Archway
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Archway is an area of north London in the London Borough of Islington. Archway remains one of the more neglected, run down areas of the socially and economically diverse borough of Islington.
[edit] History
Formerly Upper Holloway (a name that is now used for little besides the nearby railway station), it gradually became known as Archway when a prominent bridge was constructed nearby. A tunnel was originally planned for the Highgate bypass (to join the Great North Road by avoiding the steep Highgate Hill road and narrow roads of Highgate village) but this failed due to repeated collapses. Instead, a large cutting was recommended by John Rennie and a high, multi-arched road bridge constructed across this. The bridge itself was designed by John Nash. The road over the bridge is Hornsey Lane and it connects the villages of Highgate and Crouch End. The current bridge dates from 1893; the original 1813 bridge was demolished in 1901.
Highgate Hill, the road from Archway to Highgate village, was the route of the first cable car to be built in Europe. It operated between 1884 and 1909.
As the area at the base of the steep hill to Highgate, and the nearest point at that time served by public transport other than the cable car, upon the arrival of the Northern Line underground in 1907 the station constructed to serve the area was named Highgate (now Archway tube station), as had been the destination for tram services. The present-day Highgate tube station is about a mile and a half to the north.
It is said that it was at Archway that Dick Whittington heard the Bow Bells ringing and returned back to London.
[edit] Sites of interest
Prominent buildings in the area include the Whittington hospital, at Highgate Hill, named after Richard Whittington. Outside the hospital is a small statue of Whittington's Cat. The area is dominated by the Archway Tower, a large forboding building regarded as a classic piece of 1960s Brutalist architecture.
[edit] Nearby places
Nearest stations:
