A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 6, Friern Barnet, Finchley, Hornsey With Highgate. Originally published by Victoria County History, London, 1980.
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A P Baggs, Diane K Bolton, M A Hicks, R B Pugh, 'Hornsey, including Highgate: Churches', in A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 6, Friern Barnet, Finchley, Hornsey With Highgate, ed. T F T Baker, C R Elrington( London, 1980), British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/middx/vol6/pp172-182 [accessed 9 October 2024].
A P Baggs, Diane K Bolton, M A Hicks, R B Pugh, 'Hornsey, including Highgate: Churches', in A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 6, Friern Barnet, Finchley, Hornsey With Highgate. Edited by T F T Baker, C R Elrington( London, 1980), British History Online, accessed October 9, 2024, https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/middx/vol6/pp172-182.
A P Baggs, Diane K Bolton, M A Hicks, R B Pugh. "Hornsey, including Highgate: Churches". A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 6, Friern Barnet, Finchley, Hornsey With Highgate. Ed. T F T Baker, C R Elrington(London, 1980), , British History Online. Web. 9 October 2024. https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/middx/vol6/pp172-182.
CHURCHES.
The living of Hornsey was assessed in 1291 (fn. 1) and had a priest in 1302, when it was a rectory. (fn. 2) Except during the Interregnum, when Sir John Wollaston was patron, (fn. 3) it has been in the gift of the bishop of London from at least 1321. (fn. 4) 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. 5) South Hornsey detached was included in the consolidated chapelry of St. Matthias, Stoke Newington, in 1849. (fn. 6) 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. 7) 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. 8) In 1976 the demolition of several churches was threatened.
The living was worth 8 marks in 1291 and 1340, (fn. 9) £22 in 1535, (fn. 10) and £30 in 1547. (fn. 11) The income was £92 in 1649 (fn. 12) but £20 extra was assigned to the incumbent by the committee for plundered ministers in 1656. (fn. 13) It was worth c. £140 in 1749 and £426 in 1851. (fn. 14) Tithes amounted to only 22s. in 1535. (fn. 15) The relatively low income was due to a modus of 4d. an acre, which yielded £17 in 1726. (fn. 16) In 1749 it was believed that an earlier rector had been prevented from challenging it only by death. (fn. 17) The composition was said to be customary in 1765, when it was confirmed after the rector had tried to levy tithes in kind. (fn. 18) In 1815 tithes from common lands were extinguished (fn. 19) and in 1845 and 1850 the rector dissuaded the Tithe Commissioners from making an award, which would have been expensive but not remunerative. (fn. 20) The modus, assessed on 2,100 a., yielded only £35 in 1851 (fn. 21) and had fallen to £10 by 1889, when it was dwindling annually because it was applied only to land not built on. (fn. 22) In 1610 there were 37 a. of glebe and in 1663 40 a. (fn. 23) The glebe lay south of Hornsey High Street and east of the modern Church and Tottenham lanes. (fn. 24) By 1749 c. 40 a. were leased and there were 5 a., probably the Rectory garden, in hand. (fn. 25) In 1804 a strip along Tottenham Lane was sold in redemption of land tax; (fn. 26) under the inclosure award 46½ a. were allotted in two fields on Muswell Hill common (fn. 27) and in 1851 the total glebe was 89½ a. (fn. 28) Some was leased for building in 1881, more was added in 1883, and 75 a. remained in 1889. (fn. 29) Offerings of £140 amounted to a third of the stipend in 1851, when they were falling, (fn. 30) and c. £100 in 1889. (fn. 31)
A rector's house existed in 1320 (fn. 32) and a house and outbuildings in 1610, (fn. 33) 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. 34) In 1750, when the previous rector had been non-resident, £400 was needed, but not spent, to make it habitable. (fn. 35) In 1830-4, after having been held by another absentee, (fn. 36) the Rectory was again in disrepair. (fn. 37) In 1826 it was a two-storeyed timberframed building of lath and plaster. (fn. 38) A new Rectory existed by 1851 (fn. 39) and was extended c. 1890. (fn. 40) A large gabled building of brick with stone dressings, (fn. 41) in 1½ a. of garden in 1889, (fn. 42) it made way in 1962 for St. David's school. (fn. 43) A red-brick house was erected on part of the site c. 1964 (fn. 44) and provision was made in 1969 for a future Rectory on the churchyard. (fn. 45)
