Muswell Hill history

The name comes from a local well, which was presumably mossy. The well was said to have miraculous powers; people made pilgrimages to it from all over England. In the 13th century Muswell Hill was a dairy farm owned by the Augustinian Priory of St Mary in Clerkenwell. When Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries, the area became part of the Clerkenwell parish, and was known as Clerkenwell Detached until the 20th century. The area was full of country homes for the more wealthy London inhabitants in the 18th century. In the 1870s the railway was extended through Muswell Hill to reach Alexandra Palace, and Muswell hill became part of Alexandra Park. Housing on Muswell Hill was largely constructed by W. J. Collins between 1897 and 1914, and in style it is generally an Edwardian suburban.