CHURCHES.
The living of Hornsey was assessed
in 1291 (fn. 97) and had a priest in 1302, when it was a
rectory. (fn. 98) Except during the Interregnum, when
Sir John Wollaston was patron, (fn. 99) it has been in the
gift of the bishop of London from at least 1321. (fn. 1)
There were chapels at Muswell from c. 1190 and
Highgate from c. 1387. The Muswell estate of the
nuns of St. Mary, Clerkenwell, already subject to
special arrangements, was annexed to Clerkenwell
parish c. 1540. Part of Hornsey parish was assigned
to St. Michael's, Highgate, in 1834. (fn. 2) South Hornsey
detached was included in the consolidated chapelry
of St. Matthias, Stoke Newington, in 1849. (fn. 3) Districts
were formed from Hornsey parish for Muswell Hill
in 1843, Crouch End in 1862, Brownswood Park in
1875, Ferme Park in 1877, Stroud Green in 1880,
and Cranley Gardens in 1910, and from Hornsey
and Tottenham in 1892 and 1898 for North and
South Harringay respectively. Another four chapelries were formed between 1834 and 1940. In 1976
the old parish was divided between 16 districts and
contained 14 churches. Whereas a total of 4,611
attended 4 churches in Hornsey and Highgate on
census Sunday 1851, (fn. 4) there were 13,808 at 13
churches and 4 missions in 1903, of which 11,848
were in Hornsey and 1,960 in Highgate. (fn. 5) In 1976
the demolition of several churches was threatened.
The living was worth 8 marks in 1291 and 1340, (fn. 6)
£22 in 1535, (fn. 7) and £30 in 1547. (fn. 8) The income was
£92 in 1649 (fn. 9) but £20 extra was assigned to the
incumbent by the committee for plundered ministers
in 1656. (fn. 10) It was worth c. £140 in 1749 and £426 in
1851. (fn. 11) Tithes amounted to only 22s. in 1535. (fn. 12) The
relatively low income was due to a modus of 4d. an
acre, which yielded £17 in 1726. (fn. 13) In 1749 it was
believed that an earlier rector had been prevented
from challenging it only by death. (fn. 14) The composition
was said to be customary in 1765, when it was confirmed after the rector had tried to levy tithes in
kind. (fn. 15) In 1815 tithes from common lands were
extinguished (fn. 16) and in 1845 and 1850 the rector
dissuaded the Tithe Commissioners from making an
award, which would have been expensive but not
remunerative. (fn. 17) The modus, assessed on 2,100 a.,
yielded only £35 in 1851 (fn. 18) and had fallen to £10 by
1889, when it was dwindling annually because it was
applied only to land not built on. (fn. 19) In 1610 there
were 37 a. of glebe and in 1663 40 a. (fn. 20) The glebe lay
south of Hornsey High Street and east of the modern
Church and Tottenham lanes. (fn. 21) By 1749 c. 40 a. were
leased and there were 5 a., probably the Rectory
garden, in hand. (fn. 22) In 1804 a strip along Tottenham
Lane was sold in redemption of land tax; (fn. 23) under the
inclosure award 46½ a. were allotted in two fields on
Muswell Hill common (fn. 24) and in 1851 the total glebe
was 89½ a. (fn. 25) Some was leased for building in 1881,
more was added in 1883, and 75 a. remained in
1889. (fn. 26) Offerings of £140 amounted to a third of the
stipend in 1851, when they were falling, (fn. 27) and c.
£100 in 1889. (fn. 28)
A rector's house existed in 1320 (fn. 29) and a house and
outbuildings in 1610, (fn. 30) shortly before they were
encompassed by the New River. The rectory house,
almost ruined in 1660, was repaired before 1673 at
the incumbent's expense. It contained six hearths in
1664. (fn. 31) In 1750, when the previous rector had been
non-resident, £400 was needed, but not spent, to
make it habitable. (fn. 32) In 1830-4, after having been
held by another absentee, (fn. 33) the Rectory was again in
disrepair. (fn. 34) In 1826 it was a two-storeyed timberframed building of lath and plaster. (fn. 35) A new Rectory
existed by 1851 (fn. 36) and was extended c. 1890. (fn. 37) A
large gabled building of brick with stone dressings, (fn. 38)
in 1½ a. of garden in 1889, (fn. 39) it made way in 1962 for
St. David's school. (fn. 40) A red-brick house was erected
on part of the site c. 1964 (fn. 41) and provision was made
in 1969 for a future Rectory on the churchyard. (fn. 42)
Failure to pay papal tenths resulted in excommunication of the rector in 1302 (fn. 43) and an interdict
on the church in 1303. (fn. 44) The fraternity of Holy
Trinity mentioned in 1401 (fn. 45) presumably worshipped
in the Trinity chapel. Apart from that of the Holy
Trinity, there were lights to the Holy Cross in 1411, (fn. 46)
the rood in 1478, (fn. 47) and All Hallows in 1480. (fn. 48) A
rent-charge of 3s. 4d. from Pitmansacre was left by
John Hill in 1500 to endow an obit for himself and
his family (fn. 49) but in 1547 it had been spent for five
years on the poor and the highways. (fn. 50) In 1533
another testator sought inclusion on the bederoll and
left two cows to the fabric. (fn. 51) The origin is not known
of the 7-a. copyhold close called Churchfield from
which 13s. 4d. rent was being spent partly on church
repairs in 1547. (fn. 52) Farmed respectively by William
and Robert Shepherd, (fn. 53) Pitmansacre and Churchfield passed to the Crown on the dissolution of the
chantries. (fn. 54) The parish lost its rent-charge from
Pitmansacre permanently (fn. 55) but Churchfield later
became a charity estate. (fn. 56)
In 1592 Dr. Thomas Skeffington left a £1 rentcharge from copyhold land in Highgate to provide
sermons at the parish church at Christmas and
Whitsun each year. (fn. 57) Robert Willanton, rector 1556-
60, was deprived (fn. 58) and Thomas Lant (d. 1688),
rector from 1637 and said to have been of blameless
character, was ejected c. 1645. In 1649 the cure was
served by a minister chosen by the parishioners but
Lant was restored in 1660. (fn. 59) Between 1719 and 1810
there was a monthly communion and children were
catechized in Lent. (fn. 60) In 1791, after the curate was so
drunk that the congregation asked him not to
preach, the vestry complained that it had long
desired a curate of whom it could approve; it
also tried to influence the rector's choice. (fn. 61) In 1850
it memorialized Queen Victoria against the reestablishment of the Roman Catholic hierarchy in
England. (fn. 62)
The hymn tune 'Hornsey' was composed by S. S.
