Editing Highgate

{{Short description|Area in London, England}}
{{About|the London suburb|other places}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2024}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2015}}

{{Infobox UK place
| country = England
| region = London
| population = 10,955
| population_ref = (2011 Census. Ward)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=13688644&c=Highgate&d=14&e=62&g=6321692&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&o=362&m=0&r=1&s=1477042767782&enc=1|title=Camden Ward population 2011|access-date=21 October 2016|publisher=Office for National Statistics |work=Neighbourhood Statistics}}</ref>
| official_name = Highgate
| static_image_name = Hampstead Heath 7.JPG
| static_image_caption = Highgate seen from [[Parliament Hill, London|Parliament Hill]]
| london_borough = Camden
| london_borough1 = Haringey
| london_borough2 = Islington
| constituency_westminster = [[Hampstead and Highgate (UK Parliament constituency)|Hampstead and Highgate]]
| constituency_westminster1 = [[Islington North (UK Parliament constituency)|Islington North]]
| post_town = LONDON
| postcode_area = N
| postcode_district = N6
| postcode_area1 = 
| postcode_district1 = N19
| dial_code = 020
| os_grid_reference = TQ285875
| coordinates = {{coord|51.5716|-0.1448|display=inline,title}}
}}

'''Highgate''' is a suburban area of [[N postcode area|north]] [[London]] in the [[London Borough of Camden|London Boroughs of Camden]], [[London Borough of Islington|Islington]] and [[London Borough of Haringey|Haringey]]. The area is at the north-eastern corner of [[Hampstead Heath]], {{convert|4.5|mi|km|0|abbr=off}} north-northwest of [[Charing Cross]].

Highgate is one of the most expensive London suburbs in which to live.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/constructionandproperty/2784634/Highgate-trumps-Chelsea-as-priciest-postcode.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/constructionandproperty/2784634/Highgate-trumps-Chelsea-as-priciest-postcode.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Highgate trumps Chelsea as priciest postcode|first=Felix|last=Lowe|date=19 February 2008 }}{{cbignore}}</ref> It has three conservation organisations: the Highgate Society, the Highgate Neighbourhood Forum and the Highgate Conservation Area Advisory Committee, to protect and enhance its character and amenities.

Until late Victorian times, it was a distinct village outside London, sitting astride the main road to the north. The area retains many green expanses, including the eastern part of [[Hampstead Heath]], three ancient woods,<ref>[http://www.walklondon.org.uk/section.asp?section=35 Walk London: Capital Ring Section 11, Hendon Park to Highgate] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101202044533/http://walklondon.org.uk/section.asp?section=35 |date=2 December 2010 }}</ref> [[Waterlow Park]] and the eastern-facing slopes, known as Highgate bowl.

At its centre is Highgate village, largely a collection of [[Georgian architecture|Georgian]] shops, pubs, restaurants and residential streets,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.visitlondon.com/things-to-do/london-areas/highgate/highgate-village|title=Things to do in Highgate village - visitlondon.com}}</ref> interspersed with diverse landmarks such as [[St Michael's Church, Highgate|St Michael's Church]] and steeple, St. Joseph's Church and its green copper dome, [[Highgate School]] (1565), [[Jacksons Lane]] arts centre, housed in a Grade II listed former church, the [[The Gatehouse, Highgate|Gatehouse Inn]], dating from 1670, which houses the theatre [[Upstairs at the Gatehouse]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.upstairsatthegatehouse.com/Main%20Pages/History.html|title=History of The Gatehouse Pub Highgate|access-date=5 July 2010|archive-date=7 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161107221310/http://www.upstairsatthegatehouse.com/Main%20Pages/History.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> and [[Berthold Lubetkin]]'s 1930s [[Highpoint I|Highpoint]] buildings. [[Pond Square]], behind the [[Highgate High Street|High Street]], is a registered [[village green]], and is the centre of communal activities which take place in the elegant buildings of the [[Highgate Literary and Scientific Institution]] and Highgate Society facing the Square.

Highgate is best known for the [[Victorian architecture|Victorian]] [[Highgate Cemetery]], in which the [[Communism|Communist]] philosopher [[Karl Marx]] and the novelist [[George Eliot]] are buried, along with many other notable people.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.highgatepeople.co.uk/|title=Highgate People |access-date=11 November 2024}}</ref> Adjoining is Holly Village, the first [[gated community]], built in 1865, which is a [[Grade II*]] listed site.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.londonxlondon.com/holly-village/#:~:text=Why%20Was%20Holly%20Village%20Built,Coutts%20intended%20the%20village%20for.|title=Why Was Holly Village Built?|work=London x London |date=17 January 2023 |accessdate=14 August 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1379116|title=1-12 Holly Village, Non Civil Parish - 1379116 &#124; Historic England|website=historicengland.org.uk}}</ref>

The village is at the top of Highgate Hill, which provides views across central London.  Highgate is {{cvt|136|m|ft}} above sea level at its highest point.<ref name="height">{{Cite web|title=London topographic map, elevation, relief|url=https://en-gb.topographic-map.com/maps/lpj5/London/|access-date=26 April 2021|website=topographic-map.com|language=en}}</ref>

The area is divided among three [[London borough]]s: [[London Borough of Haringey|Haringey]] in the north and east, [[London Borough of Camden|Camden]] in the south and west, and [[London Borough of Islington|Islington]] in the south and east. The [[London postal district|postal district]] is [[N postcode area|N6]].

==History==
[[File:John Constable 003.jpg|thumb|A view of Highgate, [[John Constable]], 1st quarter of 19th century.]]
Historically, Highgate adjoined the [[Bishop of London]]'s hunting estate. Highgate gets its name from these hunting grounds, as there was a high, deer-proof hedge surrounding the estate: 'the gate in the hedge'.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Murray|first1=Ian|title=Haringey before our time : a brief history|date=1993|publisher=Hornsey Historical Society|location=London|isbn=0905794095|page=29}}</ref>

The bishop kept a toll-house where one of the main northward roads out of London entered his land. A number of pubs sprang up along the route, one of which, the Gatehouse, commemorates the toll-house.

Hampstead Lane and Highgate Hill contain the red brick Victorian buildings of [[Highgate School]] and its adjacent Chapel of St Michael. The school has played a paramount role in the life of the village and has existed on its site since its founding was permitted by [[letters patent]] from [[Queen Elizabeth I]] in 1565.

The area north of Hampstead Lane and east of the [[Highgate High Street|High Street]] was part of [[Hornsey]] parish and also later the [[Municipal Borough of Hornsey]], and the seat of that borough's governing body for many years.

'''Highgate Hill''', the steep street linking [[Archway, London|Archway]] (traditionally called part of Upper Holloway) and Highgate village, was the route of the [[Highgate Hill Cable Tramway]], the first [[cable car (railway)|cable car]] to be built in Europe. It operated between 1884 and 1909.

Like much of London, Highgate suffered damage during [[World War II]] by German [[The Blitz|air raids]]. The local [[Highgate tube station|tube station]] was used as a bomb shelter.

[[File:Stoneleigh Terrace, Highgate.jpg|thumb|Highgate New Town]]
Highgate New Town is a post-war estate adjacent to the cemetery, designed by Camden Council with similarities to the [[Alexandra Road estate]].

{{clearleft}}

==Governance==
Between 1983 and 2010 Highgate was part of the [[Hampstead and Highgate (UK Parliament constituency)|Hampstead and Highgate]] constituency. The [[Boundary Commissions (United Kingdom)|Boundary Commission]] report of 2003 recommended removing the Camden part of Highgate from the remainder of that constituency and joining it with [[Kentish Town]] and [[Holborn]] to the south in order to form an enlarged [[Holborn and St Pancras (UK Parliament constituency)|Holborn and St Pancras]] constituency from the [[2010 United Kingdom general election|2010 general election]]. 

Since 1983 the northern half of Highgate village was part of the [[Hornsey and Wood Green (UK Parliament constituency)|Hornsey and Wood Green]] constituency. Until 2023 the southern half of Highgate was in the Holborn & St Pancras Parliamentary constituency whose MP is [[Keir Starmer]] of the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]], the current Prime Minister. The whole of Highgate Village is now part of the [[Hampstead and Highgate (UK Parliament constituency)]].

==Transport and locale==
[[File:Angel Inn, Highgate, N6.jpg|thumb|The Angel Inn]]
[[File:Dukes Head, Highgate, N6 (2883803424).jpg|thumb|The Duke's Head]]
[[File:Kenwood House.jpg|thumb|[[Kenwood House]]]]

===Nearest places===
* [[Archway, London|Archway]]
* [[Crouch End]]
* [[Dartmouth Park]]
* [[East Finchley]]
* [[Finchley]]
* [[Hampstead]]
* [[Hornsey]]
* [[Kentish Town]]
* [[Muswell Hill]]
* [[Tufnell Park]]
* [[Upper Holloway]]

===Bus routes===
* [[London Buses]] 143, 210, 214 (24 hour), 263 and 310 plus Night Bus N263 all serve Highgate Village.

