Highgate ( ) is a

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

an area of

north London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshire. The term ''nort ...

at the northeastern corner of

Hampstead Heath Hampstead Heath (locally known simply as the Heath) is an ancient heath in London, spanning . This grassy public space sits astride a sandy ridge, one of the highest points in London, running from Hampstead to Highgate, which rests on a band o ...

, north-northwest of

Charing Cross Charing Cross ( ) is a junction in Westminster, London, England, where six routes meet. Clockwise from north these are: the east side of Trafalgar Square leading to St Martin's Place and then Charing Cross Road; the Strand leading to the City; ...

. Highgate is one of the most expensive London suburbs in which to live. It has two active conservation organisations, the ''Highgate Society'' and the ''Highgate Neighbourhood Forum'' to protect and enhance its character and amenities. Until late Victorian times it was a distinct village outside London, sitting astride the main road to the north. The area retains many green expanses including the eastern part of

, three ancient woods,

Waterlow Park Waterlow Park is a park in the south east of Highgate Village, in north London. It was given to the public (''i.e.'' the London County Council) by Sir Sydney Waterlow, as "a garden for the gardenless" in 1889. Description The park is set on a ...

and the eastern-facing slopes known as Highgate bowl. At its centre is Highgate village, largely a collection of

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

shops, pubs, restaurants, residential streets, and the

Sacred Spirits Sacred Spirits (previously known as Sacred Microdistillery) is a microdistillery in Highgate, London. It distills its spirits under a vacuum in glassware, and thus at a lower temperature than traditional pot stills, which operate at atmospheric ...

Distillery interspersed with diverse landmarks such as St Michael's Church and steeple, St. Joseph's Church and its green copper dome, Highgate School (1565),

Jacksons Lane Jacksons Lane Arts Centre (JLAC) is a multi-arts venue in Highgate, north London, located in a Grade II listed former Wesleyan Methodist church. The building is home to a 170 capacity theatre, a large scale dance and rehearsal studio, a cafe-bar ...

arts centre housed in a Grade II listed former church, the Gatehouse Inn dating from 1670 which houses the theatre Upstairs at the Gatehouse and

Berthold Lubetkin Berthold Romanovich Lubetkin (14 December 1901 – 23 October 1990) was a Georgian-British architecture, architect who pioneered International style (architecture), modernist design in Britain in the 1930s. His work includes the Highpoint I, Hi ...

's 1930s Highpoint buildings. Pond Square, behind the High Street, is a registered

village green A village green is a commons, common open area within a village or other settlement. Historically, a village green was common pasture, grassland with a pond for watering cattle and other stock, often at the edge of a rural settlement, used for ...

and is the centre of communal activities which take place in the elegant buildings of the

Highgate Literary and Scientific Institution The Highgate Literary and Scientific Institution (HLSI) is an unincorporated society with trustees having charitable status under the Friendly Societies Act. Founded in 1839 in Highgate, north London, with the aim of helping local people to bett ...

and Highgate Society facing the Square. Highgate is perhaps best known for the Victorian

Highgate Cemetery Highgate Cemetery is a place of burial in north London, England. There are approximately 170,000 people buried in around 53,000 graves across the West and East Cemeteries. Highgate Cemetery is notable both for some of the people buried there as ...

in which the Communist philosopher

Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...

and the novelist

George Eliot Mary Ann Evans (22 November 1819 – 22 December 1880; alternatively Mary Anne or Marian), known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist, poet, journalist, translator, and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era. She wro ...

are buried, along with many other notable people. The village is at the top of Highgate Hill, which provides views across central London. Highgate is above sea level at its highest point. The area is divided among three

London borough The London boroughs are the 32 local authority districts that together with the City of London make up the administrative area of Greater London; each is governed by a London borough council. The present London boroughs were all created at ...

Haringey The London Borough of Haringey (pronounced , same as Harringay) is a London borough in North London, classified by some definitions as part of Inner London, and by others as part of Outer London. It was created in 1965 by the amalgamation of ...

in the north, Camden in the south and west, and

Islington Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ar ...

in the south and east. The

postal district A postal code (also known locally in various English-speaking countries throughout the world as a postcode, post code, PIN or ZIP Code) is a series of letters or digits or both, sometimes including spaces or punctuation, included in a postal a ...

is N6.

