HIGHGATE (Northern Line - High Barnet)
Exceptional architecture (old and new )-literary associations galore - ghost station
More on this later. Exit the station by taking the escalator which will lead you to Archway Road. Turn right and cross at the lights to Southwood Lane. This is a hill, wooded on one side at first. Soon you will come across the first of the many attractive and interesting buildings to be found in this area – The Well Cottage (eighteenth century).Among the grander buildings, this comes as a bit of a surprise. Originally it was two even smaller dwellings. The tiny weather-boarded extension was an early addition. A bit further up the road dramatic Bank Point is squashed into the triangle formed by Jackson’s Lane and Southwood Hill. This rather strange house has two storeys facing the hill and three the other side. Next, go down Castle Yard (in fact a short street) on the right.
At the end, facing you over North Road is a C of E Primary school. Its mock-tudor neighbour is the old Fire Station (1906). This is a cheerful collection of slightly quirky buildings. Further up the road are the iconic Highpoint One and Highpoint Two. The first high-rise buildings in England intended for social housing, their architectural fame was such that they were in fact rapidl
y occupied by the middle classes. Over the road is a house where Charles Dickens lived with his family in1832 during one of their periodic financial crises. Return to Southwood Road, - there’s a good view on the left. The houses become ever more fine as you approach Highgate Village.There are some plain almshouses on the right, which were rebuilt in 1722 ‘being very old and decayed’. The vast brick-built Highgate school looms large.
Go left down the High Street where there are yet more excellent eighteenth and nineteenth century buildings. I have only picked out a few - for those who want a more in-depth list, I suggest a visit to The Victoria County History website.
Now something entirely different : continue until Duke’s Head Yard. Here is the amazing 1939 Studio House, bright pink on three sides, the rear dominated by a dove grey drum staircase. From the front this building does look a bit like a factory, but please remember that it is a dwelling house and respect the occupants’ privacy bearing in mind that, unusually for a house this size, there is no front garden.
Return to the top of the High Street and go into South Grove. Back to more conventional elegance here, with, on the left, some large unspoilt houses and the Highgate Literary and Scientific Institute building dated 1839. You are now in Pond Square, which although it has some pretty houses on the left is not all that attractive, b
eing gravelled (a reminder of its former incarnation as a gravel pit) and heavily shaded with urban plane trees which seem out of place in the otherwise villagey atmosphere. A block of old fashioned public loos, however welcome, doesn’t improve the area.However, The Grove which leads off Pond Square is full of lovely houses one of which was lived in by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (he died there in 1834). The plaque also records that at one time it was owned by John Betjeman.
At the top of The Grove, turn right and go towards Highgate School which lies ahead. Turn right and go back to the High Street to retrace your steps down Southwood Lane to the station. On reaching Archway Road cross at the lights, and go straight ahead, turning almost immediately into Wood Lane where you will see the sign for the Tube station. Go down the hand-railed path (too steep for buggies) and on the right you will see the deserted (closed 1954) platforms of the old LNER station. The station house has been continuously occupied by the same family since the 1960’s, and is like a lock-keepers cottage, complete with garden and greenhouse. The entrance to the old tunnel is now blocked by greenery. Altogether the whole place has a slightly strange atmosphere. . .
On quite another tack, people with children might like to visit Highgate Wood, reached by following Archway road away from the station The woods have a cafe and a superb, supervised play area.
A longer entry than most – but Highgate is packed with interest. In addition to the more obvious old houses there is a lot of architect-designed modern building tucked away in odd yards and corners which is worth discovering.
MAP
This is just one walk from the many to be found at London Tube Rambles. There are architectural gems, beautiful country views, historic places and whacky buildings to be found, even in the most unpromising areas covered by the Greater London Underground stations. Usually the places listed are within a mile of the Tube - often only five minutes walk away. If you reached this as an individual page via a search engine, you might like to go to www.londontuberambles.co.uk to see the other destinations explored . You'll be amazed at what's out there!
© DR2006