Crouch End - History

History

Crouch End grew up as a hamlet on the old medieval route from London to the north. At this time it was governed as part of Hornsey which became a parish in around 1300. This heavily-wooded area contained farms and villas, one of which was Crouch Hall, probably built in 1681 at the crossroads of what came to be known as Crouch End.

Crouch End remained rural until around 1880, probably because of the lack of adequate sewerage. Large parts remained in private ownership, inhibiting development. However, the development of the railway changed the area significantly. By 1887 there were seven railway stations in the area. Crouch End became a prosperous middle-class suburb due to an influx of mainly clerical workers who could easily commute to the city. The large old houses were replaced by comfortable middle-class housing and public parks were opened and a number of new roads and avenues, such as Elder Avenue and Weston Park were laid out.

It expanded greatly in the late Victorian period and most of its present-day streets were built up in the late 19th century.

By the mid-1930s Crouch End had a popular shopping centre that included an Opera House in the middle of Topsfield Parade.

Until 1965 it was administratively part of the Municipal Borough of Hornsey and that body's forerunners. In 1965, when local government in London was reorganised, Hornsey merged with the boroughs of Wood Green and Tottenham and Crouch End became part of the London Borough of Haringey.

In the post war years Crouch End gained a more mixed social grouping and the London-wide provision of social housing saw the growth of council homes in and around Crouch End into Hornsey Vale (known as Abyssinia) and Hornsey itself. Many of the houses in the area lay empty post-war and many were bought cheaply by speculative landlords who then let them out to the growing student populations of the Mountview and Hornsey Art Colleges. The area became known as a student bedsit land for several decades into the early 80's until gentrification of the area changed the social profile and it became progressively more middle class. Eventually many houses became so highly priced that the working class became slowly marginalised and their children unable to afford to live in the area moved away. These social changes could be seen by the changes in the shop types over the period; gentrification brought estate agents en masse until the pace slowed and this was replaced by up-market establishments and pavement-type cafes.