===Nearest tube stations===
* [[Highgate tube station]]
* [[Archway tube station]]
* [[East Finchley tube station]]

===Places of interest===
Highgate is known for its pubs which line the old high street and surrounding streets. Some notable favourites are the Angel, the [[Flask, Highgate|Flask]], the Duke's Head and the Wrestlers.
* [[Highgate Cemetery]]
* [[Highgate Literary and Scientific Institution]]
* [[Highgate School]]
* [[Channing School]]
* [[Highgate Wood]]
* [[Holly Lodge Estate]]
* [[Jacksons Lane]]
* [[Kenwood House]]
* [[Highpoint I]] and II
* [[Athlone House]], formerly known as Caen Wood Towers, the home of the [[RAF Intelligence]] School 1942–48.
* [[Cromwell House]]
* [[Lauderdale House]]
* [[Witanhurst]]
* [[The Grove, Highgate|The Grove]]
* Archway Bridge
* Furnival House
* [[St Michael's Church, Highgate|St Michael's Church]]
* St Joseph's Church
* Highgate United Synagogue
* St Augustine's Church

==Demography==
The 2011 census showed that the Highgate ward of Haringey was 82% white (60% British, 19% Other, 3% Irish). 40.9% of the ward were Christian, 7% Jewish and 3.8% Muslim.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ukcensusdata.com/highgate-e05000272|title=Highgate - UK Census Data 2011|first=Good Stuff IT|last=Services}}</ref>

The Highgate ward of Camden meanwhile was 80% white (61% British, 15% Other, 4% Irish), and 3% Black African. 37.5% of the ward were Christian, 5.1% Muslim.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ukcensusdata.com/highgate-e05000137|title=Highgate - UK Census Data 2011|first=Good Stuff IT|last=Services}}</ref> and 4.2% Jewish.

==Education==
{{For|details of education in the Haringey portion of Highgate|London Borough of Haringey#Education}}

== Religion ==
[[File:St Michael, South Grove, London N6 - geograph.org.uk - 307883.jpg|thumb|St Michael's Church]]
[[File:St Joseph's Church, Highgate - geograph.org.uk - 370060.jpg|thumb|St Joseph's Church]]
Highgate's main [[Church of England]] parish church, [[St Michael's Church, Highgate|St Michael's]], is situated close to the summit of the hill, and is the highest church in Greater London. It was built as one of the [[Commissioners' church]]es in 1831 and consecrated and opened on 8 November 1832. The architect was [[Lewis Vulliamy]], and in 1831 his original drawings for the church were exhibited at the [[Royal Academy of Arts]].<ref name="History of St Michael's">{{cite web|last=Sainsbury|first=Roger|title=St Michael's Highgate - History|url=https://www.stmichaelshighgate.org/Groups/230427/History.aspx|publisher=Official website|access-date=14 March 2018|archive-date=1 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801165428/https://www.stmichaelshighgate.org/Groups/230427/History.aspx|url-status=dead}}</ref>

From the late 17th century until 1830 Ashhurst House, the home of former [[Lord Mayor of London]] Sir [[William Ashhurst]], stood on the site of the church. The remains of the house's cellar now form part of the church's crypt.<ref name="History of St Michael's"/>

The church's spire, built of [[Bath stone]], with a cross of [[Portland stone]], is a landmark on London's northern skyline.<ref name="History of St Michael's"/>

Inside, the [[chancel]] and choir stalls were done by [[G. E. Street]] in 1880. The [[pulpit]] dates from 1848. The present bench pews date from 1879, replacing [[box pews]]. The present organ is by Hill and Davidson, and was installed in 1885, replacing an earlier instrument of 1842. It was overhauled in 1985.<ref name="History of St Michael's"/>

There is a monument to [[Samuel Taylor Coleridge]] and his family in the form of a slate slab in the middle of the church.<ref name="History of St Michael's"/>

The church was damaged in the [[Second World War]] by enemy air raids and the present stained glass window at the east end was installed in 1954, replacing a window broken in the Blitz. It is one of the last works by [[Evie Hone]] and depicts the [[Last Supper]].<ref name="History of St Michael's"/>

Further down Highgate Hill is the town's [[Roman Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]] parish church, [[St Joseph's Church, Highgate|St Joseph's]]. It was designed by Albert Vickers, and built in 1888, replacing an earlier, smaller church of 1861. Although St Joseph's Church was opened in 1889 by the [[Archbishop of Liverpool|Bishop of Liverpool]], it was not until 1932, when its debts were cleared, that it was officially consecrated.<ref name="St Joseph's">{{cite web|url=http://www.stjosephshighgate.org.uk/stjosephstourofchurch.html|title=St Joseph's: About our Church|publisher=Official website|access-date=14 March 2018|archive-date=9 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210609105120/http://www.stjosephshighgate.org.uk/stjosephstourofchurch.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The church has a distinctive copper [[dome]] with a green patina, and the interior of the dome was painted by [[Nathaniel Westlake]] in 1891. The organ is by William Hill and Sons, and installed in 1945 as a memorial to the local victims of the Second World War.<ref name="St Joseph's"/>