Wesley, a friend of Canon Richard Harvey, rector
1829-81, (fn. 63) who founded six daughter churches and
was described as equally unsympathetic towards
ritualism and the extreme Low Church. (fn. 64) His
successor Prebendary J. Jeakes and his curates were
considered ultra-Protestant in 1888 (fn. 65) and St. Clair
Donaldson, rector 1901-4, tried to broaden the
services and abolished evening communion. (fn. 66) The
choice of his successor, Francis Norman Thicknesse, rector 1904-11, was criticized as that of a
moderate High Churchman, since Hornsey had an
evangelical tradition. (fn. 67) The changes which he introduced, including a reredos, a cross on the altar, and
a monthly choral communion, were resisted by
some choristers and were denounced as idolatrous in
a lengthy controversy in the local press. (fn. 68) In 1851
736 people attended morning service and 425 in the
evening (fn. 69) and on one Sunday in 1903 the total congregation at all services was 1,555. (fn. 70)
Among the numerous rectors who held other
preferments were Walter of London, rector in
1302-3, (fn. 71) Robert Harrington, rector 1560-1610,
and Richard Harvey, who were prebendaries of
Brownswood. Among absentees were Charles Sheppard, rector 1780-1829, who lived at Northampton (fn. 72)
and William Cole (d. 1782), rector 1749-50, the antiquary. (fn. 73) Lewis Atterbury, rector 1719-31 and for
37 years lecturer at Highgate chapel, published
sermons and theological tracts. (fn. 74) Thomas Westfield,
rector 1615-37 and a noted preacher, became bishop
of Bristol, (fn. 75) St. Clair Donaldson was in turn archbishop of Brisbane and bishop of Salisbury, (fn. 76) and
H. C. Montgomery-Campbell, rector 1926-33, became bishop of London. (fn. 77) There was a curate in
1547, (fn. 78) 1749, and 1851. (fn. 79) James Moorhouse, curate
between 1859 and 1861, was later bishop of Manchester. (fn. 80) In 1933 it was considered that rectors of
Hornsey were destined for preferment. (fn. 81)
The existing church of ST. MARY, a converted
hall, is at least the fourth building of that name to
serve the parish; only the tower survives from previous churches. The 'ragged surface' of the first
known church, the result of the rubble, bricks, and
irregular stones in its construction, (fn. 82) may explain a
belief that old materials had been re-used. (fn. 83) No part
appears to have been older than the 13th century.
By 1401 the Trinity chapel had been added to the
south side of the undivided nave and chancel. (fn. 84)
Money was left for it to be roofed in 1428, (fn. 85) work
was in progress in 1452, (fn. 86) and in 1460 the Trinity
aisle was mentioned, (fn. 87) then or later of six bays. The
most westerly bay, which served as the vestry from
1749 to 1832, was narrower and opened into the
contemporary base of the tower to the north. The
tower, towards which a bequest had been made in
1429, (fn. 88) contained a bell in 1460 (fn. 89) but was unfinished
in 1481-2. (fn. 90) Money was left towards the steeple in
1499 and the first three stages were apparently
completed c. 1501, as they bore the arms of Bishops
Savage (1496-1501) and Warham (1501-3), who also
glazed the east window. Further legacies were made
in 1517-18 (fn. 91) towards the tower and in 1533 for
finishing the church, (fn. 92) but the additional stages
apparently contemplated (fn. 93) were never built. Of
brick faced with stone, the steeple was too big for
the church in 1749. Money was left in 1462 for the
rood-loft, (fn. 94) complete by 1478, (fn. 95) and there was a
rood-stair to the south. Round-headed windows
were substituted for the Gothic ones in nave and
aisles between 1810 and 1832, and by 1749 dormer
windows had been inserted in the nave roof to light
the galleries. (fn. 96) In 1631 Samuel Armitage, girdler of
London, erected a west gallery and in 1714, when
the church was 'beautified', a small south gallery was
added. In 1793 there was seating for only 200 and
demand for pews greatly exceeded the number
unappropriated. (fn. 97) In 1800 it was decided to erect a
bigger south gallery and to install the organ given
by John William Paul (d. 1795) at the west end of the
north gallery. (fn. 98) The south gallery, which accommodated singers and servants in 1810, was slightly
enlarged in 1815 and eventually covered the whole
aisle (fn. 99) but in 1831, with only 220 sittings, the church
was too small and in disrepair. (fn. 1) Except for the tower,
of which the top stage was rebuilt to a different plan, (fn. 2)
the whole fabric was demolished.
In 1832-3 a new church by George Smith was
built adjoining the tower. Commended by contemporaries, (fn. 3) it was of white Suffolk brick with stone
dressings in a Gothic style and consisted of a sixbay clerestoreyed nave and chancel with clerestorey
and north and south aisles. (fn. 4) It stood on a platform
containing 38 private vaults, of which 12 were sold
towards the building costs. (fn. 5) The bishop, the rector,
and three others each subscribed £1,000 towards
the total cost of £8,400. (fn. 6) There was seating nominally
for 960 in box-pews or in galleries on three sides,
where most of the 480 free places were, but only 600
places were considered tolerable in 1887, when
the working classes were practically excluded. The
building, considered unfit to be the mother church
of such an important parish, (fn. 7) was replaced in 1888
but survived unused until 1927, when all of it except
the tower was demolished and the vaults were filled
in. (fn. 8) The site was made into a Garden of Remembrance in 1950 (fn. 9) and the bells were later removed
from the tower, which had become dangerous. (fn. 10) In
1966 money for the tower's maintenance was contributed by the council (fn. 11) but both tower and graveyard remained ecclesiastical property.
To avoid disturbing graves a site was taken from
the glebe on the corner of Hornsey High Street and
Church Lane, where the new church could not be
oriented. (fn. 12) Designed in the Perpendicular style by
James Brooks, it was of elaborately worked stone and
consisted of nave with clerestorey and aisles of six
bays, transepts, two-bay chancel and side chapels,
and two-storeyed east porch. The body of the church
was consecrated in 1889 and the west front and first
stage of an intended lofty tower were added by Sir
Charles Nicholson c. 1900. The tower was never
completed, from shortage of money (fn. 13) and later
because of the instability of the subsoil. (fn. 14) The
church contained 1,200 seats, half of them free, and
was potentially the finest 19th-century church in
Middlesex. As early as 1904 cracks appeared in the
masonry and in the 1960s scaffolding was required
internally. (fn. 15) The church was demolished under the
St. Mary, Hornsey, Act, 1969, (fn. 16) and the site was
used for a school. From 1969 services have been held
in the church hall, formerly the National hall,
acquired in 1916. (fn. 17) Planning permission was repeatedly refused for a church adjoining the old
tower. (fn. 18)
A secular Dutch table of c. 1700 was used in turn
as an altar and credence table. (fn. 19) An organ by Henry
Willis was restored in 1928 and 1946. A 15thcentury brass inscription commemorates Richard
Ruggevale and there is a complete brass for the
infant John Skeffington (d. c. 1520) and part of one
for Thomas Priestley (d. 1613) and his brother and
namesake. (fn. 20) Monuments include an incised stone
slab of c. 1613 for George Rey of Highgate and his
two wives, an obelisk of 1601 for Richard Candish,
a wall monument with kneeling figure, broken
pediment, and cartouche for Francis Musters (d.