Failure to pay papal tenths resulted in excommunication of the rector in 1302 (fn. 46) and an interdict on the church in 1303. (fn. 47) The fraternity of Holy Trinity mentioned in 1401 (fn. 48) presumably worshipped in the Trinity chapel. Apart from that of the Holy Trinity, there were lights to the Holy Cross in 1411, (fn. 49) the rood in 1478, (fn. 50) and All Hallows in 1480. (fn. 51) 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. 52) but in 1547 it had been spent for five years on the poor and the highways. (fn. 53) In 1533 another testator sought inclusion on the bederoll and left two cows to the fabric. (fn. 54) 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. 55) Farmed respectively by William and Robert Shepherd, (fn. 56) Pitmansacre and Churchfield passed to the Crown on the dissolution of the chantries. (fn. 57) The parish lost its rent-charge from Pitmansacre permanently (fn. 58) but Churchfield later became a charity estate. (fn. 59)
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. 60) Robert Willanton, rector 1556- 60, was deprived (fn. 61) 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. 62) Between 1719 and 1810 there was a monthly communion and children were catechized in Lent. (fn. 63) 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. 64) In 1850 it memorialized Queen Victoria against the reestablishment of the Roman Catholic hierarchy in England. (fn. 65)
The hymn tune 'Hornsey' was composed by S. S. Wesley, a friend of Canon Richard Harvey, rector 1829-81, (fn. 66) who founded six daughter churches and was described as equally unsympathetic towards ritualism and the extreme Low Church. (fn. 67) His successor Prebendary J. Jeakes and his curates were considered ultra-Protestant in 1888 (fn. 68) and St. Clair Donaldson, rector 1901-4, tried to broaden the services and abolished evening communion. (fn. 69) 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. 70) 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. 71) In 1851 736 people attended morning service and 425 in the evening (fn. 72) and on one Sunday in 1903 the total congregation at all services was 1,555. (fn. 73)
Among the numerous rectors who held other preferments were Walter of London, rector in 1302-3, (fn. 74) 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. 75) and William Cole (d. 1782), rector 1749-50, the antiquary. (fn. 76) Lewis Atterbury, rector 1719-31 and for 37 years lecturer at Highgate chapel, published sermons and theological tracts. (fn. 77) Thomas Westfield, rector 1615-37 and a noted preacher, became bishop of Bristol, (fn. 78) St. Clair Donaldson was in turn archbishop of Brisbane and bishop of Salisbury, (fn. 79) and H. C. Montgomery-Campbell, rector 1926-33, became bishop of London. (fn. 80) There was a curate in 1547, (fn. 81) 1749, and 1851. (fn. 82) James Moorhouse, curate between 1859 and 1861, was later bishop of Manchester. (fn. 83) In 1933 it was considered that rectors of Hornsey were destined for preferment. (fn. 84)
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. 85) may explain a belief that old materials had been re-used. (fn. 86) 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. 87) Money was left for it to be roofed in 1428, (fn. 88) work was in progress in 1452, (fn. 89) and in 1460 the Trinity aisle was mentioned, (fn. 90) 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. 91) contained a bell in 1460 (fn. 92) but was unfinished in 1481-2. (fn. 93) 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. 94) towards the tower and in 1533 for finishing the church, (fn. 95) but the additional stages apparently contemplated (fn. 96) 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. 97) complete by 1478, (fn. 98) 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. 99) 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. 100) 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. 101) The south gallery, which accommodated singers and servants in 1810, was slightly enlarged in 1815 and eventually covered the whole aisle (fn. 102) but in 1831, with only 220 sittings, the church was too small and in disrepair. (fn. 103) Except for the tower, of which the top stage was rebuilt to a different plan, (fn. 104) the whole fabric was demolished.
