Muswell Hill

Ancient Roman presence in the area has been attested to through the discovery of Roman coins near Southwood Lane and Muswell Hill Road.^[1]

The earliest records of Muswell Hill date from the 12th century. The Bishop of London, who was the Lord of the Manor of Haringey,^{[nb 1]} owned the area and granted 26 ha (64 acres), located to the east of Colney Hatch Lane, to a newly formed order of nuns. The nuns built a chapel on the site and called it Our Lady of Muswell.

The name Muswell is believed to come from a natural spring or well (the "Mossy Well"), said to have miraculous properties. A traditional story tells that Scottish king Malcolm IV was cured of disease after drinking the water. The area became a place of pilgrimage for healing during medieval times.^{[nb 2]} The River Moselle, which has its source in Muswell Hill and Highgate, derives its name from this district; it was originally known as the Mosa or Mosella.^{[2][nb 3]} Until the 1950s, the town's name was often pronounced "Muzzle Hill".^[3]

In the 18th century, Muswell Hill was a scattered village consisting mainly of detached villas with large gardens.^[4] In 1787, one commentator wrote that nowhere within 100 miles (160 km) of London was there a village so pleasant or with such varied views.^[5] Little had changed by the middle of the 19th century. One of the houses of the time was The Limes, which occupied the angle of Muswell Hill Road with Colney Hatch Lane; it was a three-storeyed house, with portico and two-storeyed wing, approached by a double carriage drive through impressive gateways. The large grounds of the house extended to Tetherdown and included a lake.^[6] Opposite The Limes was Muswell Hill pond and, beyond that, the Green Man inn, which was built of stone^[7] and likely dating to at least 1552.^[1] Colney Hatch Lane itself was part of an ancient route from London to the north; it was once known as Muswell Hill Lane.^[1]

Further down the hill past the Green Man was The Elms, a squat three-storeyed house, later improved by Thomas Cubitt standing in 11 acres (4.5 ha); part of the grounds of which were laid out by Joseph Paxton.^[8] A short distance down the north side of Muswell Hill was The Grove, which was three storeys high and had nine bays, with pedimented projections at each end.^[9] It stood in 7.9 acres (3.2 ha) of grounds, which contained a 184 m (201 yd) avenue of oaks. In 1774, the house was occupied by Topham Beauclerk.^[10] The Elms was demolished in 1900 to make way for Dukes Avenue.^[1]

19th century

A little farther down the hill stood Grove Lodge, also in wooded grounds.^[11] Altogether there were eight properties in Muswell Hill worthy of note in 1817.^[12]

Parallel with Muswell Hill was a track known as St James's Lane, which ran across a triangle of wasteland. By the middle of the 19th century, houses were already dispersed along the lane at the foot of which was Lalla Rookh, a two-storeyed villa with a wide verandah.^[13] Other buildings included cottages or huts, both single and in terraces.^[14]

It was not until the end of the 19th century that Muswell Hill began to be developed more densely from a collection of country houses to the London suburb that it is today. The development was spurred by the opening in 1873 of Alexandra Palace, a large pleasure pavilion built on the most easterly of north London's gravel hills and intended as the counterpart to the Crystal Palace on Sydenham Hill in south London. Alexandra Palace was served by the Edgware, Highgate and London Railway from Highgate and Finsbury Park, with intermediary stations at Muswell Hill and Cranley Gardens. The foot of Alexandra Palace was served by another railway line, with connecting services to Finsbury Park and Kings Cross stations.

The hill was part of the Bishop of London's Manor of Hornsey, an area served from the medieval period by the ancient parish of Hornsey. Parishes were originally ecclesiastic in purpose but, from the Tudor era onwards, had a civic as well as ecclesiastical purpose.

In 1903, the area of the civil parish of Hornsey became the Municipal Borough of Hornsey, within the administrative county of Middlesex. Then, in 1965, Hornsey merged with Tottenham and Wood Green to form the modern London Borough of Haringey.

Northern parts of the N10 postal area, sometimes also regarded as part of Muswell Hill, were part of the parish of Friern Barnet, which subsequently became Friern Barnet Urban District before becoming part of the London Borough of Barnet.^[17]

The area is in the Hornsey and Friern Barnet parliamentary constituency. The area is part of the Muswell Hill ward for elections to Haringey London Borough Council.^[18]

Close to Alexandra Park and Highgate Wood, Muswell Hill's architecture is predominantly Edwardian. Muswell Hill Broadway and Fortis Green Road, the main shopping streets, still maintain their historic character with most of the original facades preserved above street level. The area has a synagogue and six churches, one of which has been converted into a steak house.

