
by 1955, when Crescent Court in Crescent Road
was under construction. Thornhill Court, Crescent
Road, and Tor House, Shepherd's Hill, were
finished in 1956. Middlesex C.C.'s girls' hostel at
no. 66 existed by 1964 and Altior Court was
completed in 1965 by Overcourt, also the builders
of Melior Court c. 1968 and Pastor Court. (fn. 31) The
two-storeyed houses of Shepherd's Close were put
up in 1965 on the steep gardens of nos. 8 and 10, (fn. 32)
which have since been replaced by three-storeyed
town houses. Highgate Heights, Panorama Court,
Jameson Lodge, Mount Lodge, Fitzroy Court,
and no. 55 were all built in 1967 and no. 64 by 1976.
In 1976 an orange-brick block was being built at
no. 24 and the corner with Montenotte Road had
been cleared for houses by Michaelides & Son.
Building was equally rapid in the other roads;
Avenue Hall in Avenue Road, Northern Heights
in Crescent Road, and Alford House in Stanhope
Road were built by 1964; Sandy Lodge in Avenue
Road and Brook Lodge and Hurst Lodge in
Coolhurst Road in 1965; (fn. 33) Lorelei, Christopher
Lodge, and nos. 4 and 6 Avenue Road, David
Court in Waverley Road, Cranleigh in Christ
Church Road, Corrib Heights in Crescent Road,
Midhurst Court in Haslemere Road, High London
in Hornsey Lane, and no. 15 in Coolhurst Road by
1967; Wren View, Bridge House, Philip Court,
and the Y.W.C.A.'s Roden Court in Hornsey
Lane, Viewside Lodge in Stanhope Road, Melisa
Court and Grenville Lodge in Avenue Road, and
Highgate Spinney in Crescent Road, by 1968;
Phoenix House in Waverley Road by 1970; Marbleford Court in Hornsey Lane and Kenilworth
Court in Waverley Road by 1975; no. 5 Haslemere
Road and Hillside in Crescent Road by 1976.
Among blocks under construction in 1976 were
two in Coolhurst Road and one in Stanhope Road;
Overcourt were building Courtside, town houses
behind Brook Lodge, Coolhurst Road, and Wychwood, terraced houses in Stanhope Road. (fn. 34) All the
roads still consist mainly of old houses, although
rebuilding is particularly marked in Crescent Road,
Hornsey Lane, and Avenue Road. Many sound
houses have been demolished because they were
expensive to convert. (fn. 35) Other private flats have been
erected east of Crouch Hill.
At Crouch End, apart from extensions to the
Y.M.C.A. hostel (1958) (fn. 36) and central library
(1965), (fn. 37) there has been little building since 1945.
Imperial Buildings, west of Broadway, were replaced by a row of shops, and many other shops
were refronted. Crouch End, which was considered
fashionable in 1951, (fn. 38) thus remained an important
shopping centre. The age of Broadway was apparent from the rear and the cottages between
Middle Lane and Park Road, among the oldest in
the parish, were decayed in 1976, when Topsfield
Cottages, Back Lane, were being renovated. North
of New Road were streets of small terraced and
semi-detached houses. Council flats built since the
Second World War included Clemence Court of
1951 in Lynton Road, Ramsey Court of 1952 and
Veryan Court of 1953 facing Park Road, and Truro
and Buckley courts of 1952 in Palace Road. (fn. 39)
The Grove, on the north side of Lynton Road, was
cleared in 1969 (fn. 40) and in 1976 there were 48 dwellings in small red-brick blocks. Margaret Hill Court
in Middle Lane was built in 1950 by Hornsey
Housing Trust. (fn. 41)
Hornsey High Street itself has not changed much
since 1945, except for the disappearance of St.
George's church in the west and St. Mary's in the
east, unlike the areas to the north and south. In
addition to major schemes in the Campsbourne,
St. Mary's estate, and Denmark Road, 30 municipal
dwellings were built in Ashford Avenue south of
High Street and flats in 1950 at Mildura Court,
Church Lane, in Beechwood Avenue and South
View Road, and in 1952 in Warner Road. (fn. 42)
In 1949 Hornsey council devised a master
scheme (fn. 43) for the Campsbourne, which had been the
poorest area in the borough in 1923 (fn. 44) and contained
many unsound and damp houses. (fn. 45) The first stage
concerned Brook Road, 21 a. with 125 houses,
mostly in two-storeyed terraces and sub-let, containing 488 dwellings. (fn. 46) Some flats were ready in
1952 (fn. 47) and 105 of the proposed 469 dwellings were
occupied by 1958 (fn. 48) and 270 in 1965. (fn. 49) Most were
finished by 1976, when terraced houses were being
erected south of Eastfield Road, opposite a large
empty site, and the only surviving rows of houses
were in Newlands and Campsbourne roads. Amid
established trees, (fn. 50) cul-de-sacs, and pedestrian
areas the council built mainly three- and fourstoreyed blocks in varying materials. The scheme
also included shops and factories south of Pembroke Road. North of Myddelton Road the central
council depot was rebuilt.