1680), and memorials to Samuel Rogers (d. 1855) by
William Behnes and to Mrs. Gazeley, 1795, by
Henry Rouw. (fn. 21) Richard Ruggevale left 33s. 4d. for
a chalice in 1462 (fn. 22) and in 1547 there were a silvergilt chalice, copper-gilt pipe and paten, and other
vessels of laten. (fn. 23) The present silver plate includes
two flagons of 1641 given by Lady Musters and
William Thatcher's gift in 1713 (fn. 24) of cup and standpaten of 1694 and plate of 1700. In 1557 the church
had a sanctus and three large bells (fn. 25) and from 1749
six bells, rehung in 1775. In 1937 they were treble,
(ii), (iii), (iv), (v), T. Janaway, 1775; tenor, J.
Warner, recast in 1880. The churchyard, the burial
place of Trotwood in David Copperfield, (fn. 26) was
several times enlarged and was closed for burials in
1892. Many graves were full of water then and in
1750, (fn. 27) when all the poor of the parish were buried
there. In 1808 the rector was selling plots for private
vaults. (fn. 28) Among those interred there was Samuel
Rogers (d. 1855), poet. (fn. 29) There are registers of births
from 1653 and of marriages and burials from 1654. (fn. 30)
By 1159 there was a chapel at Muswell, (fn. 31) later
dedicated to ST. MARY. The chaplain or priest
was appointed by the priory of St. Mary, Clerkenwell and first mentioned in 1476, when the priory's
tenants had rendered their tithes and offerings at the
chapel or St. James's church at Clerkenwell and
worshipped at the chapel from time immemorial,
with the consent of the rector of Hornsey. (fn. 32) By
1526-7 the rector was paid 6s. 8d. as annual composition for his tithes. (fn. 33) The priory's bailiff accounted
for the oblations, which had totalled £6 9s. 10d. in
the previous year. (fn. 34) They included the offerings of
pilgrims, whom miracles had attracted to Muswell
by the late 15th century, particularly at the Assumption (15 August) and Nativity (8 September) of the
Blessed Virgin Mary and on Good Friday. (fn. 35) Norden
recorded an image of the Virgin there and the
association of Muswell spring with miraculous cures
from the time of a king of Scots, (fn. 36) possibly Malcolm
IV (1153-65), lord of Tottenham. (fn. 37) Papal indulgences, allegedly lost or damaged, were confirmed
in 1476 (fn. 38) and in 1477 an indulgence was granted to
all pilgrims who visited the chapel or priory church
and contributed towards the rebuilding of the
latter. (fn. 39) The priory paid a hermit for selling wax at
Muswell (fn. 40) and in 1531 pilgrimage there was denounced for 'bawdry'. (fn. 41) In 1540 the priest occupied
a chamber in the gatehouse. (fn. 42) The chapel was
included in grants of the dissolved priory's estate, (fn. 43)
and by 1598 the district was regarded as a detached
part of Clerkenwell parish. (fn. 44)
The church of ST. JAMES, Muswell Hill, stands
on the corner of St. James's Lane and Muswell Hill
Road on land given by Henry Warner. (fn. 45) A chapel
committee was formed in 1839 (fn. 46) and in 1842 an
unoriented church was built. Of white brick and in
an Early English style, it was designed by Samuel
Angell and had a nave seating 432, a shallow chancel,
and diminutive tower and spire. (fn. 47) The consolidated
chapelry assigned in 1843 included Clerkenwell
detached; (fn. 48) the chapel stood by itself at an equal
distance from several growing settlements. In 1874
the nave was extended and a north aisle added, at
a cost larger than that of the original building, to
increase the number of sittings to 550. Since the
church was too small and in a dangerous condition in
1898, J. S. Alder designed a new church of Ancaster
stone, with Bath stone dressings in a Perpendicular
style. (fn. 49) Chancel, vestries, chapels, and two bays of
the nave were consecrated in 1901, the rest of the
nave, west end, and base of the west tower in 1902,
and the tower and spire in 1910. (fn. 50) It was gutted
during the Second World War but by 1952 had been
restored by Caroë and partners with seating for
800; (fn. 51) in the interim services were held in a temporary structure in the nave. In 1978 the church
consisted of a chancel with side chapels, an aisled
and clerestoreyed nave, and a tower and spire 179 ft.
high. In 1851 259 people were at morning service
and 198 at evening service (fn. 52) and on one Sunday in
1903 677 attended in the morning and 419 in the
evening. (fn. 53) The living was always in the gift of the
bishop of London. Thomas Jackson, the first vicar,
later became bishop himself. Prebendary E. A.
Dunn, vicar 1931-58, was a noted preacher and
Edmund Courtenay Pearce, assistant curate 1899-
1900, was later master of Corpus Christi College,
Cambridge, and bishop of Derby. (fn. 54) There were new
organs in 1842, 1853, 1889, and 1913 and the choir,
from 1892 under distinguished choirmasters, enjoyed
a national reputation between the World Wars.
