•  Hornsey, Middlesex

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In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Hornsey like this:

HORNSEY, a metropolitan suburb, a parish, and a sub-district, in Edmonton district, Middlesex. The suburb stands in a pleasant valley, on the New river, and on the Great Northern railway, 5½ miles NNW of St. Paul's, London; was known at Domesday as Haringe, and afterwards as Harringay; forms now a favourite retreat of London citizens; includes many villa residences; lies within the jurisdiction of the metropolitan police and the Central criminal court; and has a station with telegraph on the railway, a hotel adjoining the r. ...

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station, and a post office under London N.—The parish contains also Crouch-End, Fortis-Green, Muswell-Hill, StroudGreen, and part of Highgate. Acres, 2, 895. Real property, £58, 599. Pop. in 1 851, 7, 135; in 1861, 1 1, 082. Houses, 1, 787. The increase of pop. was caused by extension here of the outskirts of the metropolis. The manor belonged, from time immemorial, to the bishops of London. An ancient palace of the Bishops is supposed to have stood on Lodge-Hill; and a park connected with it was the place where the Duke of Gloucester and other noblemen assembled, in 1386, to form a league against the favourites of Richard II., and where the youthful Edward V. and the victorious Henry VII. were met by trains of citizens to conduct them into the city. Harringay House, close to Hornsey suburb, is the seat of E. H. Chapman, Esq. Hornsey-Wood House, about a mile to the S, long noted as a place of refreshment and amusement, has been taken down; and the site of it, with about 100 acres of adjoining land, was destined, in 1866, to form Finsbury Park. A range of hills goes through the parish; and they have, on their N side, several feeders of the Colne; while near their top, adjacent to the railway, is the New Alexandra Park, with part of the removed exhibition building of 1862. The living is a rectory in the diocese of London. Value, £400. h Patron, the Bishop of London. The church, excepting an ancient tower, was rebuilt in 1832; and contains a monument to the poet Rogers, who was buried here in 1855. Another church, to cost £7, 000, was founded in the autumn of 1869. The vicarages of Crouch-End and Muswell-Hill are separate benefices. There are a handsome Independent chapel, three national schools, and charities nearly £1, 000. Bishop Westfield was rector; and Lightfoot, the Hebraist, Newland, the Bank of England cashier, and Moore, the poet, were residents. Moore is said to have written here his "Lalla Rookh."-The sub-district is conterminate with the parish.

Hornsey through time

Hornsey is now part of Haringey district. Click here for graphs and data of how Haringey has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Hornsey itself, go to Units and Statistics.

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