A Short History of Crouch End and Muswell Hill

Even though Roman artifacts have been discovered in the area, it is likely that the history of Hornsey, Crouch End, Muswell Hill and Highgate begins with being Anglo-Saxon rather than Roman settlements.

Crouch End comes from Old English, meaning "Cross End". ("Crouch" in Old English means "cross".) It refers to a sited cross which in olden times would have marked boundaries between two manor estates at the south of Hornsey. At that time Crouch End, Hornsey, Muswell Hill, Stroud Green and part of Highgate made up the parish of Hornsey, controlled by the Bishop of London.

Why did Crouch End not begin as a Roman settlement? It appears that the artifacts (including pottery) found in the Muswell Hill and Highgate area suggest more of a seasonal kiln, rather than a permanent one. The pot (with Roman coins) which is displayed in the British Museum has no other supporting details to suggest it might have been a hastily-buried treasure.

The Romans arrived in Britain with the Claudian invasion of AD43. By 1855 they had established Londinium by the banks of the Thames, among the marshes and shallows of the river, and had successfully bridged it.

The area directly north came to be called the Great Middlesex Forest. Routes have been would established by clearing wide swathes, and the main northern routes were present day Tottenham High Road and Edgware Road. However, to reach Crouch End, Hornsey, Highgate or Muswell Hill five miles away, other roads would have been required, but there is little sign of connecting roads to these main routes. Furthermore, the heavy soil soil around the Crouch End area did not favour arable farming for large Roman populations.

The void by Roman departure in the fifth century AD was filled by Anglo-Saxon migration. Place names, road systems and land ownership rules were establihed in the later-called the parish of Hornsey, which was made up of Hornsey, Crouch End, Muswell Hill, Stroud Green and part of Highgate.

The Anglo-Saxons would have come firstly via the North Sea, and then travelled further inland by river or river valley, to create clearings for farmsteads and settlements. One such group was led by Hering, and was thought to have come via the area north of Hornsey church. They called their clearing "Heringes-hege" (the 'g' is pronounced as 'y'), indicating the area to be "Hering's clearing or enclosure". From this we have Haringey, Harringeie and further corruption through non-standard spelling and pronunciation to Harnsey and Hornsey.

Areas were described by their features. Muswell Hill was recorded as Pinnsknoll, meaning "Pinn's knoll", and in the 12th century, the mossy wells - 'Meos' means 'moss' and 'Wielle' means 'well' - which developed a reputation for miracles caused Muswell Hill to be referred to as the hill with the mossy wells. The location of the wells were where present-day 40 Muswell Road is.

A toll gate was created by the Bishop of London for the building of a road from Holloway to Barnet, to avoid the Hornsey Road to Colney Hatch Lane route which was prone to flooding. Highgate, however, is not a derivative of "High toll gate", but rather refers to the road through the hedge surrounding the Bishop's land, which was used for hunting. "Haia" means 'hedge' and 'gata', 'road'.

Crouch End and its surrounding Muswell Hill, Hornsey and Highgate remained largely rural. Hornsey and Crouch End were particularly attractive for middle-class Londoners wanting to be near their City businesses, but still have a place in the rural countryside.

With the development of the Great Northern Railway in the 1850s, and further growth of the city London, the surrounding areas were transformed by the need for more homes. The landscape of Muswell Hill, Crouch End and Hornsey would irrevocably change.