In 1832-3 a new church by George Smith was built adjoining the tower. Commended by contemporaries, (fn. 105) 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. 106) It stood on a platform containing 38 private vaults, of which 12 were sold towards the building costs. (fn. 107) The bishop, the rector, and three others each subscribed £1,000 towards the total cost of £8,400. (fn. 108) 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. 109) 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. 110) The site was made into a Garden of Remembrance in 1950 (fn. 111) and the bells were later removed from the tower, which had become dangerous. (fn. 112) In 1966 money for the tower's maintenance was contributed by the council (fn. 113) 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. 114) 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. 115) and later because of the instability of the subsoil. (fn. 116) 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. 117) The church was demolished under the St. Mary, Hornsey, Act, 1969, (fn. 118) 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. 119) Planning permission was repeatedly refused for a church adjoining the old tower. (fn. 120)
A secular Dutch table of c. 1700 was used in turn as an altar and credence table. (fn. 121) 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. 122) 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. 123) Richard Ruggevale left 33s. 4d. for a chalice in 1462 (fn. 124) and in 1547 there were a silvergilt chalice, copper-gilt pipe and paten, and other vessels of laten. (fn. 125) The present silver plate includes two flagons of 1641 given by Lady Musters and William Thatcher's gift in 1713 (fn. 126) of cup and standpaten of 1694 and plate of 1700. In 1557 the church had a sanctus and three large bells (fn. 127) 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. 128) was several times enlarged and was closed for burials in 1892. Many graves were full of water then and in 1750, (fn. 129) when all the poor of the parish were buried there. In 1808 the rector was selling plots for private vaults. (fn. 130) Among those interred there was Samuel Rogers (d. 1855), poet. (fn. 131) There are registers of births from 1653 and of marriages and burials from 1654. (fn. 132)
By 1159 there was a chapel at Muswell, (fn. 133) 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. 134) By 1526-7 the rector was paid 6s. 8d. as annual composition for his tithes. (fn. 135) The priory's bailiff accounted for the oblations, which had totalled £6 9s. 10d. in the previous year. (fn. 136) 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. 137) 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. 138) possibly Malcolm IV (1153-65), lord of Tottenham. (fn. 139) Papal indulgences, allegedly lost or damaged, were confirmed in 1476 (fn. 140) 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. 141) The priory paid a hermit for selling wax at Muswell (fn. 142) and in 1531 pilgrimage there was denounced for 'bawdry'. (fn. 143) In 1540 the priest occupied a chamber in the gatehouse. (fn. 144) The chapel was included in grants of the dissolved priory's estate, (fn. 145) and by 1598 the district was regarded as a detached part of Clerkenwell parish. (fn. 146)
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. 147) A chapel committee was formed in 1839 (fn. 148) 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. 149) The consolidated chapelry assigned in 1843 included Clerkenwell detached; (fn. 150) 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. 151) 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. 152) It was gutted during the Second World War but by 1952 had been restored by Caroë and partners with seating for 800; (fn. 153) 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. 154) and on one Sunday in 1903 677 attended in the morning and 419 in the evening. (fn. 155) 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. 156) 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. 157) A wooden mission hall of 1925 (fn. 158) 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. 159) The parish was described as difficult in 1963, when the electoral roll had fallen from the peak of 200 members. (fn. 160)
CHRIST CHURCH, Crouch End, stands on the corner of Crouch End Hill and Crescent Road on a site given by Charles Scrase Dickens. (fn. 161) 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. 162) A new church was consecrated in 1862, when a district was assigned. (fn. 163) 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. 164) War damage was repaired between 1949 and 1952 by P. Willoughby, who presumably whitewashed the coloured brick arcades. (fn. 165) 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. 166) 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. 167) In 1914 the Revd. C. J. Sharp prevented his own succession by a dogmatic Anglo-Catholic or Evangelical, (fn. 168) but Canon Bryan Green, vicar 1934-8, established a militant evangelical tradition. (fn. 169) 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. 