== 1980s murder ==
On Friday 26 August 1988, Michael Williams, a 43-year-old father from Highgate who worked for the [[Home Office]] in [[Pimlico]], disappeared while travelling back home after an employee social. His body was found at [[Highgate Wood]] the next day. The case remains unsolved despite being featured heavily in the national press and on the [[BBC]]'s TV programme ''[[Crimewatch]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSPG9PBR8rM| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140624234144/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSPG9PBR8rM| archive-date=24 June 2014 | url-status=dead|title=Crimewatch UK 3.11.1988 2/3|last=Chironss|date=27 December 2011|via=YouTube}}</ref>

==Notable inhabitants==
{{Unreferenced section | date=December 2016}}
[[Highgate Cemetery]] is the burial place of Communist philosopher [[Karl Marx]], [[Michael Faraday]], [[Douglas Adams]], [[George Eliot]], [[Jacob Bronowski]], Sir [[Ralph Richardson]], [[Dawn Foster]], [[Christina Rossetti]], Sir [[Sidney Nolan]], [[Alexander Litvinenko]], [[Malcolm McLaren]], [[Radclyffe Hall]], [[Joseph Wolf]] and singer-songwriter [[George Michael]].

* Adjacent to [[Highgate Cemetery]] is [[Holly Lodge Estate]], one of only two housing-estates built in the UK for single women; formerly, it was the home and grounds of Baroness [[Angela Georgina Burdett-Coutts]].
* Between 1930 and 1939, the wife and son of [[Adolf Hitler]]'s half-brother, Alois, lived in Highgate, before moving to the United States. [[Bridget Dowling|Bridget]] and [[William Patrick Stuart-Houston]] lived at 26 Priory Gardens.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/graham_stewart/article3054294.ece|title=Login|access-date=3 January 2009|archive-date=27 July 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080727031439/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/graham_stewart/article3054294.ece|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* [[Leslie Compton]], formerly an [[Arsenal F.C.|Arsenal]] footballer and a [[Middlesex County Cricket Club|Middlesex]] cricketer, owned a pub in Highgate after he retired from sports.
* Singer [[George Michael]] owned an £8 million house in Highgate.<ref>{{cite web|author=Stephen Jones |url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/george-micheal-dead-53-live-9514177?service=responsive |title=George Michael dead at 53: Recap as world-famous superstar singer found dead by boyfriend on Christmas Day - Mirror Online |publisher=Mirror.co.uk |date=28 December 2016 |access-date=14 March 2017}}</ref>
* [[Southend United F.C.|Southend United]] striker [[Nile Ranger]] was born in Highgate.
* Rock star [[Rod Stewart]] was born and raised in Highgate.
* Rock star [[Ray Davies]] of the [[Kinks]] was born and raised in nearby Muswell Hill and lives in Highgate.{{citation needed|date=September 2016}}
* Filmmaker [[Christopher Nolan]] was raised in Highgate.
* Actor [[Jude Law]] lived in Highgate.
* Actor [[Robert Powell]] lives in Highgate.
* Comedian [[Noel Fielding]] lives in Highgate.
* Singer [[Liam Gallagher]] lives in Highgate.
* Comedians [[Graham Chapman]] & [[Terry Jones]] of [[Monty Python]] lived in Highgate.

Many notable alumni have passed through [[Highgate School]], either Masters or indeed Old Cholmeleians, the name given to old boys of the school. These include [[T.S. Eliot]], who taught the poet laureate [[John Betjeman]] there, [[Gerard Manley Hopkins]] the poet, the composers [[John Taverner]] and [[John Rutter]], [[John Venn]] the inventor of [[Venn diagram]]s, actor [[Geoffrey Palmer (actor)|Geoffrey Palmer]], [[Anthony Crosland]] MP and Labour reformer, and the cabinet minister [[Charles Clarke]].

A blue plaque on a house at the top of North Hill notes that [[Charles Dickens]] stayed there in 1832, when he was 20 years old.

Peter Sellers lived as a boy in a cottage in [[Muswell Hill]] Road, where his mother had moved in order to send him to the Catholic St Aloysius Boys' School in Hornsey Lane.