The church of ST. MATTHEW was founded as
a chapel of ease of St. James's, with the aid of the
Missionary Society, to serve the Coldfall estate. The
site, on the corner of Coppetts Road and Creighton
Avenue, had been given by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners in 1908. (fn. 55) A wooden mission hall of
1925 (fn. 56) was replaced in 1940 by a brick church to a
plain design by Caroë and Passmore. It consists of
a chancel, north vestry, south chapel and tower, and
aisled nave and west porch. St. Matthew's had its
own minister from 1932 and became a vicarage in
1940, with the Church Pastoral Aid Society as
patron. (fn. 57) The parish was described as difficult in
1963, when the electoral roll had fallen from the peak
of 200 members. (fn. 58)
CHRIST CHURCH, Crouch End, stands on the
corner of Crouch End Hill and Crescent Road on a
site given by Charles Scrase Dickens. (fn. 59) Services in
the rented Broadway hall during the rebuilding of the
parish church continued after 1833. The hall seated
only 170 but on Census Sunday 1851 evening service
was attended by 193. (fn. 60) A new church was consecrated
in 1862, when a district was assigned. (fn. 61) A. W. Blomfield initially built a nave, north aisle, and chancel
to seat 450, adding a south aisle with a further 243
seats in 1867. A tower and spire were built in 1873,
substantial repairs were undertaken in 1881, and,
with the impending closure of St. Andrew's in
1906-7, the south aisle was widened for 120 extra
seats and a vestry and three porches were added. (fn. 62)
War damage was repaired between 1949 and 1952 by
P. Willoughby, who presumably whitewashed the
coloured brick arcades. (fn. 63) In 1976 Christ Church
consisted of a chancel, with north tower and spire
above a vestry, another north vestry, south organchamber, and an aisled and clerestoreyed nave with
north and west porches. Of Kentish Rag outside and
brick within, it is in a restrained Decorated style. On
one Sunday in 1903 attendances were 509 in the
morning and 345 in the evening. (fn. 64) There was an
organist in 1863 and new organs were provided in
1871 and 1898; organ and choir were prominent in
services in 1892 and the church had a fine musical
tradition in the years 1914 to 1917 and 1962 to
1964. (fn. 65) In 1914 the Revd. C. J. Sharp prevented his
own succession by a dogmatic Anglo-Catholic or
Evangelical, (fn. 66) but Canon Bryan Green, vicar 1934-8,
established a militant evangelical tradition. (fn. 67) W. R.
Matthews, vicar 1916-18, was later dean of St.
Paul's, and W. F. P. Chadwick, vicar 1938-47,
became suffragan bishop of Barking. (fn. 68) The patron
is the bishop of London.
The church of ST. ANDREW, Shepherd's Hill,
stood on a site near Montenotte Road given by the
Ecclesiastical Commissioners. (fn. 69) An iron and wooden
building by A. E. Billing with seating for 400 and a
south-east tower and belfry, it opened in 1890. It
was attended on one Sunday in 1903 by 295 people
in the morning and 193 in the evening. (fn. 70) The
population did not grow as expected and there
was competition with St. Augustine's, Highgate.
St. Andrew's therefore remained a chapel of ease to
Christ Church and was closed in 1907, whereupon
the building became the first Anglican church of St.
Andrew, Felixstowe (Suff.).
The church of ST. JOHN THE EVANGELIST,
Brownswood Park, stands on the corner of Queen's
Drive and Gloucester Road. The district chapelry
created in 1875, (fn. 71) after changes in 1880 and 1915,
has lain almost entirely in the peninsular part of
Hornsey south of Seven Sisters Road. Work on the
building, to a grandiose design by F. Wallen in a
Venetian Gothic style, began in 1869 but was delayed
by the builder's bankruptcy. Two-thirds of the
church was consecrated in 1874 and the west end in
1878, when Wallen's services were dispensed with, (fn. 72)
and the adjoining Vicarage was erected in 1876. The
church has an apsidal chancel with side chapels,
transepts, a central tower, of which the upper stages
were not built, an aisled and clerestoreyed nave with
north and south porches, and an apsidal western
baptistery. Extensive repair was needed in 1920 and
under-pinning from 1928, and severe war damage
was not remedied until 1951. Although founded at
popular request in a growing area, St. John's
suffered from dwindling congregations by 1885. In
1903 only 199 attended a service in the morning and
172 another in the evening, (fn. 73) in a church that sat
900, and expenses could hardly be met in 1895 and
1913. George Birkett Latreille, first vicar, held the
benefice for 47 years. His successor A. C. Turberville was noted for his advanced churchmanship. In
1928 the patronage was transferred from the bishop
to the Corporation of London.
The church of HOLY INNOCENTS, on the
corner of Tottenham Lane and Rokesley Avenue,
was built in 1876-7 to a design by A. W. Blomfield. (fn. 74)
Of yellow brick with red-brick and stone dressings
in a Gothic style, it has a chancel, north chancel, and
south tower surmounting an organ-chamber, and
an aisled and clerestoreyed nave with south porch,
at the west end of which two vestries and a hall are
screened off. It contained 860 seats, (fn. 75) all free, and
on one Sunday in 1903 was attended by morning
and evening congregations of 440 and 721. (fn. 76) In
1973-4 the western bay was refashioned as a hall,
reducing the seating for services to c. 300. (fn. 77) In 1877
a district was assigned from the parish of Hornsey (fn. 78)
and the patronage of the living was vested in the
bishop. (fn. 79)
The church of HOLY TRINITY, Stroud
Green, (fn. 80) on the corner of Granville and Stapleton
Hall roads, replaced a crowded temporary hall (fn. 81) in
stages between 1880 and 1885. Designed by E. B.
Ferrey in a 13th-century style, it was of brick with
stone dressings and had a nave, south aisles, transepts, vestry, south porch, and west spirelet. (fn. 82) Although built at only moderate cost, the interior was
dignified and spacious. (fn. 83) There were 1,200 seats in
1903, (fn. 83) when a morning service was attended by
1,051 and an evening service by 1,210. (fn. 85) Following
war damage the church was declared unsafe c. 1951
and pulled down in 1960. The site was re-used for
a hall, Vicarage, and public garden. The adjoining red-brick hall in Granville Road was adapted as
the church, with a western portico and spirelet. (fn. 86)
The congregation was evangelical in 1885, when 2,266
signatories opposed the presentation of the ritualist,
Dr. Robert Linklater, vicar 1885-1911. By 1888,
however, Holy Trinity was the only Hornsey church
with Anglo-Catholic services, (fn. 87) which were retained
in 1976. In 1881 a district was assigned from the
chapelries of Holy Innocents and St. John and from
Hornsey parish. (fn. 88) The patron is the bishop of
London.
The church of ST. PAUL, South Harringay, and
its Vicarage and hall occupy the site between Wightman, Cavendish, and Burgoyne roads. An iron
church stood in 1883 in Burgoyne Road (fn. 89) and by
1886 was served by the London Diocesan Home
Mission. (fn. 90) The nave of the permanent church was
consecrated in 1891 and the chancel and chapel
were finished in 1903. Designed by G. M. Silley and
built of Peterborough red brick with Bracknell stone
dressings, it has a chancel, south-east chapel and
bellcot, north vestries, and an aisled and clerestoreyed nave of six bays with north-west and southwest porches. When built the church seated 700 (fn. 91)
and congregations on one Sunday in 1903 totalled
671 in the morning and 834 in the evening; (fn. 92) in 1976
there were no pews in the north aisle. In 1892 a
consolidated chapelry was formed from Hornsey and
part of Tottenham, (fn. 93) with the bishop as patron of
the living.