Nearest places:

The N10 postal area, which includes parts of Friern Barnet, had a population of 27,992 in the 2011 census.^[37]

The same census showed that, in the much smaller Muswell Hill electoral ward of the London Borough of Haringey, 84% of the population was White (65% British, 16% Other, 3% Irish). Both Christian and irreligious were both 40%, while the Jewish population stood at 5.3%.^[38]

• Alexandra Palace
• Alexandra Park
• Golf Course Allotments: the largest allotment site in the area
• The Guy Chester Centre of the Methodist church
• Oliver Tambo Memorial Statue, at the Albert Road Recreation Ground
• The Furlong, on Colney Hatch Lane, was the first ever Wetherspoons pub, under the name Martin’s Free House
• Muswell Hill United Synagogue
• St James's Church Hall: historic church hall.

• In the war romance film The Americanization of Emily (1964), Emily's mother lives in a house in Dukes Avenue. Exterior shots show Alexandra Palace in the background.
• In the 1970s BBC TV comedy series Porridge, the principal character, Norman Stanley Fletcher, played by Ronnie Barker, hailed from Muswell Hill. External shots of Fletcher's house in the sequel, Going Straight, were filmed in Lauradale Road
• The Kinks recorded the 1971 LP Muswell Hillbillies, which included the song "Muswell Hillbilly"
• The Yorkshire Television sitcom That's My Boy (1981–1986), starring Mollie Sugden and Christopher Blake, made frequent references to Muswell Hill, as the family lived in the area throughout the first four series
• Series one of the 1993 sitcom Sean's Show is set in Muswell Hill.^[39]
• The Doctor Who episode "The Idiot's Lantern" (2006) is set in Muswell Hill, during Queen Elizabeth II's coronation in 1953
• The Madness song "Driving in My Car" includes the line "I've been far, I drive up to Muswell Hill"^[40]
• Muswell Hill is a 2012 Torben Betts play^[41] which "hold[s] a mirror up to middle-class delusion".^[42]

See People from Muswell Hill and People from Fortis Green categories.

• John Logie Baird was the first person to transmit moving pictures, now called television. The first public broadcasts were from nearby Alexandra Palace before WW2. His scanning, rotating disc system was later replaced by a more modern electronic system. The former John Baird pub, now the Village Green, in Fortis Green Road was named after him.
• Actor, director, comedian and writer Mackenzie Crook lives in Muswell Hill. ^[43]
• Musicians Ray and Dave Davies, founding members of The Kinks, grew up in Muswell Hill; the album title Muswell Hillbillies being an obvious reference to their youth. In 1964, they formed the band and allegedly played their first ever gig in the Clissold Arms in Fortis Green. Categorised in the United States as a British Invasion band, it is recognised as one of the most important and influential rock groups of the era. The Davies parents’ home at 6 Denmark Terrace, Fortis Green, remains a magnet for rock music tourists.
• Singer-songwriter Rose Gray was born in Muswell Hill on 31 December 1996^[44]
• Musician Michael Kiwanuka was born and raised in Muswell Hill; he was the winner of the Mercury Prize 2020 for his album Kiwanuka and a nominee for the 2021 63rd Grammy Award for Best Rock Album. His album Love & Hate went to number 1 on the UK album chart in 2016
• Former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko lived in Muswell Hill from his exile in 2000 until his assassination in 2006
• The group Fairport Convention started in the Muswell Hill family home of Simon Nicol. The house, Fairport, is on the south side of Fortis Green near to the junction with Tetherdown and Fortis Green Road.
• The serial killer and necrophile Dennis Nilsen committed his later murders in his Cranley Gardens flat in Muswell Hill and became known as the "Muswell Hill Murderer"
• A resident for a short time was the Russian-born England Rugby union star Prince Alexander Obolensky, who died in Suffolk in an aircraft accident in 1940 while training as an RAF pilot
• Philip Martell, musical director for Hammer House of Horrors, lived in Woodland Gardens.
• Poet Michael Wayne Rosen, known for his children's stories and poems, resides here
• Paul Andrew Smith was born in Muswell Hill, at 12 Crown Road, and later became a founding member of the band Wednesday, formed in 1967. Their record success included the chart topping hit, Last Kiss^{[citation needed]}
• Musician, author, poet, wit and great English eccentric Vivian Stanshall lived his final years in Muswell Hill, dying in a fire in his Hillfield Park flat in 1995.
• Composer Daniel Blumberg, known for his Oscar winning score for The Brutalist, grew up in Muswell Hill.^[45]

• Hornsey (parish) for the local government unit of which Muswell Hill was part from medieval times to 1867
• Municipal Borough of Hornsey for the local government unit, of which Muswell Hill was part from 1903 to 1965.