Living in Muswell Hill: area guide to homes, schools and transport links

Families — and a sprinkling of celebs — head for the Hill, a perfect urban village with great schools, cafés, shops and homes.
Daniel Lynch
Anthea Masey8 November 2017

Among the most expensive suburbs in London, Muswell Hill sits astride one of the capital’s highest hills and on a clear, sunny day the city views are breathtaking.

This well-heeled north London neighbourhood is a family hotspot, with fine, good-size Edwardian houses, state schools — many rated “outstanding” by the Ofsted education watchdog — a busy shopping centre with a wide choice of fancy, arty cafés, plus restaurants and smart pubs for media types, and plenty of green spaces for walking the dog.

The most exciting local gossip recently was the proposed visit by the Hollywood heart-throb George Clooney. The actor/director’s latest film, Suburbicon, starring Matt Damon and Julianne Moore, was scheduled to have its UK premiere at Muswell Hill’s lovely Art Deco Everyman cinema but to everyone’s disappointment the event got cancelled.

However, there is still a bit of local screen glamour in occasional sightings of Doctor Who actor Peter Capaldi, who lives in nearby Crouch End; his replacement as the Doctor, Jodie Whittaker, and Dr Foster star Suranne Jones who is supporting the campaign to restore Alexandra Palace’s lost Victorian theatre that closed 80 years ago.

Muswell Hill is also where the founding brothers of Sixties band The Kinks, Ray and Dave Davies, grew up, at number 6 Denmark Terrace in Fortis Green Road, now a place of pilgrimage for fans from all over the world.

Other notable residents are honoured with a green plaque, an idea first promoted by the Muswell Hill & Fortis Green Association and run by the local council, Haringey.

Former African National Congress leader Oliver Tambo and his wife Adelaide who, during South Africa’s apartheid years, lived in exile in Muswell Hill were among the first to be remembered with a green plaque on their house in Alexandra Park Road.

Muswell Hill is seven miles due north of central London with the North Circular Road, Whetstone and Friern Barnet to the north; Wood Green to the east; Highgate to the south and East Finchley to the west.

Estate agent Matthew Smith from the local branch of Kinleigh Folkard & Hayward describes Muswell Hill as a self-contained village.

“It is a lovely, family-oriented Edwardian suburb which people choose because of the excellent schools, and whereas Fortismere used to be the secondary school everyone wanted to get their children into, now Alexandra Park School is equally popular.”

Muswell Hill has Edwardian semis and terrace houses, others built in the Twenties and purpose-built blocks of flats 
Daniel Lynch

The property scene

Muswell Hill has Edwardian semis and terrace houses, others built in the Twenties and purpose-built blocks of flats.

Much of Muswell Hill is protected by conservation area rules so it has stayed largely intact. The area is the work of James Edmondson (1857-1931) who built Queens Avenue and Princes Avenue, and William Jefferies Collins (1856-1939) who built Grand Avenue and the roads off it. Collins’s sons Herbert and William Brannan built the Rookfield Estate along garden suburb lines off Muswell Hill.

The Campsbourne conservation area, south of Alexandra Park, has an early cottage estate built in 1897-99 as social housing, in roads such as Hawthorn Road, Beechwood Road and Nightingale Lane.

What's new?

Woodside Square, on a former hospital site in Woodside Avenue, is a redevelopment by Hanover Housing Association and housebuilder Hill with 159 homes including one- to three-bedroom flats, three- and four-bedroom houses and a Victorian gatehouse in Grand Avenue.

Some of the flats are converted from the Twenties hospital itself, with many homes reserved for over-55s. One-bedroom flats start at £580,000, with three-bedroom houses from £1.45 million, four-bedroom houses from £2,025,000 and the gatehouse is £2.25 million.

The development completes early next year. Visit woodsidesquare.co.uk or call Hamptons and Savills on 020 8819 8242. There are 36 one- and two-bedroom flats at 77 Muswell Hill.

The last remaining two-bedroom flat for sale is priced £650,000 and the two penthouses start at £1.3 million. Visit 77muswellhill.com. Alternatively, call Foxtons on 020 8829 4090 or Greene & Co on 020 7604 3200.

Peel Mansions is the conversion of the old police station in Fortis Green into seven two- and three-bedroom flats and five three- and four-bedroom houses, with flats from £685,000 and the houses at £1.21 million. They will be ready in the new year. Call KFH on 020 3792 5654.

Jamm Living has The Fortis Collection in Eastern Road, with four four-bedroom houses and six two- and three-bedroom duplexes. The houses start at £2,195,000 and the duplexes from £1.35 million, ready in February.

Visit thefortiscollection.com or call Greene & Co (as before). Also from Jamm, a four-bedroom house at Pinnacle N10 in Pinnacle Close is £1,995,000. See pinnacle-N10.com or call Greene & Co (as before).

Affordable homes

Help to Buy is available at Aspects @ 30 Muswell Hill, a development by housing association Lea Valley Homes of 12 one- to four-bedroom flats, with prices from £525,000. They will be ready to move into by January. Call 01923 251799.

Renting

Homes near popular local schools always rent out quickly to families keen to place themselves within the catchment area.