170) 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. 171) 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. 172) 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. 173) 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. 174) 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. 175) 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. 176) 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. 177) all free, and on one Sunday in 1903 was attended by morning and evening congregations of 440 and 721. (fn. 178) In 1973-4 the western bay was refashioned as a hall, reducing the seating for services to c. 300. (fn. 179) In 1877 a district was assigned from the parish of Hornsey (fn. 180) and the patronage of the living was vested in the bishop. (fn. 181)
The church of HOLY TRINITY, Stroud Green, (fn. 182) on the corner of Granville and Stapleton Hall roads, replaced a crowded temporary hall (fn. 183) 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. 184) Although built at only moderate cost, the interior was dignified and spacious. (fn. 185) There were 1,200 seats in 1903, (fn. 186) when a morning service was attended by 1,051 and an evening service by 1,210. (fn. 187) 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. 188) 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. 189) 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. 190) 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. 191) and by 1886 was served by the London Diocesan Home Mission. (fn. 192) 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. 193) and congregations on one Sunday in 1903 totalled 671 in the morning and 834 in the evening; (fn. 194) in 1976 there were no pews in the north aisle. In 1892 a consolidated chapelry was formed from Hornsey and part of Tottenham, (fn. 195) 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. 196) 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. 197) 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. 198) and the additions of 1905 increased the seating to almost 1,000, (fn. 199) 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. 200) 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. 201)
The church of ST. LUKE, Mayfield Road, originated in the work of the London Diocesan Home Mission in 1898. (fn. 202) 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. 203) 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. 204) Presentations were suspended in 1968, since which date there has been a priest-in-charge. (fn. 205) 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. 206) 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. 207) 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. 208) In 1910 a district was assigned with the bishop as patron of the living. (fn. 209)
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. 210) and in 1956 the building was demolished and the site sold. (fn. 211) The modern church by Randall Morris was consecrated in 1959. (fn. 212) 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. 213) The church was served from 1907 until 1949 by Dr. C. E. Simpson (d. 1961) as curate, priest-in-charge, and vicar. (fn. 214)
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. 215) 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. 216) and certainly in 1387, (fn. 217) 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. 218) 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. 219) The hermits were appointed by the bishop, (fn. 220) who in 1540 made a lease of the former hermitage along with the great park. (fn. 221) He gave the chapel and 2 a. to Cholmley's school in 1565 (fn. 222) but in 1577 the Crown granted the chapel, as a concealed chantry, (fn. 223) to John Farnham. (fn. 224) Farnham soon sold his title to Roger Puleston, the school's receiver general, who in turn conveyed it to the governors. (fn. 225)
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. 226) The governors raised subscriptions for a new chapel, towards which Hornsey parish made a small contribution, and completed it in 1578. (fn. 227) From 1593 Highgate chapel was often called a chapel of ease. (fn. 228) 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. 229) The lecturer or preacher was sometimes called the chaplain (fn. 230) and was appointed, presumably from the first and certainly from 1731, by the governors. (fn. 231) By the 1630s the chapel was used as a parish church, where baptisms, marriages, and burials were performed. (fn. 232) 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. 233) The status of the chapel was questionable, and was complicated by disputes between reader and lecturer, (fn. 234) by claims of the rector of Hornsey (fn. 235) and vicar of St. Pancras, (fn. 236) and by doubts whether school funds should be spent on the periodic enlargements of the chapel (fn. 237) or the master's time on pastoral work as reader. (fn. 238) The question who should receive the fees was resolved by a governors' order of 1720, dividing them proportionately. (fn. 239) 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. 240) Thereafter the lecturers tended to hold benefices at a distance and, being often styled simply 'morning preacher' from 1750, (fn. 241) to yield some of their preaching duties to the reader. (fn. 242) The division between the reader and the two parochial incumbents, however, remained in contention. (fn. 243)
