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54-519: The Whittington Stone is an 1821 monumental stone and statue of a cat at the foot of Highgate Hill , a street, in Archway . It marks roughly where it is recounted that a forlorn character of Dick Whittington , loosely based on Richard Whittington , returning to his home from the city of London after losing faith as a scullion in a scullery, heard Bow Bells ringing from 4 + 1 ⁄ 2 miles (7.2 km) away, prophesying his good fortune leading to

108-638: A Grade II listed former church, the Gatehouse Inn , dating from 1670, which houses the theatre Upstairs at the Gatehouse and Berthold Lubetkin 's 1930s Highpoint buildings. Pond Square , behind the High Street , is a registered village green , and is the centre of communal activities which take place in the elegant buildings of the Highgate Literary and Scientific Institution and Highgate Society facing

162-401: A broad-based charity which continues into the 21st century helping people in need. 51°33′59″N 0°08′13″W  /  51.5665°N 0.1369°W  / 51.5665; -0.1369 Highgate Highgate is a suburban area of London at the northeastern corner of Hampstead Heath , 4 + 1 ⁄ 2 miles (7 kilometres) north-northwest of Charing Cross . Highgate is one of

216-476: A grand refurbishment incorporating raked seating, a new platform and diagram board provided for the use of lecturers. The Earl of Shaftesbury , the famous philanthropist, was the guest of honour at the re-opening ceremony. In 1879, forty years after its founding, the Institution embarked on its most ambitious scheme of improvement, designed by the local architect Rawlinson Parkinson. The former Lecture Hall became

270-436: A place of pilgrimage for figures such as Carlyle and Emerson . He died here on 25 July 1834 and is buried in the crypt of nearby St Michael's Church . The writer J. B. Priestley subsequently lived in the same house; a commemorative plaque marks the property. Highgate Literary and Scientific Institution The Highgate Literary and Scientific Institution (HLSI) is a Charitable Company ( CIO ) Limited by Guarantee. It

324-487: A taste for intellectual pursuits – to bring within reach of Artisan and Mechanic those mental enjoyments which next to the consolations of religion and the blessings of natural affection are the best friends to Virtue and Happiness. To offer books, not only in the rooms of the Institution, but at the firesides of Members and Associates – and lectures to stimulate and gratify an intelligent desire for information. Above all to unite all classes and all parties in one common object –

378-466: Is 136 m (446 ft) above sea level at its highest point. The area is divided among three London boroughs : Haringey in the north and east, Camden in the south and west, and Islington in the south and east. The postal district is N6 . The name of the village is commonly / ˈ h aɪ ɡ eɪ t / . The London Underground in announcements at Highgate tube station uses the alternative pronunciation of / ˈ h aɪ ɡ ɪ t / , where

432-421: Is a landmark on London's northern skyline. Inside, the chancel and choir stalls were done by G. E. Street in 1880. The pulpit dates from 1848. The present bench pews date from 1879, replacing box pews . The present organ is by Hill and Davidson, and was installed in 1885, replacing an earlier instrument of 1842. It was overhauled in 1985. There is a monument to Samuel Taylor Coleridge and his family in

486-577: Is by William Hill and Sons, and installed in 1945 as a memorial to the local victims of the Second World War. On Friday 26 August 1988, Michael Williams, a 43-year-old father from Highgate who worked for the Home Office in Pimlico , disappeared while travelling back home after an employee social. His body was found at Highgate Wood the next day. The case remains unsolved despite being featured heavily in

540-757: Is now part of the Hampstead and Highgate (UK Parliament constituency) . Highgate is known for its pubs which line the old high street and surrounding streets. Some notable favourites are the Angel, the Flask , the Duke's Head and the Wrestlers. The 2011 census showed that the Highgate ward of Haringey was 82% white (60% British, 19% Other, 3% Irish). 40.9% of the ward were Christian, 7% Jewish and 3.8% Muslim. The Highgate ward of Camden meanwhile

594-407: Is the 1964 sculpture of a cat by Jonathan Kenworthy , in polished-black Kellymount limestone. Iron railings, oval in plan, with upper flourishes and spearhead finials above and an intersecting circular return (an "overthrow"), surround it. The stone and railings are negligibly raised by a small broad stone plinth mainly set into the surrounding pavement. It has had statutory protection as listed , in

