Fortis Green is a ward in the extreme northwestern corner of the Borough of Haringey, north London. It is also the name of the road that runs between Muswell Hill and East Finchley which forms part of the A504.
The ward lies between Colney Hatch to the north, Muswell Hill to the east, Highgate to the south and East Finchley to the west. It is a mostly residential area, although it also once contained two large hospitals: Coppets Wood Hospital to the north, which was the Infectious and Tropical Diseases Unit of the Royal Free Hospital NHS Trust, and St Lukes Woodside Hospital to the south. Both of these hospitals are now closed.
Fortis Green in 1973, looking west towards East Finchley
Fortis Green ward has a population of about 12,000 and is generally a middle-class area, with a higher proportion of skilled and highly qualified employees than the borough average (40.7% as compared with 26.3% are in social grade AB). More than half of the 16- to 74-year-olds in Fortis Green are qualified to degree level or higher, and employment levels are very high. About 85% of the population is White, higher than the borough average of about 65%. Of housing stock, 47.2% is in houses and 52.8% is in flats.
Fortis Green Road and Muswell Hill Broadway are the main shopping thoroughfares and the parish church is dedicated to St James. The nearest tube stations are at East Finchley and Highgate.
History
Although Fortis Green is now seen as being an integral part of Greater London this is quite a recent development. Before the 19th century the area was completely rural with an expanse of common land to the north and farmland to the south. In 1816 only Coldfall Wood and wasteland lay north of Fortis Green and west of Coppetts Road. Several houses stood near the junction of Fortis Green with Muswell Hill Road where these scattered dwellings included the parish poorhouses and Upton Farm.[2]
Fortis Green in 1815 showing the rural nature of the area at the time
Development of Fortis Green from a countryside track began with the enclosure of the commons it crossed. The area of Hornsey Common fronting the track was divided into narrow plots in 1815. Building started soon after with the semi-detached villas Albion Lodge and Albion Cottage being one of the first properties to be built around this time. These are one of the earliest surviving properties in the area, outside Highgate.[3][4]
Development of the East Finchley end began in 1820 when the Bishop of London sold off a large south-facing field on the south side of Fortis Green on the corner of the East Finchley High Road. Four grand houses were built on the plot and proceeding from west to east these properties were Fairlawn, Cranleigh, Park Hall and Summerlee. A further large house, Park View was also built to the east of Summerlee.
In 1835 the architect Anthony Salvin purchased a field and built two Italianate villas, Springcroft and Colethall (later Uplands) to the east of Summerlee.[4] In the 1850s St James Church school was constructed on the north side of Fortis Green near to the junction with Tetherdown.
Fortis Green was affected by the construction of the Great Northern Railway stations at East Finchley, which opened in 1867, and Muswell Hill in 1872 and also by the opening of Alexandra Park in 1872. Twenty houses were built in the decade to 1861, most of them on the Haswell Park estate to the south of the road which was acquired in 1852 by the National Freehold Land Society. Meant for superior villas, it was divided into 180 plots facing Eastern, Western, and Southern roads and the paths later called Haswell Passage, Francis Road, and Shakespeare Gardens. Some roads existed by 1855 and in 1856 it was claimed that all lots were fenced and connected to main services.
In spite of auctions in 1852 and 1856 some lots were still unsold in 1858; there were only 28 houses in 1871. Vacant plots remained in 1896, and the southern part of the estate was never built on. In 1871 there were only twelve houses, six built during 1867–68, standing north of Fortis Green and in 1896 there were just two large houses between Eastern Road and Muswell Hill Road.[5]
During the 1890s, with the expansion of London, building spread to Fortis Green. By 1900 builders had laid out the curved Creighton Avenue from Page's Lane to Coldfall Wood.
By 1900 the builder W. J. Collins had laid out the area south of Fortis Green and west of Muswell Hill Road, previously the site of the large houses Midhurst, Fortismere, and the Firs, which by 1908 had been replaced by six streets (Firs, Birchwood, Fortismere, Leaside, Collingwood and Midhurst) of terraced houses running southward from Fortis Green to Grand Avenue.
In 1902 the Police Station was opened. The Clissold Arms is on the site of the Fortis Green Brewery which operated from 1843 to 1902. Until 1888 the Green family operated the brewery, then for some years it was run by a Mr. Norman until being taken over by Ind Coope.[6]
South of Fortis Green Road, on opposite sides of Firs Avenue, the flats Firs Mansions and Birchwood Mansions were erected about 1907 and 1910 respectively. South of Fortis Green itself, Midhurst Mansions dates from 1902 while Leaside Mansions and The Gables date from about 1907.
By 1908 Burlington Road and the western frontage of Tetherdown had been built. Further west, in the same year, building was in progress in Lynmouth Road, Southern Road and Springcroft Avenue.
After 1920 the only remaining development that could be done was at the expense of the remaining open spaces, along Creighton Avenue, to the west of Coppetts Road, and the roads connecting it to Fortis Green. Ringwood Avenue, Beech Drive, Church Vale and Twyford Avenue were built during the 1930s on the southern part of Coldfall Wood.
Woodside Avenue and the connecting roads, and Fordington and Lanchester roads were also built during this period.[7]
Ray and Dave Davies of the Kinks are from Fortis Green. Dave released a solo album titled Fortis Green in 1999.
The group Fairport Convention started off at the family home of Simon Nicol. The house, Fairport, is on the south side of Fortis Green near the junction with Tetherdown and Fortis Green Road.
The fictional character Norman Stanley Fletcher of the BBC sitcom Porridge was revealed to be resident of the Fortis Green area in the episode Men Without Women. He was being escorted home from Fortis Green Police station in the direction of Fortis Green Avenue by police officer Sergeant Norris.
