Archway

 

Archway station just serves  the Northern Line on the High Barnet branch. This is 44 out of 52 stations on this line that I have now visited. The station used to be called Highgate but was renamed Archway(Highgate) in 1939 after the road bridge further up the road. In 1947 it just became Archway with the next station on the line being called Highgate

One unusual feature of this station is the length of the platform. It was built to accommodate nine carriages instead of the usual seven. For many years the first two cars remained unopened in the tunnel and were reserved for passengers travelling between Archway and Tottenham Court Road. All nine car trains were suspended in September 1939 with the outbreak of the war and were never reinstated. 

I was pleased to see that this station had escalators and not lifts.

There is no surface building for the station as it is situated alongside/beneath Archway Tower, now called Vantage point on Junction Road with this side entrance on Highgate Hill.

Outside the station was a group of gospel singers. It made a pleasant change to listen to singers rather than heavy traffic as I exited the station.

The original station that opened in 1907 was designed by Leslie Green with the familiar ox-blood tiled exterior. In 1939 the facade was redesigned by Charles Holden in an art deco style. In the 1970s a new station was constructed in its present day concrete form alongside the Archway Tower.

Archway gets its name from the Highgate Archway, a very familiar sight for anyone travelling north in the days before the M25.
   

The original viaduct which opened in 1813, was designed by John Nash, to carry Hornsey Lane over a cutting through a hill. It was replaced in 1897 by this cast iron arch designed by Sir Alexander Binnie.

  

I couldn't resist finding my way up onto Hornsey Lane so I could look at the view from the top which was excellent today. The sad fact about this bridge is that it is known as suicide bridge. Fencing on either side has been improved to deter jumpers and there is also CCTV to alert emegency services of a potential jumper. There are ongoing discussions about building higher fences but opposed by others saying people determined to commit suicide will find an alternative spot.

 

 

 

The side exit to the station brings you out onto Navigator Square. The name chosen for this new pedestrianised space has no maritime connection but is a reference to the large Irish Community who made this area their home. The term navigators or 'navvies' was used to describe the Irish who moved to England in the 19th century to build the canals. They were later employed to build the railway systems and roadways and the word 'navvies' stuck.

The large Archway tavern dominates the square. This is the third public house built on this site in 1888.

On the side of the pub is the Guinness advertising clock. You can see the 'Guinness Toucan' to the right of the clock.

On the otherside of the square is the Methodist Central Hall. It was commissioned in 1934 by J Arthur Rank probably more well known in the film industry than the Methodist church. Rank first started showing religious films at the Sunday School where he taught. When built this church had a large 1000 seat auditorium and a big screen so not dissimilar tfrom a cinema. Part of the church is still used as a church.

  

I left Navigator Square via Highgate Hill. This was the route of the first motorised cable car in Europe operating between 1884 and 1909. It would take you up the hill to Highgate Village.

The Whittington pub is so named as it is said that it was close to this spot at Archway that Dick Whittington heard the Bow Bells ringing (St Mary-Le-Bow church in Cheapside) and returned to London. He had been on his way back home to Gloucestershire after failing to make his fortune. The bells were telling him that he would become 'thrice mayor of London'. The story which is now a familiar pantomime is based on Richard Whittington born in 1354 as the son of a wealthy man. Told he would not inherit the family fortune he went to London to be an apprentice to a merchant. After completing his apprenticeship he became a member and was also a master of the Mercers Company, the most important of the London Livery Companies. He became a rich and successful merchant and money lender. He became Mayor of London four times. 

During his lifetime he used his money for improvements in the City and when he died he left his wealth to the Mercers Company who established a charity in his name which still exists today. A memorial stone was placed here in 1821 and a cat sculpture was added in 1964. It is not known whether or not he did have a cat but it has been part of his story for many, many years. When I visited, the sculpture had been removed for cleaning and restoration but it is supposed to be returned this month. 

The Whittington hospital on Highgate Hill is also named after Richard Whittington. In medieval times there was a leprosy hospital on the hill and in 1848 a smallpox and vaccination hospital was built on the site. Also on the site were three former workhouse infirmaries. In the late 1940s it became a NHS hospital.

