Crouch End Hill 1890 to 1965 - a Story in Pictures

Crouch End Hill changed rapidly from the late nineteenth century onwards. Fortunately, the changes were relatively well documented in photographs. 

The story in pictures begins with a flurry of photos taken in 1890, whilst most of the old Crouch End was still intact on the east side of Crouch End Hill.

At the bottom was Charles Batterby. He was to be the last farrier in Crouch End, until his forge was acquired for development in 1895. Next up was an old wooden building housing a hair dresser. Tucked behind these was the Sugden's Oakfiled Villa. Next came a terrace of Georgian houses.¹ These are followed by the Railway Tavern and a row of shops with one or two dwelling houses interspersed.

Fig. 1: Crouch End Hill, 1890, East side looking north from towards the top of the hill

Below is the complete 1892 listing from Kelly's Directory for all the premises from Batterby's forge to the end of the row of shops. The shop on the far right is Stiff's the florist.

63       -  Charles Stiff, Florist
59-61 -  William Madden Shirt Dresser
57       -   Victor Hill Tobacconist
55       -   Thomas Sharpe, Plumber & Gas Fitter
53       -   Parker & Co, Bakers
51       -   Albert Beans, Picture Frame Maker
49       -   H Pegg Bootmaker
47       -   William Warn. Blind Maker
45       -   Joseph Gales Oil & Colour
43       -   Not Listed
41       -   John Joiner, Bootmaker
39       -   Arthur Reason Perambulator Maker
37       -   Mrs Harding
35       -  Goodall & Goodall, Undertakers
33       -  Mrs Gibbs
31       -  F Menage, Repairing Tailor
29       -  F Bryen & Co., Builders
27       -  Mrs Rosina Bray, Shopkeeper
25       -  Frederick Cooper, Chimney Cleaner
23       -  Railway Tavern
21       -  Joseph Holland, Harness Makers
19       -  Not Listed
15-17 -  R Cable Builder
13       -  E Edwards, Shirtmaker
11       -  Charles Wood, Carpenter
9         -  George Richardson
7         -  Mrs. Sanders
5         -  Mrs. Gregory
3         -  J.H. Shorter, Hairdresser 
1         -  Samuel Sugden (Oakfield Villa)
1a       -  Charles Batterby, Farrier

The next photo is taken from towards the bottom of the hill. Right at the bottom of the hill on the east side (right) is Batterby's forge. Coming towards the camera, next is a gap for the entrance to Oakfield Villa. The large tree was in its garden. Then came number 3, the old wooden building. The sign outside says "Ye Olde Barber Shop". Last are the Georgian houses numbered 5 to 11. 

Fig. 2: Crouch End Hill, 1890, East side looking north from near the bottom of the hill

The next photo from circa 1890 shows Batterby's Forge. Behind the trees Oakfield Villa is visible.

Fig. 3: Crouch End Hill, c1890, East side looking south. The large house in the background is Oakfield Villa

The fourth picture from 1890 shows a better view of the Crouch End Blacksmith, Charles Batterby's, forge. I wonder if Charles is the guy standing behind the fence? You can also see the house 'above the shop' where he apparently lived with his wife.²

Life may have been good for Batterby. But his life wasn't without its difficulties. The minutes of the local board (forerunner of the council) on 1st August 1870 record a complaint,

A complaint was made by Mr Batterby of pigs being kept on the adjoining premises of Mr Crow in Crouch end. It was resolved that the surveyor do give the usual notice to remove the nuisance.³

Fig. 4: Batterby's Forge, Crouch End Hill, c1890

The final picture from 1890 shows the whole road, including the less photographed western side. On the extreme right, the old Kings Head with the bay window facing the camera, was soon to demolished.

Fig. 5: Crouch End Hill c1890, showing both east and west sides including the old King's Head. At the time, the pub's licensee was Charles Heather, but the premises was being managed by 24 year-old Scot, Frank Gunn.

We then jump forward a few years to about 1901. Batterby's forge** has been swept away by progress and it has been replaced by the Criterion Buildings.

Fig. 6: Crouch End Hill, c1901, looking south from outside the King's Head. The new licensee and manager was Londoner, Edmund Magness.

By 1905, the Ye Olde Barber Shop business had also gone and the premises was occupied by Madam Yvonne. Described as a Milliner in 1905, by 1910 she styled herself as a Costumier. Further up, at the top of the hill was the Crouch End School of Art.

Fig. 7: Crouch End Hill, c1905, looking south-east towards the old wooden building at number 3.

As the twentieth century progressed, Middlesex Council decided that Crouch End Hill was too narrow and at just 35 feet, it was impeding the flow of traffic. Consequently in the 1930s it began buying all the properties on the east side of the road up as far as Waverley Road. One of those purchased was Oakfield Villa which was bought both for the road widening and for the construction of a telephone exchange to serve the merged Mountview and Highgate exchanges. Pending demolition, it was lent to Hornsey Council Social Services and from January 1933 it was used as a recreational centre for the unemployed of depression-hit Britain. Eventually all the buildings  were demolished new buildings erected including including the  the Mountview telephone exchange and a new fashionable mock Tudor building for the Railway Tavern, opened in 1937.

Fig. 8: The Railway Tavern, Crouch End Hill, c1950. Behind the pub is the Mountview telephone exchange building.

In 1938, the Criterion building was demolished and replaced with what stands there today. The space between the bottom of the hill and the Railway Tavern was partially filled with 3-5 Crouch End Hill (which still stands today). However, development was then interrupted by the War. It was completed in the 1950s with the erection of another building abutting the 1930s exchange building. Further up the hill, Exchange House, a new GPO building was erected by 1965.

Fig. 9: Exchange House, Crouch End Hill, 1965

1. A very respectable source tells us that 14 cottages called Wright's Buildings were erected along this portion of Crouch End Hill in the late eighteenth or early nineteenth century. They were named after James Wright, who was the developer. However, it is difficult to see in the photo 14 buildings that appear to share the same heritage. So either the, respectable, source is mistaken or some of those 14 buildings didn't survive for long. Wright also built a terrace of houses in Maynard Street (later Park Road), probably those shown in this photo. (Source for Crouch End Hill info: A P Baggs, Diane K Bolton, M A Hicks and R B Pugh, 'Hornsey, including Highgate: Growth before the mid 19th century', in A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 6, Friern Barnet, Finchley, Hornsey With Highgate, ed. T F T Baker and C R Elrington (London, 1980), pp. 107-111. British History Online)

2.  Charles is recorded as living in a dwelling house on Crouch End Hill in 1895. It was probably 'over the shop'. He died the year after he closed the blacksmith business. He was living at 1 Topsfield Road. We know from the 1864 will of his Uncle James, that Charles was a farrier in Croucn End for at least 30 years. 

3. From the original minutes held at Bruce Castle Museum, accessed 18th December 2021. I assume that the Mr Crow referred to was William Crowe, the 'beer house keeper' of the Harringay Arms. By 1881, he had moved his family to the Fox and Crown in Highgate and by 1891 he was listed as a domestic servant, also in Highgate.