History

Historically, Highgate adjoined the

Bishop of London A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

's hunting estate. Highgate gets its name from these hunting grounds, as there was a high, deer-proof hedge surrounding the estate: 'the gate in the hedge'. The bishop kept a toll-house where one of the main northward roads out of London entered his land. A number of pubs sprang up along the route, one of which, the Gatehouse, commemorates the toll-house. Hampstead Lane and Highgate Hill contain the red brick Victorian buildings of Highgate School and its adjacent Chapel of St Michael. The school has played a paramount role in the life of the village and has existed on its site since its founding was permitted by letters patent from

Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". El ...

in 1565. The area north of the High Street and Hampstead Lane was part of

Hornsey Hornsey is a district of north London, England in the London Borough of Haringey. It is an inner-suburban, for the most part residential, area centred north of Charing Cross. It adjoins green spaces Queen's Wood and Alexandra Park to the ...

parish and also later the

Municipal Borough of Hornsey The Municipal Borough of Hornsey was a local government district in east Middlesex from 1867 to 1965. History In 1867, a Local Board was formed for part of the civil parish of Hornsey. The rest of the parish was already under South Hornsey Loca ...

, and the seat of that borough's governing body for many years. Highgate Hill, the steep street linking Archway (traditionally called part of Upper Holloway) and Highgate village, was the route of the

Highgate Hill Cable Tramway The Highgate Hill Cable Tramway was the first cable tramway in Europe. Opened in 1884, it was built to demonstrate the benefits of the technology first pioneered in San Francisco. Origin The 1860s and 70s saw a boom in horse tramway constru ...

, the first cable car to be built in Europe. It operated between 1884 and 1909. Like much of London, Highgate suffered damage during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

by German air raids. The local

tube station The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The Und ...

was used as a bomb shelter. Stoneleigh Terrace, Highgate

Highgate New Town is a post-war estate adjacent to the cemetery, designed by Camden Council with similarities to the

Alexandra Road estate The Alexandra Road estate (officially the Alexandra and Ainsworth estate, but often referred to as Rowley Way, the name of its main thoroughfare) is a housing estate in the London Borough of Camden, North West London, England. It was designed i ...

Governance

Between 1983 and 2010 Highgate was part of the Hampstead and Highgate constituency. The

Boundary Commission A boundary commission is a legal entity that determines borders of nations, states, constituencies. Notable boundary commissions have included: * Afghan Boundary Commission, an Anglo-Russian Boundary Commission, of 1885 and 1893, delineated the no ...

report of 2003 recommended removing the Camden part of Highgate from the remainder of that constituency and joining it with

Kentish Town Kentish Town is an area of northwest London, England in the London Borough of Camden, immediately north of Camden Town. Less than four miles north of central London, Kentish Town has good transport connections and is situated close to the ope ...

and

Holborn Holborn ( or ) is a district in central London, which covers the south-eastern part of the London Borough of Camden and a part ( St Andrew Holborn Below the Bars) of the Ward of Farringdon Without in the City of London. The area has its roots ...

to the south in order to form an enlarged

Holborn and St Pancras Holborn and St Pancras () is a parliamentary constituency in Greater London that was created in 1983. It has been represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom since 2015 by Sir Keir Starmer, the current Leade ...

constituency from the 2010 general election. Since 1983 the northern half of Highgate village has been part of the Hornsey and Wood Green constituency. The present MP for Holborn and St Pancras, elected in

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

, is

Keir Starmer Sir Keir Rodney Starmer (; born 2 September 1962) is a British politician and barrister who has served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party since 2020. He has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Holborn and St Pancras ...

of the Labour Party.

Transport and locale

Nearest places

* Archway *

Crouch End Crouch End is an area of North London, approximately from the City of London in the western half of the borough of Haringey. It is within the Hornsey postal district (N8). It has been described by the BBC as one of "a new breed of urban villag ...

Dartmouth Park Dartmouth Park is a district of north west London in the Borough of Camden, north of Charing Cross. The area adjoins Highgate and Highgate Cemetery (to the north) and Kentish Town (to the south). Parliament Hill is to the west. The nearest Un ...

East Finchley East Finchley is an area in North London, immediately north of Hampstead Heath. Like neighbouring Muswell Hill it straddles the London Boroughs of Barnet and Haringey, with most of East Finchley falling into the London Borough of Barnet. It ha ...

Finchley Finchley () is a large district of north London, England, in the London Borough of Barnet. Finchley is on high ground, north of Charing Cross. Nearby districts include: Golders Green, Muswell Hill, Friern Barnet, Whetstone, Mill Hill and H ...

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from Watling Street, the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the Lon ...

Muswell Hill Muswell Hill is a suburban 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 Fi ...

Tufnell Park Tufnell Park is an area in north London, England, in the London boroughs of Islington and Camden. The neighborhood is served by Tufnell Park tube station on the Northern Line. History Origins and boundary ;Medieval and later manor Tufnel ...