Related Research Articles
Finchley is a large district of north London, England, in the London Borough of Barnet. Finchley is on high ground, 7 mi (11 km) north of Charing Cross. Nearby districts include: Golders Green, Muswell Hill, Friern Barnet, Whetstone, Mill Hill and Hendon.
Highgate is a suburban area of London at the northeastern corner of Hampstead Heath, 4+1⁄2 miles north-northwest of Charing Cross.
Hornsey is a district of north London, England, in the London Borough of Haringey. It is an inner-suburban, for the most part residential, area centred 10 km (6.2 mi) north of Charing Cross. It adjoins green spaces Queen's Wood to the west and Alexandra Park to the north, and lies in the valley of the now-culverted River Moselle. The central core of the area is known as Hornsey Village.
Muswell Hill is a suburban district of the London Borough of Haringey, north London. The hill, which reaches over 100 m (330 ft) above sea level, is situated 5+1⁄2 miles north of Charing Cross.
The London Borough of Haringey is a London borough in north London, classified by some definitions as part of Inner London, and by others as part of Outer London. It was created in 1965 by the amalgamation of three former boroughs. It shares borders with six other London boroughs. Clockwise from the north, they are: Enfield, Waltham Forest, Hackney, Islington, Camden, and Barnet.
East Finchley is an area in northwest London, immediately north of Hampstead Heath. Like neighbouring Muswell Hill, it straddles the London Boroughs of Barnet and Haringey, with most of East Finchley falling into the London Borough of Barnet. It has the greenest high road in London.
Swiss Cottage is an area of Hampstead in the London Borough of Camden, England. It is centred on the junction of Avenue Road and Finchley Road and includes Swiss Cottage tube station. Swiss Cottage lies 3.25 miles (5.23 km) north-northwest of Charing Cross. The area was named after a public house in the centre of it, known as "Ye Olde Swiss Cottage".
The Parkland Walk is a 3.1-mile (5.0 km) linear green pedestrian and cycle route in London, which follows the course of the railway line that used to run between Finsbury Park and Alexandra Palace, through Stroud Green, Crouch End, Highgate and Muswell Hill. It is often mistakenly described as 4.5 miles long, but even taking in the gap between the two sections it still only totals 3.1 miles (5.0 km). The route follows the bridges and cuttings of the line, but avoids the closed surface section of Highgate station and its adjoining tunnels, which are closed to walkers for safety reasons. The walk is almost all in Haringey, but a short stretch between Crouch Hill and Crouch End Hill is in Islington and this section incorporates Crouch Hill Park.
Fortismere School is an 11–18 mixed, foundation secondary school and sixth form in Muswell Hill, Greater London, England.
Hornsey and Wood Green was a constituency in Greater London created in 1983 and represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament from 2015 until its abolition for the 2024 general election by Catherine West, of the Labour Party.
The Edgware, Highgate and London Railway was a railway in North London, England. The railway was a precursor of parts of London Underground's Northern line and was, in the 1930s, the core of an ambitious expansion plan for that line which was thwarted by the Second World War. Parts of the line were closed in the 1950s and have since been removed.
The London Borough of Haringey maintains 240 hectares of parks and open spaces. By 2015, 20 of these were accredited with a Green Flag Award. Until their disbandment in April 2009, the parks were patrolled by the Haringey Parks Constabulary.
Coldfall Wood is an ancient woodland in Muswell Hill, North London. It covers an area of approximately 14 hectares and is surrounded by St Pancras and Islington Cemetery, the East Finchley public allotments, and the residential streets Creighton Avenue and Barrenger Road. It is the site of the discoveries which first led to the recognition that glaciation had once reached southern England. It was declared a local nature reserve in 2013, and is also a Site of Borough Importance for Nature Conservation, Grade 1.
Highgate Wood is a 28 hectare area of ancient woodland in North London, lying between East Finchley, Highgate and Muswell Hill. It was originally part of the ancient Forest of Middlesex which covered much of London, Hertfordshire and Essex and was mentioned in the Domesday Book. It lies in the London Borough of Haringey, but is owned and managed by the City of London Corporation.
Hornsey was an ancient parish in the county of Middlesex. It was both a civil parish, used for administrative purposes, and an ecclesiastical parish of the Church of England.
Queen's Wood is a 52-acre area of ancient woodland in the London Borough of Haringey, abutting Highgate Wood and lying between East Finchley, Highgate, Muswell Hill and Crouch End. It was originally part of the ancient Forest of Middlesex which covered much of London, Hertfordshire and Essex and was mentioned in the Domesday Book. It is now one of three Local Nature Reserves in the London Borough of Haringey. It is situated a few minutes' walk from Highgate tube station.
Finchley Common was an area of land in Middlesex, north of London, and until 1816, the boundary between the parishes of Finchley, Friern Barnet and Hornsey.
The A1 in London is the southern part of the A1 road. It starts at Aldersgate in the City of London, passing through the capital to Borehamwood on the northern fringe of Greater London, before continuing to Edinburgh. The road travels through the City and three London boroughs: Islington, Haringey and Barnet, which include the districts of Islington, Holloway, Highgate, Hendon and Mill Hill, and travels along Upper Street and Holloway Road, crossing the North Circular Road in Hendon, a district in the London Borough of Barnet.
Stroud Green in London, England, is a suburb adjacent to Finsbury Park in the northern part of Greater London. While most of the area is in the London Borough of Haringey, a very small part is in the London Borough of Islington. The Stroud Green Road not only forms the boundary between the two boroughs but is also the area's principal thoroughfare and a busy local shopping street, with many popular restaurants and bars.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
