Muswell Hill

The Bishop of London, who was the Lord of the Manor of Haringey,[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.

[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.

[5] In the 18th century Muswell Hill was a scattered village consisting mainly of detached villas with large gardens.

[9] Further down the hill past the Green Man was The Elms, a squat three-storeyed house later improved by Thomas Cubitt standing in 4.5 ha (11 acres), part of the grounds of which were laid out by Joseph Paxton.

[10] 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.

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.

[16] 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 foot of Alexandra Palace was served by another rail network with connecting services to Finsbury Park and Kings Cross stations.

Most development was initiated in the early 20th century when the current street pattern was set out and elegant Edwardian retail parades were constructed.

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.

Close to Alexandra Park and Highgate Woods, Muswell Hill is a mainly Edwardian north London suburb.

National Rail () services pass to the east of Muswell Hill, calling at Alexandra Palace, Hornsey and Finsbury Park.

The A1 passes to the south of Muswell Hill, carrying traffic southbound towards Archway, Islington and the City of London.

[34] 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).

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.

Composer Daniel Blumberg, known for his Oscar winning score for The Brutalist grew up in Muswell Hill[41] The nearest tube stations are:

View looking south east towards Canary Wharf
The former Odeon cinema, now an Everyman , in Muswell Hill is a Grade II* Listed Building