The church of ST. PETER, North Harringay,
stands with its Vicarage between Wightman, Frobisher, and Lausanne roads. It originated in 1884 as
a chapel of ease to the parish church. (fn. 94) The iron
chapel was replaced by the present Gothic structure
designed by James Brooks and Godsell, of which the
western part was consecrated in 1897 and the
chancel, organ-chamber, side chapel, and vestries
were finished in 1905. (fn. 95) The church was of red brick
with stone dressings and consisted of a chancel, a
north chapel, an aisled and clerestoreyed nave, and
south-west and north-west turrets. Extensive war
damage had not been repaired in 1958. On one
Sunday in 1903 congregations were 559 in the
morning and 707 in the evening, (fn. 96) and the additions
of 1905 increased the seating to almost 1,000, (fn. 97) but
in 1976 only the south aisle was used for worship and
the rest of the building contained fittings from the
demolished parish church. In 1898 a consolidated
chapelry was formed from Hornsey and part of
Tottenham, (fn. 98) with the bishop as patron of the living.
In 1977 St. Peter's parish was combined with that of
Christ Church, West Green, Tottenham. (fn. 99)
The church of ST. LUKE, Mayfield Road,
originated in the work of the London Diocesan
Home Mission in 1898. (fn. 1) An iron church was built
in 1898-9 and replaced by the permanent church
designed by J. E. K. and J. P. Cutts. Six bays of the
nave and aisles seating 500 were completed in 1903,
and the chancel, organ-chamber, chapel, and clergy's
vestry were consecrated in 1908. The church is of
red brick with stone dressings and consists of a
chancel, south chapel and north organ-chamber, an
aisled and clerestoreyed nave of five bays, western
baptistery, and north-west vestry and south-west
entrance; the sacristy and another vestry are beneath
the organ-chamber and north aisle. A central turret
has been removed. The Vicarage of 1910 stands
immediately to the north. As completed the church
seated 750, a number since reduced: on one Sunday
in 1903 359 people attended in the morning and 326
in the evening. (fn. 2) A densely populated district of only
123 a. was taken from those of Christ Church, Holy
Trinity, and Holy Innocents in 1903. Pew rents
were falling by 1902 and closure was first threatened
in 1929. (fn. 3) Presentations were suspended in 1968,
since which date there has been a priest-in-charge. (fn. 4)
Incumbents changed from an evangelical to a High
Church tradition and in 1976 professed Second
Vatican Council Catholicism. The patron is the
bishop of London.
The existing church of ST. GEORGE, Cranley
Gardens, on the corner with Park Road, occupies
a site given by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners
c. 1900. (fn. 5) Dr. St. Clair Donaldson, however, acquired
land on the corner of Priory Road and Park Avenue
South, where J. S. Alder designed a church with
a chancel, transepts, and aisled nave. (fn. 6) The nave and
aisles of 1907 seated 400 and were of red brick with
yellow Taynton stone dressings, in a late Decorated
style with Perpendicular details. (fn. 7) In 1910 a district
was assigned with the bishop as patron of the living. (fn. 8)
The site proved ill chosen but in 1928 a chancel,
chapel, and organ-chamber by W. C. Waymouth
were added. In 1940 the church was bombed, from
1945 only the chancel and chapel were used for
worship, (fn. 9) and in 1956 the building was demolished
and the site sold. (fn. 10) The modern church by Randall
Morris was consecrated in 1959. (fn. 11) It is not oriented.
Of red brick on a reinforced concrete frame with
transverse elliptical arches, it has a sanctuary, aisled
nave with east vestries, south-east chapel and bell
turret, and south porch. The 16th-century font from
St. Mary's was moved from the old to the new
St. George's church. (fn. 12) The church was served from
1907 until 1949 by Dr. C. E. Simpson (d. 1961) as
curate, priest-in-charge, and vicar. (fn. 13)
Highgate did not form an ecclesiastical district
until the 19th century, when a consolidated chapelry
was created after the building of St. Michael's church
on the St. Pancras side of the boundary. (fn. 14) Previously
there had been only the chapel of Cholmley's school,
on the Hornsey side, which itself had replaced a
chapel of the hermitage. Both chapels had come to
serve local inhabitants remote from their own parish
churches.
The hermit's chapel at Highgate existed perhaps
in the 1350s and 1360s (fn. 15) and certainly in 1387, (fn. 16) its
keeper being responsible by 1464 for repairing roads.
Miracles at Highgate attracted great devotion and
resort in 1464, when the pope granted an indulgence
to those who would support the chapel, which was
dedicated to St. Michael. (fn. 17) Local inhabitants, in
both Hornsey and St. Pancras, used it for worship
in 1503. In that year the vicar of St. Pancras led a
procession to Highgate, presumably to assert his
own rights. (fn. 18) The hermits were appointed by the
bishop, (fn. 19) who in 1540 made a lease of the former
hermitage along with the great park. (fn. 20) He gave the
chapel and 2 a. to Cholmley's school in 1565 (fn. 21) but
in 1577 the Crown granted the chapel, as a concealed
chantry, (fn. 22) to John Farnham. (fn. 23) Farnham soon sold
his title to Roger Puleston, the school's receiver
general, who in turn conveyed it to the governors. (fn. 24)
The school's statutes of 1571 required the master
to read prayers every Sunday except the first in the
month, when worshippers should attend their own
parish churches. (fn. 25) The governors raised subscriptions for a new chapel, towards which Hornsey
parish made a small contribution, and completed it
in 1578. (fn. 26) From 1593 Highgate chapel was often
called a chapel of ease. (fn. 27) The master continued to
act as reader and there was also a lecturer from 1637,
when William Platt left him £10 a year by a codicil,
or earlier. (fn. 28) The lecturer or preacher was sometimes
called the chaplain (fn. 29) and was appointed, presumably
from the first and certainly from 1731, by the
governors. (fn. 30) By the 1630s the chapel was used as a
parish church, where baptisms, marriages, and
burials were performed. (fn. 31) In 1639 it served the
inhabitants on Highgate Hill who otherwise would
have to go to Hornsey or St. Pancras, in 1719 people
seldom travelled to their own churches, and in 1781
a former resident who had moved to Muswell Hill
was asked to give up his pew. (fn. 32) The status of the
chapel was questionable, and was complicated by
disputes between reader and lecturer, (fn. 33) by claims of
the rector of Hornsey (fn. 34) and vicar of St. Pancras, (fn. 35)
and by doubts whether school funds should be spent
on the periodic enlargements of the chapel (fn. 36) or the
master's time on pastoral work as reader. (fn. 37) The
