The clock tower, a much loved if not exactly architecturally distinguished building, ‘jolly’, as Bridget Cherry in the revised Pevsner (London 4: North) calls it, was erected in 1895 in ‘appreciation and recognition of the public services’ of Henry Reader Williams (1822-97). [Read more…]
Articles
The HHS has been an active local history society from its foundation in 1971, and over the years members have written articles of different lengths and for many purposes, in particular for the early quarterly Bulletins and the later quarterly Newsletters.
As a result, the Society holds a large number of interesting and well-written texts about Hornsey and the surrounding area. We intend sharing a range of these articles over the coming months and years on the website.
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.
The material on this page is organised chronologically, with the most recent additions at the top.
Dr Barton’s Airship
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…]
The Collins Family
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…]
Ever Heard of the Local Architect and Surveyor John Farrer?
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…]
The Urbanisation of Hornsey
An extract from John Farrer The Man who Changed Hornsey by Janet Owen
London was sucking in people from the countryside as its industrial strength grew throughout the nineteenth century and its dramatic increase in population shaped the growth of Hornsey parish. People of all social classes arrived in the capital and the population exploded from 959,310 in 1801, to 2,808,494 in 1861, to become 4,521,685 by 1911. [Read more…]
The Parish of Hornsey
An article by John Hinshelwood
The land ownership and holdings of early manors (see The Manor and Sub-Manors of Hornsey) probably defined the borders of Hornsey Parish which contained the bishop of London’s Manor and the Prebendal Manor of Brownswood. To the north of the parish was Friern Barnet and Finchley, both part of the Bishop’s great estate. [Read more…]
The Manor and Sub-Manor of Hornsey
An article by John Hinshelwood
The Manor of Hornsey was said in 1294 to have been part of the Bishop of London’s manor of Stepney from time immemorial. The bishop also claimed that his predecessors had held Finchley and Friern Barnet as a part of their manor of Fulham until its transfer to the bishop’s lordship of Hornsey in 1491. [Read more…]
A Brief History of Wood Green
Present day Wood Green forms part of the London Borough of Haringey and is situated about six miles north of the City of London. [Read more…]
A Brief History of Bounds Green and Bowes Park
The mainly residential districts of neighbouring Bounds Green and Bowes Park form the north-east corner of the London Borough of Haringey with a small part in the south-east corner of the Borough of Enfield. [Read more…]
A Brief History of Alexandra Palace and Park
The story of Alexandra Palace and Park is integral to that of Wood Green. This Victorian enterprise has been the subject of many trials and tribulations, but it has, nevertheless, dominated Wood Green from its lofty position on its western boundary. [Read more…]