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Muswell Hill is a district of the London Borough of Haringey, north London. The hill, which reaches over above sea level, is situated north of Charing Cross.
Neighbouring areas include Highgate, Hampstead Garden Suburb, East Finchley and Crouch End. It has many streets with Edwardian architecture.
The earliest records of Muswell Hill date from the 12th century. The Bishop of London, who was the Lord of the Manor of Haringey,Harringay, Haringey and Hornsey were used interchangeably in this period. For further information see History of Harringay owned the area and granted , 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.Muswell Hill Manor in Oxfordshire was said to be owned by the King of Scotland in the 12th century. 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.Albert Pinching & David Bell, Haringey's Hidden Streams Revealed, 2005The earliest known description of the river is given by the Tottenham historian Rev William Bedwell (1561 - 1632) who used these two variants in 1631 in William Bedwell, A Briefe Description of the Town of Tottenham Highcrosse in Middlesex, 1631. Until the 1950s, the town's name was often pronounced "Muzzle Hill".
In the 18th century Muswell Hill was a scattered village consisting mainly of detached villas with large gardens.Brewer, Beauties of Eng. & Wales, x (5), 213; Ambulator (1820) In 1787 one commentator wrote that nowhere within of London was there a village so pleasant or with such varied views.Ambulator (1787) Little had changed by the middle of the 19th century. One of the houses of the time was The Limes. This house occupied the angle of Muswell Hill Road with Colney Hatch Lane and 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.J. Keane, Beauties of Mdx. (1850), 148-9; Hornsey libr., N. Mdx. Photo. Soc. no. 632. Opposite The Limes was Muswell Hill pond and beyond that the Green Man inn, built of stonePostcard in Hornsey libr. and likely dating to at least 1552. Colney Hatch Lane itself was part of an ancient route from London to the north, and was once known as Muswell Hill Lane.
Further down the hill past the Green Man was The Elms, a squat three-storeyed house later improved by Thomas Cubitt standing in , part of the grounds of which were laid out by Joseph Paxton.B.L. Maps Dept., sales parts. (1880). 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. A History of the County of Middlesex; by T. F. T. Baker, C. R. Elrington (editors), A. P. Baggs, Diane K. Bolton, M. A. Hicks, R. B. Pugh. p. 33 It stood in of grounds which contained a avenue of oaks. In 1774 the house was occupied by Topham Beauclerk.Keane, Beauties of Mdx. 239-41; Hornsey Hist. Soc. Bull. Sept. 1975; M.L.R. 1779/5/494; M.R.O., MR/DE Hornsey; Ambulator (1787 and later edns.) The Elms was demolished in 1900 to make way for Dukes Avenue.
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.Thorne, Environs, 443-4. Other buildings there were apparently cottages or huts, both single and in terraces.Photos. (1935) in Hornsey libr.; Hornsey Boro. Ann. Rep. of M.O.H. (1930); see also Sherington, Story of Hornsey, 42
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 village that it is today. The development was spurred by the opening in 1873 of Alexandra Palace, a massive 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 a branchline railway from Highgate, with an intermediary station at Muswell Hill (see below). The foot of Alexandra Palace was served by another rail network with connecting services to Finsbury Park and Kings Cross stations.
Until the mid-20th century there was a rail branch line, the Muswell Hill Railway, from Highgate which passed through Muswell Hill, terminating at a station at Alexandra Palace. It was intended under the Northern Heights plan to integrate this into the London Underground Northern line; some contemporary (e.g. the 1948 map) showed the line as being under construction. However, this plan was cancelled after the Second World War, and the railway line was abandoned in 1954. The line was later converted to become the Parkland Walk.
In 1964, three young Muswell Hill residents, the brothers Ray and Dave Davies and Pete Quaife, formed the Kinks. Categorised in the United States as a British Invasion band, the Kinks are 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.
In 1950, 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, followed by a series of top ten records in Canada, Australia and the USA. They earned several Juno nominations, a Maple Leaf Award, Gold record award and were nominated into the Hall of Fame with a lifetime achievement in 2022.
In 1979 Wetherspoons opened their first pub, on Colney Hatch Lane.
In March 2013 and June 2020 Muswell Hill was named one of the five most desirable places to live in London in the Sunday Times "Best Places To Live" guide.
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.
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.
Nearby tube stations include Bounds Green (), East Finchley (), Finsbury Park ( ), Highgate (), Turnpike Lane () and Wood Green ().
National Rail () services pass to the east of Muswell Hill, calling at Alexandra Palace, Hornsey and Finsbury Park. Trains are operated by Great Northern and Thameslink to destinations such as Moorgate station, Enfield and Welwyn Garden City. To the south of Muswell Hill, London Overground () trains serve Crouch Hill station between Gospel Oak and Barking station, via South Tottenham.
| +List of bus routes from Muswell Hill !Route Number !Start !End !Key Destinations | |||
| 43 | Friern Barnet | London Bridge | Highgate (), Archway, Islington, Angel, City of London, Bank |
| 102 | Brent Cross | Edmonton Green | Bounds Green (), East Finchley (), Golders Green |
| 134 | North Finchley | Warren Street | Highgate (), Archway, Kentish Town, Camden Town |
| 144 | Muswell Hill | Edmonton Green | Wood Green |
| 234 | Chipping Barnet | Archway | East Finchley () |
| 299 | Muswell Hill | Cockfosters | Bounds Green (), Southgate |
| 634 | Muswell Hill | Barnet | Whetstone |
| W3 | Finsbury Park ( ) | Northumberland Park | Alexandra Palace, Alexandra Palace (), Wood Green, Tottenham |
| W7 | Muswell Hill | Finsbury Park ( ) | Crouch End, Crouch Hill () |
The A1201 terminates at Muswell Hill. Southbound destinations along this route include Crouch Hill, Finsbury Park and Highbury.
Highgate is to the south of the district and can be reached via Muswell Hill Road. To the north, Colney Hatch, Friern Barnet and Whetstone can be reached via Colney Hatch Lane. Both routes are numbered B550.
The A1 passes to the south of Muswell Hill, carrying traffic southbound towards Archway, Islington and the City of London. To the north, the route crosses the North Circular Road (A406), and traffic can reach destinations such as Mill Hill, Watford, Stevenage and Peterborough.
Cycling infrastructure in Muswell Hill is limited. The now-defunct London Cycle Network developed two signposted routes through Muswell Hill:
The Haringey Cycling Campaign is a local cycling lobby group.
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). 40% were irreligious and Christian each, while the Jewish population stood at 5.3%.
Singer-songwriter Rose Gray was born in Muswell Hill on 31 December 1996.
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.
Musicians Ray Davies 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. They allegedly played their first ever gig in the Clissold Arms in Fortis Green.
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 albums 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 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 in Muswell Hill 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
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.
Poet Michael Wayne Rosen, known for his children's stories and poems, resides here.
Composer Daniel Blumberg, known for his Oscar winning score for The Brutalist, grew up in Muswell Hill.
The nearest tube stations are:
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