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648-408: Is to offer opportunities for life-long learning through its courses, library, archives, art gallery, lectures, debates, cultural and social events. The Industrial Revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries set in train a movement for self-improvement among all classes of society. The spirit of enquiry generated by the new scientific inventions and their development in manufacturing processes led to

702-641: Is used for the HLSI's own activities, 10a South Grove is leased to the Highgate Society, whilst to the rear in Swain's Lane a cottage and a group of single lock-up garages are also let. The early history of the buildings on the site is not known for certain, but by the mid-seventeenth century there were three, or perhaps four, cottages disposed round a well. The basement of the HLSI incorporates vaulted cellars typically found in pubs, and it has been speculated that this

756-520: The Bloomsbury Group , gardening, embroidery, Imperial Russia and women travellers of the 19th century have clearly been much in demand. The early Victorian collection matched the lecture subjects chosen by the members, so was much stronger in the burgeoning fields of science and engineering, but now fiction, biography and history predominate. The children's section holds classics as well as new titles. Many books are not available in other libraries, and

810-707: The High Street was part of Hornsey parish and also later the Municipal Borough of Hornsey , and the seat of that borough's governing body for many years. Highgate Hill , the steep street linking Archway (traditionally called part of Upper Holloway) and Highgate village, was the route of the Highgate Hill Cable Tramway , the first cable car to be built in Europe. It operated between 1884 and 1909. Like much of London, Highgate suffered damage during World War II by German air raids . The local tube station

864-640: The 1860s. With the Public Libraries Act 1850 many institution libraries were eventually taken over to form the nucleus of the public library system. Further erosion followed the Education Act 1870 and Education Act 1902 and the Technical Instruction Act 1889 meant that the need for some of the Institutions' educational functions had been superseded. To maintain their membership numbers

918-753: The Banshees ' bassist Steven Severin was born and brought up there. In 1817 the poet, aesthetic philosopher and critic Samuel Taylor Coleridge came to live at 3, The Grove, Highgate , the home of Dr James Gillman , in order to rehabilitate from his opium addiction. After Dr Gillman built a special wing for the poet, Coleridge lived there for the rest of his life, becoming known as the sage of Highgate. While here some of his most famous poems, though written years earlier, were first published including " Kubla Khan ". His literary autobiography, Biographia Literaria , appeared in 1817. While living there he became friends with his neighbour Joseph Hardman . His home became

972-511: The Hawkins family. Not requiring the coach-house and stables, he sub-let them to the new Institution, becoming no.11 South Grove. At the front, the ground floor was turned into a library and behind, the large coach-house became a lecture hall. In the centre, off a courtyard, was a committee room while upstairs was accommodation for the librarian. In 1851 the Lecture Hall (the present Library) underwent

1026-721: The Highgate Dispensary , the Mary Feilding Guild , the Highgate Book Society, the Fisher & Sperr bookshop and the Highgate Horticultural Society. It also holds a collection of paintings of Highgate , dating from 1780 to the present day, many of which are displayed around the Institution. Lectures every Tuesday evening from September to May, on a wide variety of topics, have been a key feature of

1080-854: The Highgate Literary & Scientific Institution has offered a lending library, archive and lectures. Today the activities it offers members and non-members include courses, debates, a science group, opera circle, the Highgate Gallery, a film society, several reading groups and occasional concerts. Only members have use of the Members' Room, Library borrowing rights and reduced rates for classes and activities. In 2019 11 South Grove hosted 25 weddings, 12 christening receptions, numerous parties and several private concerts. Courses have developed into an increasingly important activity, in response to greater demand from local retired people, as more studies highlight

1134-1468: The Institution's activities since its foundation in 1839. Past lecturers have included (in alphabetical order): Joan Bakewell , Michael Berkeley , Walter Besant , John Betjeman , Anthony Blunt , Ronald Blythe , Thomas Brimelow , Sophie Bryant , AS Byatt , Hugh Casson , William Dalrymple , Charles Dickens Jr. , Margaret Drabble , Lord Dufferin , Millicent Garrett Fawcett , Roger Fenton , Michael Foot , Antonia Fraser , Michael Frayn , Lord Justice Fry , Timothy Garton Ash , Misha Glenny , Jane Glover , Edmund Gosse , Andrew Graham Dixon , George Grossmith , Simon Hoggart , Richard Holmes , Michael Holroyd , Tristram Hunt , Simon Jenkins , Paul Johnson , Steve Jones , Jim Al-Khalili , Mary Kingsley , Hermione Lee , David Lodge , Richard Mabey , Hilary Mantel , Henry Marsh , Eleanor Marx , Jolyon Maugham , Jonathan Miller , Frank Muir , James Murray , Julia Neuberger , Paul Nurse , Michael Palin , Flinders Petrie , Lady Plowden , Jonathon Porritt , Roy Porter , Michael Rosen , Mark Rylance , Marcus du Sautoy , Quentin Skinner , David Starkey , Sergius Stepniak , Edward Stourton , John Summerson , AJP Taylor , Colin Thubron , Claire Tomalin , Arthur Waley , Fergus Walsh , Marina Warner , Sydney Waterlow , Huw Weldon , Mortimer Wheeler and Lewis Wolpert . The Highgate Gallery