Staying power

KFH estate agent Matthew Smith says people tend to stay in Muswell Hill if they can afford to and the Woodside Square development has been popular with downsizers.

Postcode

N10 is the main Muswell Hill postcode, although the Fortis Green area falls into the N2 East Finchley code, and on the eastern edge Muswell Hill strays into the N22 Wood Green postcode. To the south-east some of its roads are in the N8 Hornsey postcode.

Best roads

Houses by builder and developer William Jefferies Collins (1856-1939) in the roads off Grand Avenue.

Travel

Muswell Hill is not on the Underground — nor does it have a railway station. However, commuters have a number of ways of getting to work depending on where in the neighbourhood they live. The two nearest Tube stations are East Finchley and Highgate, both on the Northern line.

The nearest train stations are Alexandra Palace and Hornsey which have services to Moorgate taking about 20 minutes. The W7 bus goes to Finsbury Park to connect with Piccadilly and Victoria line Tubes.

Useful commuter buses are the No43 to London Bridge and the No134 to Tottenham Court Road. Muswell Hill is in Zone 3 and an annual travelcard to Zone 1 costs £1,520.

Council

Haringey council is Labour controlled. Band D council tax for 2017/2018 is £1,524.27.

Lifestyle

Shops and restaurants

KFH estate agent Matthew Smith speculates that the success of Muswell Hill’s shopping centre, which spreads out along the Broadway and Fortis Green Road, can be attributed to there being no trains whisking shoppers off to other destinations. “Residents rely on the local shops so our high street is always busy and with branches of Waitrose, Sainsbury’s and M&S Foodhall there is no need to go elsewhere.”

There are other high street brands too — WH Smith, Oliver Bonas, Jigsaw, JoJo Maman Bébé, Whistles, Côte, PizzaExpress, Franco Manca and Carluccio’s all have branches here — but independent traders dominate, with lots of cafés, restaurants and upmarket food outlets.

There are two top-notch butchers — The Hampstead Butcher & Providore and Muddy Boots; fishmongers Walter Purkis and Clarke & Parker; an award-winning cheese shop, Cheeses of Muswell Hill, and tea and coffee specialist W Martyn which has been in business here since 1897.

Children are catered for with toy shops and a dedicated bookshop. And there is no shortage of places to plan a new kitchen, bathroom or a new décor with branches of CP Hart, John Lewis of Hungerford, interior design firm Sally Bourne Interiors and COSI Homewares.

Bob’s Café is currently a big hit; an all-day restaurant describing its cuisine as “Modern American-French” it is a growing chain with two other branches in Ealing and Queen’s Park.

The Famous Royal Oak in St James Lane is a popular local pub that’s about to get a starring role in a new Sky sitcom The Reluctant Landlord with comedian Romesh Ranganathan.

Open space

Muswell Hill has acres of open space on the doorstep. Queen’s Wood and the adjoining Highgate Wood are favourites with dog walkers, and both have cafés. Coldfall Wood, off Creighton Avenue is a local nature reserve.

Alexandra Park with Alexandra Palace at its summit is a 196-acre Green Flag park with a children’s playground, boating lake, café, rose garden, garden centre and a pitch and putt course.

The Parkland Walk, a four-and-a-half-mile woodland trail along a former railway line, runs from Finsbury Park to Alexandra Palace taking in Muswell Hill.

Leisure and the arts

Muswell Hill has an Everyman cinema in a fine Art Deco building. The Phoenix in nearby East Finchley is a well-known first release and art cinema.

Alexandra Palace — Ally Pally or the People’s Palace — is one of London’s most iconic exhibition and concert venues and it also has an ice rink that hosts ice hockey matches.

It is embarking on an ambitious £26.7 million restoration of its East Wing which includes the renovation of an atmospheric Victorian theatre. The project is part-funded by the National Lottery and the local council but there is a public appeal for the last £1 million.

Park Road Pools & Fitness leisure centre in Crouch End has the nearest council-owned swimming pool, with two outdoor lidos, indoor pools and a diving pool.

Muswell Hill Golf Club in Rhodes Avenue is an 18-hole parkland course.

Schools

Primary school

Muswell Hill has a good selection of state schools rated “good” or better by Ofsted. The state primary schools rated “outstanding” are: Muswell Hill in Muswell Hill; St James CofE in Woodside Avenue; Coldfall in Coldfall Avenue, and Coppetts Wood in Coppetts Road.

Comprehensive

The “outstanding” state comprehensive schools are Fortismere (co-ed, ages 11 to 18) in Tetherdown and the equally popular Alexandra Park (co-ed, ages 11 to 18) in Bidwell Gardens. The other two comprehensives are Highgate Wood (co-ed, ages 11 to 18) in Montenotte Road and Greig City Academy (co-ed, ages 11 to 18) in High Street, Hornsey. Both are judged to be “good”.

Private

Norfolk House (co-ed, ages three to 11) in Muswell Avenue is the local private primary school and there is a Rudolf Steiner infants school (co-ed, ages three to six) in The Campsbourne.

Nearby Highgate offers two private all-through schools — Highgate (co-ed, ages three to 18) in North Road and Channing (girls, ages four to 18) in The Bank.

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