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. 244) and in 1834 was assigned a consolidated chapelry from Hornsey and St. Pancras parishes. (fn. 245) The last master to serve as reader, appointed in 1816, served the church until 1838. (fn. 246) Thereafter the living was a perpetual curacy, styled a vicarage from 1868, in the bishop's patronage. (fn. 247)
The hermits presumably depended on small bequests, recorded from 1461, (fn. 248) 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. 249) 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. 250) As reader he was entitled to £10 a year by the gift of Edward Pauncefort (fn. 251) 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. 252) The lecturer enjoyed annual payments of £10 from Platt and Wollaston and £1 from both Platt and Smith for a sermon, (fn. 253) in addition to whatever the governors might offer. A statement in 1750 that the chapel was endowed with c. £80 a year (fn. 254) presumably referred to the salaries of both reader and lecturer. (fn. 255) 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. 256) When a consolidated chapelry was formed the lecturer's endowment was transferred to it. (fn. 257) In 1859 the income of St. Michael's was £550 a year and in 1892 it was £600. (fn. 258)
There was no glebe, (fn. 259) although a parsonage house was built in 1856 on land given by the bishop of London (fn. 260) on the north side of Hampstead Lane, (fn. 261) 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. 262)
Thomas Carter, master and reader from 1639, was accused of opposing the protestation oath in 1641 (fn. 263) and of drunkenness in 1644. He was then ejected by the parliamentarian governors, (fn. 264) who included Wollaston, Sir Richard Sprignell, and later Henry Ireton. (fn. 265) 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. 266) Although the governors asserted in 1729 that the master ought to serve no cure but Highgate chapel, (fn. 267) 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. 268) 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. 269) 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. 270) and Edward Yardley (d. 1769), who married a beneficiary under Atterbury's will, (fn. 271) preached there before succeeding Atterbury in 1731. (fn. 272) Yardley was soon rector of St. Florence (Pemb.) and from 1739 archdeacon of Cardigan. (fn. 273) John Strachey, appointed in 1773, (fn. 274) was already rector of Erpingham (Norf.); he had become a royal chaplain, archdeacon of Suffolk, and prebendary of Llandaff (fn. 275) before surrendering the lectureship in 1793. James Saunders, who followed, (fn. 276) was the son of Thomas Saunders, a governor of the free school. (fn. 277) The last lecturer was Charles Mayo, formerly Rawlinsonian professor of Anglo-Saxon, who was appointed in 1803 and lived mainly at Cheshunt (Herts.). (fn. 278) Two later incumbents of St. Michael's, C. B. Dalton, 1854-78, and H. Edwards, 1946-73, were prebendaries of St. Paul's. (fn. 279) From the late 19th century there has normally been an assistant curate. (fn. 280)
A salaried clerk was paid by the governors for 1640-1 (fn. 281) and was probably the man who received two years' wages for 'his pains about the chapel' in 1636. (fn. 282) 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. 283) In 1692 the governors appointed his son and namesake (fn. 284) and in 1731 a William Hartwell was succeeded by his son, William, who was still clerk in 1759. (fn. 285) A man was paid yearly for minding the clock in 1648 (fn. 286) and also for ringing the bell on winter evenings in 1669, although the clerk was responsible for the clock in 1709. (fn. 287) There was a salaried organist before 1747, when a new one was appointed at the same rate. (fn. 288)
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. 289) The altar was deemed to have been suitably railed off in 1637 (fn. 290) but ritualism was discouraged by William Platt, who stipulated that the gospel should be 'powerfully and purely preached'. (fn. 291) A book of homilies and other works were required in 1685. (fn. 292) In addition to the two Sunday services there was a monthly communion in the mid 18th (fn. 293) and early 19th centuries. (fn. 294) 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. 295) Causton was followed by C. B. Dalton, son-in-law of Charles Blomfield, bishop of London. (fn. 296) Dalton, who confessed that he could not love dissenters, caused offence by placing a small cross on the altar. (fn. 297) On his death the living was offered to Daniel Trinder, vicar 1878-88, as a moderate High Churchman free from ritualism. (fn. 298) 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. 299) 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. 300) The parish magazine, founded in 1863, had a circulation of more than 8,000 by 1871. (fn. 301) 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. 302) 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. 303)