Upper Holloway Upper Holloway is a district in the London Borough of Islington, London, centred on the upper part of Holloway Road and Junction Road. It is served by the Overground at Upper Holloway Station and the Northern Line at Archway Station. History ...

Bus routes

London Buses London Buses is the subsidiary of Transport for London (TfL) that manages most bus services in London, England. It was formed following the Greater London Authority Act 1999 that transferred control of London Regional Transport (LRT) bus se ...

143, 210, 214 (24 hour) and

271 __NOTOC__ Year 271 ( CCLXXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Aurelianus and Bassus (or, less frequently, year 1024 '' ...

(24 hour) all serve Highgate Village.

Nearest tube stations

Highgate tube station Highgate is a London Underground station and former railway station in Archway Road, in the London Borough of Haringey in north London. The station takes its name from nearby Highgate Village. It is on the High Barnet branch of the Northern ...

Archway tube station Archway is a London Underground station at the intersection of Holloway Road, Highgate Hill, Junction Road and Archway Road in Archway, north London, directly underneath the Vantage Point building. It is on the High Barnet branch of the Nor ...

East Finchley tube station East Finchley is a London Underground station in East Finchley in the London Borough of Barnet, north London. The station is on the High Barnet branch of the Northern line, between Finchley Central and Highgate stations, and is in Travelcard ...

Places of interest

Highgate is known for its pubs which line the old high street and surrounding streets. Some notable favourites are the Angel, the

Flask Flask may refer to: Container * Hip flask, a small container used to carry a small amount of liquid * Laboratory flask, laboratory glassware for holding larger volumes than simple test tubes ** Erlenmeyer flask, a common laboratory flask wit ...

, the Duke's Head and the Wrestlers. *

* Highgate School * Channing School *

Highgate Wood Highgate Wood is a 28 hectare (70 acre) area of ancient woodland in North London, lying between East Finchley, Highgate and Muswell Hill. It was originally part of the ancient Forest of Middlesex which covered much of London, Hertfordshire and Ess ...

Holly Lodge Estate The Holly Lodge Estate is a housing estate in Highgate, north London. Early history Holly Lodge Estate is located on the site and grounds of a house built in 1798 by Sir Henry Tempest on the south-facing slopes of Highgate, London adjacen ...

Kenwood House Kenwood House (also known as the Iveagh Bequest) is a former stately home in Hampstead, London, on the northern boundary of Hampstead Heath. The house was originally constructed in the 17th century and served as a residence for the Earls of Mans ...

Highpoint I Highpoint I was the first of two apartment blocks erected in the 1930s on one of the highest points in London, England, in Highgate. The architectural design was by the Georgian-British architect Berthold Lubetkin, the structural design by the ...

and II * Athlone House, formerly known as Caen Wood Towers, the home of the

RAF Intelligence Intelligence services in the Royal Air Force are delivered by Officers of the Royal Air Force Intelligence Branch and Airmen from the Intelligence Analyst Trade and Intelligence Analyst (Voice) Trade. The specialisation has around 1,200 person ...

School 1942–48. * Cromwell House *

Lauderdale House Lauderdale House is an historic house, now run as an arts and education centre, based in Waterlow Park, Highgate in north London, England. History Lauderdale House was one of the finest country houses in Highgate and was originally built for R ...

Witanhurst Witanhurst is a large Listed building#England and Wales, Grade II listed 1930s Georgian Revival mansion on in Highgate, North London. It has had several prominent owners since being rebuilt by soap magnate Sir Arthur Henry Crosfield, Arthur Cro ...

* The Grove * Archway Bridge * Furnival House * St Michael's Church * St Joseph's Church * Highgate United Synagogue * St Augustine's Church * The Winchester, public house in Shaun of the Dead (2004)

Pronunciation

The name of the village is commonly ; however, the

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent ceremonial counties of England, counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and He ...

in announcements at

uses the alternative pronunciation of , where the final syllable matches the last syllable in "frigate".

Demography

The 2011 census showed that the Highgate ward of Haringey was 82% white (60% British, 19% Other, 3% Irish). 40.9% of the ward were Christian, 7% Jewish and 3.8% Muslim. The Highgate ward of Camden meanwhile was 80% white (61% British, 15% Other, 4% Irish), and 3% Black African. 37.5% of the ward were Christian, 4.2% Jewish, and 5.1% Muslim.