In Victorian times St Mary Magdalene House of Charity in Highgate was a refuge for former prostitutes—"fallen women"—where [[Christina Rossetti]] was a volunteer from 1859 to 1870. It may have inspired her best-known poem, [[Goblin Market]].

[[Siouxsie and the Banshees]]' bassist [[Steven Severin]] was born and brought up there.

===Coleridge===
In 1817 the poet, aesthetic philosopher and critic [[Samuel Taylor Coleridge]] came to live at [[3, The Grove, Highgate]], the home of Dr [[James Gillman]], in order to rehabilitate from his [[opium]] addiction.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Drg-OToJMt4C&q=james%20gillman%20highgate%20coleridge%201816%20opium&pg=PA203|title=The Life of Samuel Taylor Coleridge|first=James|last=Gillman|date=7 November 2016|publisher=BiblioBazaar|isbn=9780554322261|via=Google Books}}</ref> After Dr Gillman built a special wing for the poet, Coleridge lived there for the rest of his life, becoming known as the sage of Highgate.<ref>{{cite web|title=Samuel Taylor Coleridge|url=http://www.poetsgraves.co.uk/coleridge.htm|website=Poets' Graves|access-date=6 February 2016}}</ref>

While here some of his most famous poems, though written years earlier, were first published including "[[Kubla Khan]]". His literary autobiography, ''[[Biographia Literaria]]'', appeared in 1817. While living there he became friends with his neighbour [[Joseph Hardman]].<ref name="Nye 1989">{{cite journal | last=Nye | first=Eric W. | title=Coleridge and the Publishers: Twelve New Manuscripts | journal=[[Modern Philology]] | publisher=[[University of Chicago Press]] | volume=87 | issue=1 | year=1989 | issn=0026-8232 | jstor=438528 | pages=68–69 | url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/438528 }}</ref> His home became a place of pilgrimage for figures such as [[Thomas Carlyle|Carlyle]] and [[Ralph Waldo Emerson|Emerson]]. He died here on 25 July 1834 and is buried in the crypt of nearby [[St Michael's Church, Highgate|St Michael's Church]]. The writer [[J. B. Priestley]] subsequently lived in the same house; a commemorative plaque marks the property.

==In popular culture==
{{More citations needed section|date=June 2015}}
* Highgate's historic feel—in particular the gothic atmosphere of its cemetery—has provided the backdrop to a considerable number of films, including Hammer Horror films of the 1970s and, more recently, ''[[Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald]]'' and ''[[Dorian Gray (2009 film)|Dorian Gray]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/search/text?realm=title&field=locations&q=Highgate|title=IMDb: Most Popular Titles With Filming Locations Matching "Highgate"|website=[[IMDb]] }}</ref>
* The pub tradition of [[Swearing on the Horns]] originated in Highgate.
* In [[Charles Dickens]]' novel ''[[David Copperfield (novel)|David Copperfield]]'', James Steerforth lives in a house at the top of [[Highgate West Hill]].
* In the BBC sitcom ''[[Are You Being Served?]]'', Mr Lucas (played by [[Trevor Bannister]]) lives in Highgate.
* [[Taylor Swift]]'s song "[[London Boy (song)|London Boy]]" from her 2019 album ''[[Lover (album)|Lover]]'', her boyfriend "took me back to Highgate, met all of his best mates".
* In [[Robert Galbraith (author)|Robert Galbraith's]] novel ''[[The Ink Black Heart]]'', the central murder occurs in [[Highgate Cemetery]].<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.littlebrown.com/titles/robert-galbraith/the-ink-black-heart/9780316413039/ |title=The Ink Black Heart |date=17 January 2022 |isbn=978-0-316-41303-9 |language=en-US|last1=Galbraith |first1=Robert |publisher=Mulholland Books/Little, Brown }}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Hornsey (parish)]]
*[[Municipal Borough of Hornsey]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Highgate}}
*[https://hlsi.net/ Highgate Literary and Scientific Institution]
*[http://www.highgatesociety.com/ The Highgate Society]
*[https://forhighgate.org/ Highgate Neighbourhood Forum]
*[http://www.hampsteadheath.net Comprehensive details about Highgate]
{{LB Camden}}
{{LB Haringey}}
{{LB Islington}}
{{London Districts}}
{{Capital Ring Walking Route | locale=Highgate | back=[[Hendon Park]] | forward=[[Stoke Newington]] | A=11 | B=12 }}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Highgate| ]]
[[Category:Districts of the London Borough of Haringey]]
[[Category:Districts of the London Borough of Camden]]
[[Category:Districts of the London Borough of Islington]]
[[Category:Areas of London]]
[[Category:Places formerly in Middlesex]]