question who should receive the fees was resolved
by a governors' order of 1720, dividing them proportionately. (fn. 38) The division of pastoral responsibility
between reader and lecturer was much at issue in
the 1720s when the lecturer, Dr. Lewis Atterbury
(d. 1731) was rector of Hornsey. (fn. 39) Thereafter the
lecturers tended to hold benefices at a distance and,
being often styled simply 'morning preacher' from
1750, (fn. 40) to yield some of their preaching duties to the
reader. (fn. 41) The division between the reader and the
two parochial incumbents, however, remained in
contention. (fn. 42)
When in 1821 the governors promoted a private
Bill for a larger chapel, the resulting controversy
ended in a judgement that the chapel had not been
intended for general use. It was accordingly replaced
in 1832 by a new church, which also served the
school until 1867 (fn. 43) and in 1834 was assigned a
consolidated chapelry from Hornsey and St. Pancras
parishes. (fn. 44) The last master to serve as reader,
appointed in 1816, served the church until 1838. (fn. 45)
Thereafter the living was a perpetual curacy, styled
a vicarage from 1868, in the bishop's patronage. (fn. 46)
The hermits presumably depended on small
bequests, recorded from 1461, (fn. 47) and on alms. Under
the statutes of 1571 the master received £10 a year
for all his duties. By 1586 the governors paid slightly
more (fn. 48) and bonuses thereafter were occasionally
granted. A master was appointed in 1746 at a salary
of £20, soon increased by one half and in 1757 to
£100 on account of higher rents obtained for the
chapel estate. A further rise was refused in 1771,
when the profits from still higher rents were devoted
to building repairs. (fn. 49) As reader he was entitled to
£10 a year by the gift of Edward Pauncefort (fn. 50) and
also profited from pew rents and chapel fees. In
1728 the master complained that his fees were being
taken by Lewis Atterbury and suggested that gifts
by Platt, John Smith (d. 1655), and Sir John
Wollaston (d. 1658) had been misappropriated. (fn. 51)
The lecturer enjoyed annual payments of £10 from
Platt and Wollaston and £1 from both Platt and
Smith for a sermon, (fn. 52) in addition to whatever the
governors might offer. A statement in 1750 that the
chapel was endowed with c. £80 a year (fn. 53) presumably
referred to the salaries of both reader and lecturer. (fn. 54)
Atterbury received £60 a year by 1723 and his
successors the same until in 1789 Dr. John Strachey,
having given great satisfaction for 16 years, was
granted an additional £30. (fn. 55) When a consolidated
chapelry was formed the lecturer's endowment was
transferred to it. (fn. 56) In 1859 the income of St.
Michael's was £550 a year and in 1892 it was £600. (fn. 57)
There was no glebe, (fn. 58) although a parsonage house
was built in 1856 on land given by the bishop of
London (fn. 59) on the north side of Hampstead Lane, (fn. 60)
where a datestone survived in 1977. The house,
with 4 a. of garden, was sold in 1936 and later
replaced by Highgate Close. No. 68 Southwood
Lane was the Vicarage from 1936 until its sale in
1972. The vicar then moved to no. 10 the Grove,
which had been left to the parish by Miss A.
Barber. (fn. 61)
Thomas Carter, master and reader from 1639,
was accused of opposing the protestation oath in
1641 (fn. 62) and of drunkenness in 1644. He was then
ejected by the parliamentarian governors, (fn. 63) who
included Wollaston, Sir Richard Sprignell, and later
Henry Ireton. (fn. 64) In 1661 Carter complained that he
had been imprisoned for having read the prayers
laid down in the school's statutes and was reinstated. (fn. 65) Although the governors asserted in 1729
that the master ought to serve no cure but Highgate
chapel, (fn. 66) William Felton, master 1746-81, was also
rector of Wenden Lofts and Elmdon (Essex). In
1750 Felton, 'Methodistically inclined', was not
allowed to preach by the lecturer (fn. 67) but there is no
sign that any master was thought inadequate as a
pastor.
Daniel Latham, who had been rector of Orsett
and vicar of Grays Thurrock (Essex), apparently
held no other position when lecturer at Highgate,
where he made his will. (fn. 68) Most of his successors,
however, were pluralists who obtained the lectureship early in their careers. Lewis Atterbury preached
at Highgate before his appointment on Latham's
death in 1695 (fn. 69) and Edward Yardley (d. 1769), who
married a beneficiary under Atterbury's will, (fn. 70)
preached there before succeeding Atterbury in
1731. (fn. 71) Yardley was soon rector of St. Florence
(Pemb.) and from 1739 archdeacon of Cardigan. (fn. 72)
John Strachey, appointed in 1773, (fn. 73) was already
rector of Erpingham (Norf.); he had become a royal
chaplain, archdeacon of Suffolk, and prebendary of
Llandaff (fn. 74) before surrendering the lectureship in
1793. James Saunders, who followed, (fn. 75) was the son
of Thomas Saunders, a governor of the free school. (fn. 76)
The last lecturer was Charles Mayo, formerly
Rawlinsonian professor of Anglo-Saxon, who was
appointed in 1803 and lived mainly at Cheshunt
(Herts.). (fn. 77) Two later incumbents of St. Michael's,
C. B. Dalton, 1854-78, and H. Edwards, 1946-73,
were prebendaries of St. Paul's. (fn. 78) From the late 19th
century there has normally been an assistant curate. (fn. 79)
A salaried clerk was paid by the governors for
1640-1 (fn. 80) and was probably the man who received
two years' wages for 'his pains about the chapel' in
1636. (fn. 81) John Hartwell was churchwarden in 1670,
when another man was clerk of the chapel, but by
1672 had apparently secured the clerkship for himself. (fn. 82) In 1692 the governors appointed his son and
namesake (fn. 83) and in 1731 a William Hartwell was
succeeded by his son, William, who was still clerk
in 1759. (fn. 84) A man was paid yearly for minding the
clock in 1648 (fn. 85) and also for ringing the bell on
winter evenings in 1669, although the clerk was
responsible for the clock in 1709. (fn. 86) There was a
salaried organist before 1747, when a new one was
appointed at the same rate. (fn. 87)
The statutes of 1571, reaffirmed in 1729, enjoined the master to say morning and evening
prayers on every Sunday and holy day, except the
first Sunday in the month, morning prayers with the
litany on Wednesday and Friday, and evening
prayers on Saturdays and the eve of holy days. (fn. 88)
The altar was deemed to have been suitably railed
off in 1637 (fn. 89) but ritualism was discouraged by
William Platt, who stipulated that the gospel should
be 'powerfully and purely preached'. (fn. 90) A book of
homilies and other works were required in 1685. (fn. 91)
In addition to the two Sunday services there was a
monthly communion in the mid 18th (fn. 92) and early
19th centuries. (fn. 93) An anti-ritualist tradition at St.