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1188-634: The Library; the former Library was panelled becoming a reading room; the South Grove frontage was refaced and an entrance porch and lobby were constructed (these were restored in 1988); and the living accommodation was modernised. The following year the open courtyard at the rear was enclosed and roofed becoming the new Lecture Hall, opened by Baroness Burdett-Coutts in March 1880, now called the Victoria Hall. In 2006

1242-588: The Square. Highgate is best known for the Victorian Highgate Cemetery , in which the Communist philosopher Karl Marx and the novelist George Eliot are buried, along with many other notable people. Adjoining is Holly Village, the first gated community , built in 1865, which is a Grade II* listed site. The village is at the top of Highgate Hill, which provides views across central London. Highgate

1296-413: The collection is a resource for researchers and writers. In its reference section the HLSI holds special collections on London, Highgate , the explorer Mary Kingsley and the poets Samuel Taylor Coleridge and John Betjeman , all of whom lived in Highgate. The Archive , which is based in the cellars contains documents and pictures of all kinds relating to Highgate, its environs and its residents since

1350-444: The early seventeenth century. It houses the HLSI's own archive of its activities dating back to its foundation in 1839, as well as material relating to several well-known local residents, including Mary Kingsley , Samuel Taylor Coleridge and John Betjeman , as well as several special collections acquired or given to it over many years. The archive has a large collection of Victorian and 20th Century photographs, including many taken by

1404-445: The eastern part of Hampstead Heath , three ancient woods, Waterlow Park and the eastern-facing slopes, known as Highgate bowl. At its centre is Highgate village, largely a collection of Georgian shops, pubs, restaurants and residential streets, interspersed with diverse landmarks such as St Michael's Church and steeple, St. Joseph's Church and its green copper dome, Highgate School (1565), Jacksons Lane arts centre, housed in

1458-454: The final syllable matches the last syllable in "frigate". Historically, Highgate adjoined the Bishop of London 's hunting estate. Highgate gets its name from these hunting grounds, as there was a high, deer-proof hedge surrounding the estate: 'the gate in the hedge'. The bishop kept a toll-house where one of the main northward roads out of London entered his land. A number of pubs sprang up along

1512-426: The first floor living accommodation was converted into two classrooms and a study/meeting room (The Coleridge Room). The freehold of 11 South Grove was acquired from the Hawkins family in 1932 for £1700 and four years later the Institution bought Church House, 10a and a shop and garage at the back of No. 11 for £2019. Church House was sold in 1957 for £4600 and part of the funds were used to build six lock-up garages on

1566-567: The form of a slate slab in the middle of the church. The church was damaged in the Second World War by enemy air raids and the present stained glass window at the east end was installed in 1954, replacing a window broken in the Blitz. It is one of the last works by Evie Hone and depicts the Last Supper . Further down Highgate Hill is the town's Roman Catholic parish church, St Joseph's . It

1620-604: The formation, originally in the big industrial cities of the north, of societies where members could attend lectures and have access to libraries. The first of these, the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society , founded in 1781, and the Newcastle Literary and Philosophical Society , of 1793, were soon followed by similar organisations all over the country, as well as Mechanics' Institutions whose members included more working men. Libraries and reading rooms were at

1674-441: The general good of themselves and all around them . A search for premises commenced, and after a year in two rented rooms at 1 Southwood Terrace, (now 24 Southwood Lane), the HLSI moved to its present home at 11 South Grove, Highgate Village in 1840. The Institution owns a group of Grade II and II* listed buildings at the top of Swain's Lane in the centre of Highgate Village facing Pond Square . The largest, 11 South Grove