Further up the hill is this Irish gastro pub, Brendan and the Navigator. It's named after the 6th century explorer St Brendan. he was born c484 AD in Co Kerry, Ireland. He was a monk, missionary and adventurer. Brndan was one of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland, a group of early saints who helped to spread christianity throughout the island. He gained the word navigator as he ventured beyond the shores of Ireland to the Hebrides and possibly Wales and Brittany. It is thought he may have travelled as far as the Canary Islands. Sometime between the 8th and 10th century his adventures were recorded in Latin, Navigatio Sancti Brendani Abbatis ( Voyage of St Brendan the Abbot).

Across the road from the pub is St Joseph's church,  a dominant feature of Highgate Hill. It was built in 1888 to commemorate the Jubilee of Pope Leo XIII. 

I left Highgate Hill to walk through Waterlow Park.

Waterloo Park was formed out of the combined grounds of five houses. During the late 1800s Sir Sydney Waterlow, Mayor of London and respected business man, purchased these properties and their grounds and subsequently bequeathed the 29 acre site to London County Council in 1889, for it to be made into a public park.

Lauderdale House, within the park was the home of the Earl of Lauderdale in the 17th century. Parts of the house date back to the 16th century. It is said that King Charles II stayed here with his mistress Nell Gwyn. The house was renovated in 1893.

Within the house is this Tudor door frame.

After wandering through the park I came out at Highgate Cemetery. There are two parts to this cemetery the East and the West. This is probably the most famous cemetery in the country and unusually you have to pay to visit unless you have a family member buried here. It is one of the earliest private garden cemeteries in England. Until the 1800s most burials took place in church graveyards. These became overcrowded and unsanitary places so private companies stepped in and built cemeteries out of the city. Seven were set up around London are are colloquially known as the Magnificent Seven. Highgate was the third one to be built.

The West side was the first to open and remains the more prestigious. With new legislation in the 1850s banning further burials in London church graveyards, Highgate expanded and built the East Cemetery. Graves were originally sold in perpetuity so space soon ran out and the company lost money. It became neglected, overgrown and the haunt of vandals. The company that owned it collapsed in a financial scandal and nature took over and was left to destroy the memorials. The same happened to the other large cemeteries but these were taken over by the Local Councils and are now supported by the taxpayer. Highgate is different as it was taken over by a charity, the Friends of Highgate Cemetery Trust and is run for public benefit, not for profit. The Highgate Cemetery Act of 2022 allows the Trust to reclaim graves and reuse them for new burials. here are a few of the more famous graves in the cemetery.

From small graves to large mausoleums there is everything here.

Known as the 'Horse' Grave. There is no horse buried here but it is the grave of the the Atchelor family.  The second wife, son and stepson of the 'Horse slaughterer' to Queen Victoria.

The simple gravestone of Michael Faraday (1791-1867). Chemist and physicist who discovered the principles behind the electric motor and the first idea that light and magnetism were connected.

Beryl Bainbridge 91932-2010. English writer.

The gravestone of Patrick Caulfield (artist) 1936-2025 and his wife Janet. He designed his own gravestone. When asked what he would write on the gravestone, he said 'Dead' of course.

Malcolm McLaren (1946-2010). A clothes designer, boutique owner and rock-artist

Harry Thornton (1883-1918) Pianist who died in the flu pandemic of 1918.

Karl Marx (1818-1883). German political philosopher and revolutionary socialist.

Jim Horn (1976-2010). Avid read but not a partner in the firm.

Anna Mahler (1904-88). Austrian sculptor and daughter of Gustav Mahler.

This is the grave of Alexander Litvinenko (1962-2006). Former Russian intelligence agent granted asylum in Britain and later murdered.

I spent a couple of hours wandering around this fascinating cemetery, full of wildlife intermingled with gothic architecture and fascinating stories of people long gone.

On my way back to the station I passed Holly Village. Now a private home it was built in the 1860s possible intended for retired workers of the local estate. It was built for Burdett-Coutts . On the archway it is inscribed with the words: Holly Village Erected by A G B Coutts A D 1865. The sculptures on either side of the archway are of Burdett-Coutts herself and her governess and long term companion, Hannah Brown. Coutts bank still exists today and is the bank used by the Royal Family.

With just one mile between the stations of Archway and Highgate, the areas merge into one and I found it difficult to sort it into the separate posts so I concentrated on the cemetery for this post as I deemed it closer to Archway station than to Highgate and I spent so long there that I needed to return another day to explore the rest of the area.