The material on this page is organised chronologically, with the most recent additions at the top.
As well as the individually authored articles, there is also a series of 'brief histories', produced by the Society, to give a general introduction to the history of the local areas and buildings.
David Winskill reviews “Memories of Tenants of Margaret Hill House”
Margaret Hill House on Middle Lane has always brought to mind a large German Schloss! I think that is because of the big round tower on the corner of Palace Road and the broad, low pitched roof. [Read more…] about A Goldmine of Memories
Colin Chapman, founder of Lotus Cars, started the business here in Hornsey. [Read more…] about Hornsey: Birthplace Of Lotus Cars
Inside St Mary’s Tower in Hornsey High Street on the north wall of the ground floor room are four panels mounted as one memorial board listing the names of 136 men from Hornsey who died in the First World War. These were found in a skip! How was the mystery of their origin unravelled? [Read more…] about St Mary’s Tower Memorial Boards
The Friends of Priory Park N8 are working with a company to design a sundial to be placed in The Philosophers’ Garden in the park. But why does the garden have the name it has? [Read more…] about The Priory Park Philosophers
Muswell Hill Library was recently threatened with closure. After a huge local campaign, it was eventually kept open. This is the early history of what would have been lost. [Read more…] about The Early History of Muswell Hill Library
At the annual conference of the London and Middlesex Archaeological Society (LAMAS) held at the Museum of London on Saturday 18th November, HHS won the award for the best London local history society Newsletter of 2016. [Read more…] about Hornsey Historical Society Wins New Award!
The clock tower, a much loved if not exactly architecturally distinguished building, was erected in 1895 in ‘appreciation and recognition of the public services’ of Henry Reader Williams (1822-97). [Read more…] about A Brief History of the Crouch End Clock Tower
An article by Eleri Rowlands
It is little known that that London suffered its first air raid not in World War Two, but just over one hundred years ago, in May 1915. Bombs were dropped not from planes but from the German Zeppelin airships. It is even less well known that ten years previous to that, a similar dirigible or directional air ship had taken off from Alexandra Palace. [Read more…] about Dr Barton’s Airship
An article by David Frith
Wherever you are in Crouch End or Muswell Hill you are never more than a short distance from a house or building built by the Collins family. [Read more…] about The Collins Family
An article by Janet Owen
John Farrer (1843-1930), a self-made Victorian entrepreneur who lived in Crouch End for forty years of his life, was responsible for designing over eighteen hundred houses and shops for seventy three roads in our area and he laid out fifteen estates for local landowners and builders. [Read more…] about Ever Heard of the Local Architect and Surveyor John Farrer?