I took a rather circuitous route between East Finchley and Highgate stations so that I could take in The Bishops Avenue and Hampstead Heath.
East Finchley station opened in 1868 as part of the Great Northern Railway. At first it was called East End Finchley station, but during the 1880s the name East End became associated with the poorest parts of London, and locals asked the railway company to rename the station. It became East Finchley in 1886.
Exit East Finchley station and head off southbound along the High Road.
High Road (East Finchley) dates from the early Middle Ages. It runs up the hill from an old thirteenth-century bridge over Mutton Brook called Hanson’s Bridge. This part of the road has the informal name of Stag Hill running up to Finchley Common. It was ’improved’ in 1712 with a tollbooth set up near the White Lion to pay for the road.
With the arrival of the railway, there was less money to be made with road tolls and these stopped in 1862.
Turn right into The Bishops Avenue. This starts off rather posh but becomes dramatically more up-market once the A1 is crossed with trophy homes for multi-millionaires.
After a long trawl through all the wealth, we reach Hampstead Lane. Turn left here.
Hampstead Lane connects Jack Straw’s Castle with Highgate. On the north side of Hampstead Lane was Bishop’s Wood. This wood, another further to the north called Mutton Wood, and another to the west called Wild Wood, was a portion of the great wood attached to the estate of the Bishop of London.
The Spaniards Inn (from 1585) and its old tollhouse opposite (built circa 1710 ) still cause a bottleneck in Hampstead Lane that causes slow traffic. Both being listed structures, the road layout will no doubt remain for more centuries.
Hampstead Lane was once south of its current course until landowner Lord Mansfield, who purchased Kenwood in 1754 and Bishop’s Wood in 1755, had it rerouted around his property.
We’ll walk into Kenwood.
Lord Mansfield acquired Kenwood for £4000. He and his wife, Betty used it as their weekend country villa. Lord Mansfield expanded the estate, and swept away the formal gardens.
In 1925, the house and a portion of its grounds were purchased from the 6th Earl of Mansfield by Edward Guinness, 1st Earl of Iveagh. Subsequently, in 1927, the property was donated to the nation. The entire estate came under the ownership of the London County Council, and by the late 1920s, it was open to the public.
In the video, I get to do an extensive wander over Hampstead Heath, locating the headwaters of the River Fleet before emerging at Millfield Lane.
Credit: Bishopsgate Institute
It passes by the Bird Sanctuary Pond and Kenwood Ladies’ Bathing Pond, all the while enclosed by lush vegetation and shaded by venerable trees. This creates a special wildlife corridor where the sounds of tawny owls and birdsong provide an escape from the urban clamour of London.
Further south Millfield Lane becomes a paved road but, just as it does, we depart up Merton Lane.
The term “highgate” marked the emergence of a crossroads where High Street intersected with North Road, Hampstead Lane, West Hill, and Southwood Lane. This pivotal location eventually led to the establishment of a hermitage, inhabited by an individual who would later blend his religious practices with the responsibility of maintaining the nearby roads.
Highgate West Hill ran past the expansive Fitzroy family estate.
From around 1830 onwards, significant developments took place in Highgate West Hill, and by approximately 1870, most of the road had been urbanised.
For us though, it’s a lovely semi-rural route but a steep hill until we turn right into Pond Square.
Pond Square was named after a filled-in couple of ponds and dates from 1864.
Two ponds originally existed here. In the 1300s, a local hermit had single-handedly dug out the first but the ponds are now gone. The local council filled them in to make way for the Square’s gardens and surrounding roads. Their reasoning included that area “drains and privies” emptied into the ponds, creating unpleasant odours and suspicious floating items.
The scientist Francis Bacon conducted freezing experiments on a chicken in this Square to prolong its edible life by packing it in ice. Though successful, Bacon himself sadly died shortly after from a chill.
Pond Square remains very beautiful today and houses the Highgate Literary and Scientific Institute and Highgate Society.
We cross left over Highgate High Street and nearly immediately head down Southwood Lane, home to Highgate School.
Highgate village is centred on High Street, the stretch of the Great North Road approaching Hornsey Park where the bishop was apparently levying tolls by 1318,and on the adjoining area around the ponds known by 1490 as Highgate Green.
Southwood Lane (in 1774 known also as Chapel Lane) led past Southwood Common to Muswell Hill and was so named by 1601.
Jackson’s Lane, reputedly named after J. B. Jackson of Hillside, and which we’ll walk down next, branched east from Southwood Lane and continued as a footpath to Crouch End before the construction of the road called Shepherd’s Hill.
We reach Archway Road. The construction of Archway Road in 1813 cut Highgate off from the rest of Hornsey parish, but new residential roads around the village were not laid out until the late 19th century.
Crossing it, we finally reach Highgate station.