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1728-402: The health benefits of lifetime learning. Classes are now held throughout the year covering subjects including architecture, art, art history and crafts, exercise, history, languages, music appreciation and walks. The Library has approximately 25,000 books, ranging from crime fiction to history, reflecting current members’ interests and those of earlier librarians: for example, at various times

1782-574: The heart of even the smallest institutions and to avoid controversy, politics and religion were banned. By 1839, when the HLSI was founded, the number of all types of institution had risen to nearly 300 and by 1851, the year of the Great Exhibition , the number had more than doubled to almost 700. With little or no division between the two main types the term Literary and Scientific Institution began to be widely used as an alternative to Mechanics' Institutions . The movement reached its peak around

1836-633: The highly regarded photographer John Gay . There is a collection of over 600 postcards spanning 100 years of life in Highgate and early 20th century original prints. The HLSI archive also keeps the archives of several local organisations, many now defunct, including the records of the St Pancras Orphanage for Girls , the Southwood Lane Almshouses, the Mothercraft Training Society (which was based at nearby Cromwell House ),

1890-458: The homage "Turn again Whittington, thrice Lord Mayor of London!" This quotation and a short history of the man cover two faces of the stone. The pub next to it is of the same name. The large tablet was erected in 1821, restored in 1935, and the cat sculpture was added in 1964. It is a two-segment slab of Portland stone , "the inscription to the south-west side now almost completely eroded, that to

1944-495: The initial grade II category, since 1972. The location of the stone was considered the northern part of Upper Holloway , until some decades after the nearby arched bridge was built in the early 19th century. Aside from cultural references including a nursery rhyme, story and plays, the Lord Mayor was praised for ensuring the building of a maternity hospital and drains for the poor of London during his lifetime. He left his wealth to

1998-585: The most expensive London suburbs in which to live. It has three active conservation organisations: the Highgate Society, the Highgate Neighbourhood Forum and the Highgate Conservation Area Advisory Committee, to protect and enhance its character and amenities. Until late Victorian times, it was a distinct village outside London, sitting astride the main road to the north. The area retains many green expanses, including

2052-471: The name given to old boys of the school. These include T.S. Eliot , who taught the poet laureate John Betjeman there, Gerard Manley Hopkins the poet, the composers John Taverner and John Rutter , John Venn the inventor of Venn diagrams , actor Geoffrey Palmer , Anthony Crosland MP and Labour reformer, and the cabinet minister Charles Clarke . A blue plaque on a house at the top of North Hill notes that Charles Dickens stayed there in 1832, when he

2106-563: The national press and on the BBC 's TV programme Crimewatch . Highgate Cemetery is the burial place of Communist philosopher Karl Marx , Michael Faraday , Douglas Adams , George Eliot , Jacob Bronowski , Sir Ralph Richardson , Dawn Foster , Christina Rossetti , Sir Sidney Nolan , Alexander Litvinenko , Malcolm McLaren , Radclyffe Hall , Joseph Wolf and singer-songwriter George Michael . Many notable alumni have passed through Highgate School , either Masters or indeed Old Cholmeleians,

2160-462: The north-east [tells] the career of the medieval merchant and City dignitary Sir Richard Whittington (c.1354–1423), including his [three/four] terms as Lord Mayor". The memorial marks the site where 'Dick Whittington', returning home discouraged after a disastrous attempt to make his fortune in the City, heard the bells of St Mary-le-Bow ring out, 'Turn again Whittington, thrice Lord Mayor of London.' On top

2214-422: The objects of Literature and Science . It was intended to be for all classes and both sexes. Seventy-six local residents put down their names to become members and at a second meeting two weeks later, on 31 January, the Highgate Literary & Scientific Institution was formed when rules and a constitution were proposed. In its first set of rules the Institution set out to create and foster a taste for reading and

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2268-422: The remaining societies had to popularise their activities. Systematic science courses gave way to miscellaneous subjects such as popular science, literature, music, history and travel. In their libraries scientific textbooks came to be outnumbered by works of fiction, travel and general literature. Reference rooms were converted into rooms displaying newspapers and periodicals. The Independent Libraries Association

2322-433: The route, one of which, the Gatehouse, commemorates the toll-house. Hampstead Lane and Highgate Hill contain the red brick Victorian buildings of Highgate School and its adjacent Chapel of St Michael. The school has played a paramount role in the life of the village and has existed on its site since its founding was permitted by letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I in 1565. The area north of Hampstead Lane and east of