Michael's in the mid 19th century was perhaps
inspired by the Evangelical T. H. Causton, perpetual
curate 1838-54. (fn. 94) Causton was followed by C. B.
Dalton, son-in-law of Charles Blomfield, bishop of
London. (fn. 95) Dalton, who confessed that he could not
love dissenters, caused offence by placing a small
cross on the altar. (fn. 96) On his death the living was
offered to Daniel Trinder, vicar 1878-88, as a
moderate High Churchman free from ritualism. (fn. 97)
Dalton established a fund in 1857 for a scripture
reader, who also taught evening classes at the
National school, and in 1860 a parochial nurse was
appointed. (fn. 98) A railway labourers' mission, with a
chaplain appointed by the London Diocesan Home
Mission from 1863, was also supported by Dalton
and included Highgate's high street among its
weekly meeting-places. (fn. 99) The parish magazine,
founded in 1863, had a circulation of more than
8,000 by 1871. (fn. 1) Attendances at St. Michael's were
said to average 1,300 in the morning, 500 in the
afternoon, and 1,000 in the evening in 1851, (fn. 2) when
the church was still used by Cholmley's school, and
were 527 in the morning and 279 in the evening on
one Sunday in 1903. (fn. 3)
The hermitage was thought by Norden to have
stood on the site of Cholmley's school. (fn. 4) Probably it
did so, having been next to the bishop's park in
1387 (fn. 5) and close to the parish boundary in 1503,
when the hermit barred the way to the procession
from St. Pancras. (fn. 6) The chapel seems to have been
substantial, perhaps as a result of the gifts solicited
in 1464, (fn. 7) since the hermit sought refuge in its steeple
in 1503. (fn. 8) A garden and orchard formed part of the
premises in 1531 (fn. 9) but the building itself was ruinous
by 1577. (fn. 10) There was no known connexion with the
Hermitage in West Hill, where William and Mary
Howitt lived. (fn. 11)
Work on the chapel for the free school started in
1576 and ended in 1578. (fn. 12) The building was of
brick, (fn. 13) with its north wall abutting the schoolhouse. (fn. 14) It was enlarged with help from local subscribers in 1616, consecrated in 1617, perhaps for
the first time, and again enlarged in 1628. (fn. 15) Soon
afterwards it had a battlemented west tower and a
gabled south wall, (fn. 16) which presumably survived
until further additions were made in 1719-20,
largely at the expense of Edward Pauncefort. An
easterly extension measuring 40 ft., apparently the
breadth of the old chapel, by 24 ft. was consecrated
in 1720, (fn. 17) forming a 'sort of chancel' with a higher
ceiling and the altar in a semi-domed recess.
Probably the south wall was refaced at that time and
its square-framed windows were replaced by tall
round-headed windows beneath oval lights. Such
was the appearance of the chapel in 1750, when it
was as large as Hornsey church and also had a vestry
north of the chancel and porches flanking the tower.
There were north and south aisles, a gallery along
the north wall, and another gallery, with an organ,
at the west end; the altar stood on a marble step
beneath an 'arched cupolo' with gilded lettering. (fn. 18)
A new organ was installed in 1753. (fn. 19) The roof of the
older, main, part of the chapel was lower than that
of the east end until 1772, when the whole structure
was reroofed out of the accumulated funds of the
school estate. (fn. 20) Thereafter hipped roofs ran the
length of the building, rising behind a plain parapet
which had replaced the gables along the south wall;
the battlements on the tower were also replaced by
a parapet, with globes at the corners.
In the 18th and early 19th centuries Highgate
chapel was often portrayed, perhaps because it stood
opposite the Gatehouse and had links with eminent
residents. (fn. 21) William Cole remarked on its fine
monuments in 1750, when he singled out those to
William Platt (d. 1637) and his wife, Sir Francis
Pemberton (d. 1697), and Lewis Atterbury (d.
1731), (fn. 22) although in 1816 the building itself was
considered humble and to have a 'trifling' tower. (fn. 23)
On the chapel's closure in 1832 five 18th-century
monuments were transferred to the new church, as
were the plate and registers. (fn. 24) The Platts' monument, restored at the expense of St. John's College,
Cambridge, was installed in the old church of St.
Pancras, (fn. 25) while Pemberton's memorial was moved
to Trumpington (Cambs.) (fn. 26) and Atterbury's to
Hornsey parish church. (fn. 27) The old chapel was then
dismantled, part of it becoming overgrown with ivy
and part serving as a five court until the site was
cleared for rebuilding in 1865. (fn. 28) The burial ground,
closed in 1857, (fn. 29) contained 17th-century slabs (fn. 30) in
1976 but the remains of Coleridge, in a vault beneath
the new school chapel, were removed to St. Michael's
church in 1961. (fn. 31)
The existing church of ST. MICHAEL is set
back from South Grove on the crest of Highgate
Hill, facing south-east and, with its spire, dominating the skyline. The building is of pale stock brick
with stone dressings and consists of an aisled and
clerestoreyed nave with three galleries, western tower
with octagonal spire, and chancel with vestries
beneath. (fn. 32) A plan of 1822 to rebuild the old chapel
a little farther north was abandoned when the
school's governors had to end their responsibility
and in 1830 Charles Barry proposed a church on the
site of Sir William Ashurst's decayed mansion. (fn. 33)
There the new church, built to the design of Lewis
Vulliamy, was consecrated in 1832. (fn. 34) Half of the
total cost was met by the Church Building Commissioners and one-fifth by the governors of the
school. (fn. 35) Vulliamy's mixed Gothic style has generally
won praise for its elegance, (fn. 36) although in the late
19th century many considered it impure. (fn. 37) The
nave, with its octagonal piers, is light and spacious.
Buttresses and crocketed pinnacles adorn both the
spire and the body of the building, increasing its
resemblance to Vulliamy's demolished Christ
Church, Woburn Square. (fn. 38)
The original seating capacity was for 1,520, (fn. 39)
including places for the poor and for Cholmley's
school. There was an eastern vestry until 1880-1,
when the chancel was built by C. H. M. Mileham
under a faculty of 1878 and seating for the choir was
introduced. (fn. 40) The nave and aisles were reseated at
that time. A new reredos had been installed in 1873
and enrichment and further alterations at the east
end were begun in 1903 under Temple Moore and
included the provision of a side chapel at the end of
the south aisle. The spire was struck for the third
time by lightning in 1903, when the church had
temporarily to be closed, (fn. 41) and was again damaged,
with much of the fabric, by a flying bomb in Waterlow Park in 1944. Restoration was carried out in
stages between 1946 and 1954.