South of Hornsey High Street old housing had
been condemned in 1923. (fn. 51) In 1963 21 a. with 563
dwellings were compulsorily purchased. (fn. 52) Demolition had begun by 1967 (fn. 53) and by 1976 the whole
area between High Street and Birkbeck, Westfield,
and Lightfoot roads had been cleared. Lightfoot
Road was extended northward along the former
Westfield Road and yellow-brick three-storeyed
terraces were built across the hill. They were connected by paths except at the foot, where a new
road had been built behind High Street. Building
was still in progress in the south-west and north.
The London and Quadrant Housing Trust, formed
in 1973 from the London Housing Trust and Quadrant Housing Association, built 71 of the 267
houses (fn. 54) and Haringey L.B. the remainder.
Between the G.N.R., Turnpike Lane, and Wightman Road were Haringey Grove and Denmark
Road, a third area of rebuilding. Properties were
compulsorily purchased in 1961, work began c.
1965, (fn. 55) and in 1976 Denmark Road was a cul-de-sac
containing the sixteen-storeyed Dylan Thomas
House of 90 flats, the smaller Hollam House, and
42 terraced houses. The flats were built by the
council and the houses by the London and Quadrant
Housing Trust. (fn. 56)
At Muswell Hill and Fortis Green almost the
only new building sites after 1945 were those of
Muswell and Cranley Gardens stations, which were
taken for a school, Cranwood old people's home, and
the terraced Holt Close which was under construction for Haringey L.B. in 1976. (fn. 57) The first municipal
scheme was Keynes Close, old peoples' bungalows
built in 1947 in conjunction with Hornsey Housing
Trust. (fn. 58) Hornsey M.B. built Dale Court, Etheldene
Avenue, in 1947 and Blaenavon, Fortis Green, in
1953, some houses in Coppetts Road in 1949, and
more in Springfield Road in 1950. In 1976 Haringey
L.B. was building houses on the north-west edge
of the Coldfall estate and on the corner of Muswell
Hill Place and Alexandra Gardens, as well as
smaller ones in St. James's Lane beside Yeoman
House, a four-storeyed office block. Private firms
built Grosvenor Gardens, (fn. 59) the flats of Summerlands Grange where a cinema had stood, (fn. 60) and a
block c. 1968 in place of Essex Lodge, Colney
Hatch Lane, (fn. 61) but they have built mainly in Fortis
Green. The Copse, a block of police flats, stood
there in 1958, Lynton Grange by 1969, Coldfall
Lodge by 1969, Priory Grange by 1970, and
Chessing Court and Westside by 1975. There are
other flats in Southern and Western roads. (fn. 62)
The roads and centres antedating Hornsey's
growth survived in 1976, when Highgate wood,
Queen's wood, and Crouch End playing fields still
cut off most of the ancient parish from Highgate.
Outside Highgate village very little remains from
before 1850: Albion Lodge and Cottage at Fortis
Green, Eagle Cottage, the adjoining house, and the
tower of St. Mary's church at Hornsey village,
Stapleton Hall at Stroud Green, and a row of detached villas built after inclosure along Wood Lane,
Highgate. Old cottages still stand along Fortis
Green, north of Haswell Park, and in the triangle
between Park and New roads and Middle Lane,
although both groups are decrepit. Since rebuilding
has affected only a fraction of the total housing,
Hornsey consists mainly of suburbs built between
1870 and 1914, in districts which are distinct. Large
houses are disappearing but the smaller expensive
ones of Muswell Hill have not yet been divided.
In 1978 territorial divisions between social groups
persisted, partly because Shepherd's Hill and Muswell Hill enjoyed high ground, open spaces, and
good shops.
Hornsey's population rose to 11,082 in 1861,
19,357 in 1871, 37,078 in 1881, and 61,097 in
1891. In 1901, when South Hornsey had been
transferred and Clerkenwell detached had been
added, there were 72,056 people. Although the
number had risen to 84,592 by 1911, the rate of
growth had slackened. The peak recorded in 1951
was only 98,159 and by 1961 the population had
fallen to 97,962. South Hornsey's population was
16,698 in 1901, reached 18,617 in 1921, and fell
to 18,057 in 1931 and 15,063 in 1951. (fn. 63)