New Hornsey Historical Society Book with chapter on Harringay | NOW AVAILABLE

The new book's front cover with an image showing the archive room in the Society's Old Schoolhouse HQ building.

The Hornsey Historical Society has just published an illustrated 150+ page A4 book with an eclectic collection of short pieces about the history of Hornsey and surrounding areas.  

Originally planned for publication in 2021, to celebrate the Society's 50th anniversary year, 100 Stories From The Archive includes stories from Harringay, Hornsey, Crouch End, Wood Green, Muswell Hill, Stroud Green, Highgate and Alexandra Palace. The common denominator between the stories is that each one is based on an artefact held in the Historical Society's impressive archive,

With almost 30,000 items recorded on the catalogue, the collection encompasses:

• Books, booklets, periodicals, newspapers ands articles
• Documents, manuscripts, original typescript, title deeds and other property documents
• Maps and plans
• Paintings, drawings and sketches
• Ephemera such as leaflets, posters, programmes, exhibition material, tickets and wrappers
• Photographs an d postcards
• Letters and e-mails
• Small three-dimensional objects
  

Thirteen writers contributed stories to this book. The tireless editor, Janet Owen, worked to ensure that a representative range of archive items formed its basis. 

The stories are told area by area. The chapter of stories on Harringay covers subjects ranging from aspects of Harringay House to our neighbourhood's role in the rise of the Black Power movement.

100 Stories From The Archive will be published in early November. The expected selling price is £24.99 (20% discount for members - if you're not already a member, you can join via the HHS website).

As you can imagine, a book of this size is not cheap for the Society to produce. So, to avoid placing a burden on this small, non-profit making charity's very limited resources, there will be a limited print run. (What a great Christmas gift for anyone who's interested in our area!)

The book is available to purchase:

• at: hornseyhistorical.org.uk
• by post from the Old Schoolhouse, 136 Tottenham Lane, Hornsey, London N8 7E
• in person the Old Schoolhouse
• Soon at other local bookshops (TBC)

If you would like to order a copy by email please contact info@hornseyhistorical.org.uk .

The Old Schoolhouse building. Erected in 1848 as Hornsey Infants’ School, the current building is the school room where 80-100 children were taught. The remainder of the school was demolished

For many years, the building served as a run-down bus shelter and public toilet. Then, from October 1981, the building was leased by Haringey Council to the Society and became a base for its activities. A physical HQ is a rarity among local history societies, and the arrangement provides a home for the unique archive.