An organ was installed in the west gallery in 1842,
lowered in 1859, (fn. 42) and replaced by one behind the
choir in 1885. The original east window (fn. 43) was
replaced in 1889 by one by C. E. Kempe, who later
designed glass for the side chapel. Temple Moore's
embellishments included the addition of saints'
figures and colouring the reredos in 1903 and the
erection of a screen on the south side of the chancel
in 1905. Kempe's east window was largely destroyed
in 1944 but some pieces were placed behind the
organ in the east wall of the chancel aisle and a new
east window, one of the last works of Evie Hone, was
dedicated in 1954. (fn. 44) The first memorial designed for
the church was that to Coleridge (d. 1834). The
most imposing of the monuments from the old
chapel is one for John Schoppens (d. 1720) and his
wife. The others commemorate Rebecca Pauncefort
(d. 1719), Sir Edward Gould (d. 1728), Samuel
Forster (d. 1752) and his wife, and John Edwards
(d. 1769). (fn. 45) The church has one bell, cast in 1847 by
G. Mears and given, with the clock, by George
Crawshay of Ivy House. (fn. 46)
By 1676 Highgate chapel possessed a cup and
cover, bought by the governors in 1636, a paten,
perhaps acquired at the same time, and two flagons
given by Mrs. Jane Savage. The plate was all of
silver and was the responsibility of the lecturer, who
in 1695 deposited it at Sir William Ashurst's house.
William Thatcher later presented a silver paten,
Edward Pauncefort paid for all the plate to be
gilded, and a silver-gilt spoon of 1773 was inscribed
to the chapel with the date 1774. Much if not all of
the old plate passed to the churchwardens of St.
Michael's, who in 1900 held a paten datemarked
1636, a flagon of 1668, Thatcher's plate of 1710, and
the spoon of 1773. (fn. 47) In 1908 the vestry declined to
return them to the school, on legal advice, (fn. 48) and
thereafter retained them, (fn. 49) with other pieces presented in the 19th century. (fn. 50) The registers, which
are complete, contain baptisms from 1634, marriages
from 1635, and burials from 1633. (fn. 51)
The needs of new residents after the opening of
Highgate station led to evening services at Francis
House, North Hill, in a room rented from a carrier
named Cokeham, in 1863. (fn. 52) The Ecclesiastical Commissioners and Lord Mansfield gave a site where the
church of ALL SAINTS, with a curate-in-charge,
was consecrated in 1864. It remained within St.
Michael's parish until 1874, when the building's
enlargement secured the creation of a consolidated
chapelry out of St. Michael's, St. Mary's, Hornsey,
and St. James's, Muswell Hill. (fn. 53) The living then
became a vicarage, in the patronage of the bishop. (fn. 54)
Heavy expenses were incurred by the need to
provide access from both North Hill and Archway
Road along All Saints' (later Church) Road, where
tolls were levied by lessees of the Archway Road Co.
until 1876. (fn. 55) Consequently the church was built
with only c. 300 sittings, although William Gladstone
paid for a plan that allowed for future additions. (fn. 56)
The church, of stone, was designed in a 14th-century
style by A. W. Blomfield, the Revd. C. B. Dalton's
brother-in-law, as a small cruciform building with
an eastern bell-turret. (fn. 57) A north porch was added
in 1864 and an organ-chamber in 1865, while the
north transept served as a clergy vestry. In 1874
Blomfield added the south aisle and increased the
seating to c. 550. (fn. 58) There were attendances of 345 in
the morning and 219 in the evening on one Sunday
in 1903. (fn. 59) John Stockdale added a north aisle and
south-east vestries in 1912 and the chancel was
restored in 1938, but damage was caused during the
Second World War and by a fire in 1945. The
church, whose north aisle had been blocked off, was
restored by W. C. Waymouth (fn. 60) and rededicated in
1953. In 1977 the north aisle, separated from the
body of the church by folding doors, served as a
parish hall.
A Sunday school and institute opened in 1866 in
Cokeham's rooms, an iron schoolroom was dedicated
in 1873 on land bought by Dalton at the corner of
All Saints' Road and North Hill, and in 1876 no. 1
North Hill Terrace (later no. 109 North Hill) was
rented as a mission house. In 1880 the mission used
a new building adjoining the iron room and designed
by C. H. M. Mileham, who was a churchwarden.
A brick schoolroom was built in 1882, when the
iron one moved to become the first church of St.
Augustine. (fn. 61) A convalescent home occupied the
upper floor of the mission house from 1880 and was
extended over the schoolrooms in 1884. It was
further extended in 1911, accommodated 20 in
1921, (fn. 62) and closed in 1924. The vicarage, immediately east of the church, was dedicated in 1875
and replaced by a smaller house in 1963, when most
of the old garden was sold to Middlesex C.C.
In 1881 the vicar of All Saints bought a part of the
former Winchester Hall estate in Archway Road,
with help from the Bishop of London's Fund. All
Saints' iron schoolroom was moved there in 1882
and consecrated as the temporary church of ST.
AUGUSTINE, (fn. 63) a few weeks after services had
started at no. 4 Northwood Road. (fn. 64) The iron church
was enlarged in 1884. The chancel and one bay of
the nave of an adjoining permanent church were
consecrated in 1888 and the nave, with a temporary
facade towards Archway Road, was opened in 1896.
A consolidated chapelry was formed in 1898 out
of All Saints' and St. Michael's parishes, with the
curate of All Saints as vicar and the bishop as
patron. (fn. 65) There were attendances of 174 in the
morning and 242 in the evening on census Sunday
1886 (fn. 66) and of 283 in the morning and 307 in the
evening in 1903. (fn. 67) The church, of red and yellow
brick with stone dressings, was designed in a 14thcentury style by J. D. Sedding. It was to seat more
than 700 and to have an aisled nave, a north chapel,
and a clergy vestry south of the sanctuary, with
rooms underneath. The chapel was completed by
Henry Wilson in the 1890s and the west end, with
a bell-tower higher than originally planned and a
two-storeyed north-west porch, was dedicated in
1914. J. H. Gibbons, who designed the west end,
restored the fabric after a fire in 1924. The west
front is adorned with a life-size stone Calvary, which,
with the church's ceremonial, led to a Protestant
demonstration in 1914. Most of the fittings were
replaced after the fire by the Revd. J. H. Hodgson,
'an absolute Catholic', and in 1976 included the
Stations of the Cross and many carved figures.
The foundation stone of St. Augustine's Vicarage,
Langdon Park Road, was laid in 1901. Both the
Vicarage and the red-brick parish hall, opened
between it and the church in 1905, were designed by
J. S. Alder, who was a churchwarden.