Haringey

Haringey has a lot of history- good as well as bad.

Its not the most wealthy or attractive of North London Boroughs but its definitely got character. 

I tried to separate the Borough into smaller areas of interest-

• Muswell Hill
• Finsbury Park
• Wood Green
• Bounds Green
• Highgate Woods
• Tottenham
• Hornsey 
• Alexandra Park
• Crouch End

The Most significant places to me are Alexandra palace (in between Wood Green & Muswell Hill) and Tottenham.
Alexandra Palace (where I live) is packed with history what with it setting on fire twice, the age of it, the popularity growth of it now being one of Londons largest event venues. 
Tottenham is packed mainly with negative history, the Riots of 1985 & also summer of 2011. The Highest crime rate in the Borough. Broad Water Farm Estate known for trouble. many gangs and drugs.one of the most ethnically diverse areas in London.

my final though was to use all railway system to travel throughout all of Haringey to find inspiration and later decide on a place.

Here are a few facts I read In a London history book that interested me about my Borough:

The Great Northern Railway opened stations in Haringey from 1861 starting with Finsbury Park.

Crouch End evolved during the medieval period as a rout centre. It takes its name from the Latin ‘Crux’ which means Cross. Kilns dating from the first century indicate that it was occupied by the Romans but the area remained largely undeveloped until the final decades of the sixteenth century. The area became built up during the nineteenth century and is now locally important to Haringey.

Hornsey consists of the smaller areas of ‘Finsbury Park’ ‘Highgate’ and ‘Crouch End’. It was founded during Saxon times as a forest settlement and was owned much of the medieval period by the Bishop of London, who used it for hunting. Urban development began in 1850, when the great Northern Railway built a station at the eastern end of the village, allowing commuters to work in the city of London. Within thirty years, fields and woods had been covered by housing estates, small industries and urban services. In 1965 Hornsey was incorporated into the Haringey Borough. By the late seventeenth century, wealthy merchants were building properties, many old buildings still remain.

Land was acquired at Muswell Hill for hayfields, pasturing cattle and producing milk. Apart from a few villas erected in the eighteenth century, the land remained natural until the late Victorians laid out homes and shops built with stone-dressed brick. The spire of St James’s church opened in 1901 and constructed Ancaster stone with bath stone facings provided a prominent landmark. It gets its name from the old English ‘meos’ meaning mossy & ‘wella’ meaning spring.

LONDON: A HISTORICAL COMPANION- Kenneth Panton