2376-480: The site of the shop and yard which together with the Institution Cottage and 10a South Grove, have provided a valuable source of rental income for the Institution ever since. 10a South Grove dates from 1848 and in 1919 it became a club for domestic servants, was then briefly used as a studio by Margaret Thomas , R.A. and in 1966 it was leased to the newly-formed Highgate Society. Since its foundation in 1839,

2430-583: The south in order to form an enlarged Holborn and St Pancras constituency from the 2010 general election . Since 1983 the northern half of Highgate village was part of the Hornsey and Wood Green constituency. Until 2023 the southern half of Highgate was in the Holborn & St Pancras Parliamentary constituency whose MP is Keir Starmer of the Labour Party , the party's current leader. The whole of Highgate Village

2484-479: Was Lewis Vulliamy , and in 1831 his original drawings for the church were exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts . From the late 17th century until 1830 Ashhurst House, the home of former Lord Mayor of London Sir William Ashhurst , stood on the site of the church. The remains of the house's cellar now form part of the church's crypt. The church's spire, built of Bath stone , with a cross of Portland stone ,

2538-678: Was 20 years old. Peter Sellers lived as a boy in a cottage in Muswell Hill Road, where his mother had moved in order to send him to the Catholic St Aloysius Boys' School in Hornsey Lane. In Victorian times St Mary Magdalene House of Charity in Highgate was a refuge for former prostitutes—"fallen women"—where Christina Rossetti was a volunteer from 1859 to 1870. It may have inspired her best-known poem, Goblin Market . Siouxsie and

2592-577: Was 80% white (61% British, 15% Other, 4% Irish), and 3% Black African. 37.5% of the ward were Christian, 5.1% Muslim. and 4.2% Jewish. Highgate's main Church of England parish church, St Michael's , is situated close to the summit of the hill, and is the highest church in Greater London. It was built as one of the Commissioners' churches in 1831 and consecrated and opened on 8 November 1832. The architect

2646-412: Was designed by Albert Vickers, and built in 1888, replacing an earlier, smaller church of 1861. Although St Joseph's Church was opened in 1889 by the Bishop of Liverpool , it was not until 1932, when its debts were cleared, that it was officially consecrated. The church has a distinctive copper dome with a green patina, and the interior of the dome was painted by Nathaniel Westlake in 1891. The organ

2700-700: Was formed in 1989 by the few remaining UK Institutions still active, including the HLSI, for the exchange of information on questions of mutual interest. Harry Chester was a prominent local resident and Permanent Secretary to the Committee of the Privy Council on Education. On 16 January 1839 he called a meeting at the Gate House Tavern in Highgate Village for the purpose of forming an institution designed to excite and cultivate an intelligent interest in

2754-510: Was founded in 1839 in Highgate , North London , as a friendly society with the aim of helping local people to better understand new developments in industry and discoveries in science. It is now one the few surviving membership supported organisations which predate the widespread establishment of public libraries in the United Kingdom . Today its charitable purpose, from its historic building,

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2808-537: Was founded in 1994 and is housed in the 19th-century vaulted Victoria Hall within the HLSI. It is run by a committee of artists, gallery managers and art collectors which meets every two months to consider new work submitted. It has approximately nine two-week exhibitions each year and periodically a national touring exhibition: David Hockney Grimms' Fairy Tales in 2000, Francisco Goya The Disparates in 2003, Picasso Histoire Naturelle in 2006, Walker Evans photographs in 2010, Georg Grosz The Big No in 2014 and

2862-476: Was the site of the Swan, Highgate's first alehouse dating from the fifteenth century. On the ground occupied by two of the cottages Church House (10 South Grove) was built in 1752 by Peter Storer, brother-in-law of Sir John Hawkins , the friend and biographer of Dr Samuel Johnson . A coach-house and stables were built alongside to the west. By 1840 Leopold Neumegen was running a school from Church House, on lease from

2916-546: Was used as a bomb shelter. Highgate New Town is a post-war estate adjacent to the cemetery, designed by Camden Council with similarities to the Alexandra Road estate . Between 1983 and 2010 Highgate was part of the Hampstead and Highgate constituency. The Boundary Commission report of 2003 recommended removing the Camden part of Highgate from the remainder of that constituency and joining it with Kentish Town and Holborn to

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