The hermitage was thought by Norden to have stood on the site of Cholmley's school. (fn. 304) Probably it did so, having been next to the bishop's park in 1387 (fn. 305) and close to the parish boundary in 1503, when the hermit barred the way to the procession from St. Pancras. (fn. 306) The chapel seems to have been substantial, perhaps as a result of the gifts solicited in 1464, (fn. 307) since the hermit sought refuge in its steeple in 1503. (fn. 308) A garden and orchard formed part of the premises in 1531 (fn. 309) but the building itself was ruinous by 1577. (fn. 310) There was no known connexion with the Hermitage in West Hill, where William and Mary Howitt lived. (fn. 311)
Work on the chapel for the free school started in 1576 and ended in 1578. (fn. 312) The building was of brick, (fn. 313) with its north wall abutting the schoolhouse. (fn. 314) It was enlarged with help from local subscribers in 1616, consecrated in 1617, perhaps for the first time, and again enlarged in 1628. (fn. 315) Soon afterwards it had a battlemented west tower and a gabled south wall, (fn. 316) 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. 317) 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. 318) A new organ was installed in 1753. (fn. 319) 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. 320) 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. 321) 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. 322) although in 1816 the building itself was considered humble and to have a 'trifling' tower. (fn. 323) On the chapel's closure in 1832 five 18th-century monuments were transferred to the new church, as were the plate and registers. (fn. 324) The Platts' monument, restored at the expense of St. John's College, Cambridge, was installed in the old church of St. Pancras, (fn. 325) while Pemberton's memorial was moved to Trumpington (Cambs.) (fn. 326) and Atterbury's to Hornsey parish church. (fn. 327) 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. 328) The burial ground, closed in 1857, (fn. 329) contained 17th-century slabs (fn. 330) 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. 331)
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. 332) 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. 333) There the new church, built to the design of Lewis Vulliamy, was consecrated in 1832. (fn. 334) Half of the total cost was met by the Church Building Commissioners and one-fifth by the governors of the school. (fn. 335) Vulliamy's mixed Gothic style has generally won praise for its elegance, (fn. 336) although in the late 19th century many considered it impure. (fn. 337) 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. 338)
The original seating capacity was for 1,520, (fn. 339) 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. 340) 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. 341) 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. 342) and replaced by one behind the choir in 1885. The original east window (fn. 343) 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. 344) 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. 345) The church has one bell, cast in 1847 by G. Mears and given, with the clock, by George Crawshay of Ivy House. (fn. 346)
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. 347) In 1908 the vestry declined to return them to the school, on legal advice, (fn. 348) and thereafter retained them, (fn. 349) with other pieces presented in the 19th century. (fn. 350) The registers, which are complete, contain baptisms from 1634, marriages from 1635, and burials from 1633. (fn. 351)
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. 352) 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. 353) The living then became a vicarage, in the patronage of the bishop. (fn. 354) 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. 355) Consequently the church was built with only c. 300 sittings, although William Gladstone paid for a plan that allowed for future additions. (fn. 356) 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. 357) 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. 358) There were attendances of 345 in the morning and 219 in the evening on one Sunday in 1903. (fn. 359) 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. 360) 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. 361) 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. 362) 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. 363) a few weeks after services had started at no. 4 Northwood Road. (fn. 364) 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. 365) There were attendances of 174 in the morning and 242 in the evening on census Sunday 1886 (fn. 366) and of 283 in the morning and 307 in the evening in 1903. (fn. 367) 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.