Education

Religion

St Michael, South Grove, London N6 - geograph

Highgate's main

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

parish church, St Michael's, is situated close to the summit of the hill, and is the highest church in Greater London. It was built as one of the

Commissioners' church A Commissioners' church, also known as a Waterloo church and Million Act church, is an Anglican church in the United Kingdom built with money voted by Parliament as a result of the Church Building Acts of 1818 and 1824. The 1818 Act supplie ...

es in 1831 and consecrated and opened on 8 November 1832. The architect was

Lewis Vulliamy Lewis Vulliamy (15 March 1791 – 4 January 1871) was an English architect descended from the Vulliamy family of clockmakers. Life Lewis Vulliamy was the son of the clockmaker Benjamin Vulliamy. He was born in Pall Mall, London on 15 March 17 ...

, and in 1831 his original drawings for the church were exhibited at the

Royal Academy of Arts The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its purpo ...

. From the late 17th century until 1830 Ashhurst House, the home of former

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional powe ...

Sir

William Ashhurst Sir William Ashhurst or Ashurst (26 April 1647 – 12 January 1720) was an English banker and Whig politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons between 1689 and 1710. He served as Lord Mayor of London for the year 1693 to 1694. ...

, stood on the site of the church. The remains of the house's cellar now form part of the church's crypt. The church's spire, built of

Bath stone Bath Stone is an oolitic limestone comprising granular fragments of calcium carbonate. Originally obtained from the Combe Down and Bathampton Down Mines under Combe Down, Somerset, England. Its honey colouring gives the World Heritage City of ...

, with a cross of

Portland stone Portland stone is a limestone from the Tithonian stage of the Jurassic period quarried on the Isle of Portland, Dorset. The quarries are cut in beds of white-grey limestone separated by chert beds. It has been used extensively as a building sto ...

, is a landmark on London's northern skyline. Inside, the

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ove ...

and choir stalls were done by G. E. Street in 1880. The

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, access ...

dates from 1848. The present bench pews date from 1879, replacing box pews. The present organ is by Hill and Davidson, and was installed in 1885, replacing an earlier instrument of 1842. It was overhauled in 1985. There is a monument to

Samuel Taylor Coleridge Samuel Taylor Coleridge (; 21 October 177225 July 1834) was an English poet, literary critic, philosopher, and theologian who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake ...

and his family in the form of a slate slab in the middle of the church. The church was damaged in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

by enemy air raids and the present stained glass window at the east end was installed in 1954, replacing a window broken in the Blitz. It is one of the last works by

Evie Hone Eva Sydney Hone RHA (22 April 1894 – 13 March 1955), usually known as Evie, was an Irish painter and stained glass artist.Nicola Gordon Bowe (May 2009)Hone, Eva Sydney (1894–1955) ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', online editio ...

and depicts the

Last Supper Image:The Last Supper - Leonardo Da Vinci - High Resolution 32x16.jpg, 400px, alt=''The Last Supper'' by Leonardo da Vinci - Clickable Image, Depictions of the Last Supper in Christian art have been undertaken by artistic masters for centuries, ...

. Further down Highgate Hill is the town's

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

parish church, St Joseph's. It was designed by Albert Vickers, and built in 1888, replacing an earlier, smaller church of 1861. Although St Joseph's Church was opened in 1889 by the

Bishop of Liverpool The Bishop of Liverpool is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Liverpool in the Province of York.''Crockford's Clerical Directory'', 100th edition, (2007), Church House Publishing. . The diocese stretches from Southport in the n ...

, it was not until 1932, when its debts were cleared, that it was officially consecrated. The church has a distinctive copper

dome A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...

with a green patina, and the interior of the dome was painted by

Nathaniel Westlake Nathaniel Hubert John Westlake FSA (1833–1921) was a 19th-century British artist specialising in stained glass. Career Nathaniel Westlake was born in Romsey in 1833. He began to design for the firm of Lavers & Barraud, Ecclesiastical Design ...

in 1891. The organ is by William Hill and Sons, and installed in 1945 as a memorial to the local victims of the Second World War.

1980s murder

On Friday 26 August 1988, Michael Williams, a 43-year-old father from Highgate who worked for the Home Office in

Pimlico Pimlico () is an area of Central London in the City of Westminster, built as a southern extension to neighbouring Belgravia. It is known for its garden squares and distinctive Regency architecture. Pimlico is demarcated to the north by London V ...

, disappeared while travelling back home after an employee social. His body was found at

the next day. The case remains unsolved despite being featured heavily in the national press and on the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

History

Governance

Transport and locale

Nearest places

Bus routes

Nearest tube stations

Places of interest

Pronunciation

Demography

Education

Religion

1980s murder

Notable inhabitants

Coleridge

In popular culture

See also

References

External links