| A1 road | |
|---|---|
The current route of the A1 (red) and the historic route of the Great North Road (blue) |
|
| Major junctions | |
| South end: | City of London |
| A103 road A1000 road A1199 road A1200 road A1211 road A40 road A400 road A406 road A411 road A503 road A598 road A5201 road A501 road A104 road A1199 road A504 road A5109 road A41 road M1 motorway M25 motorway A1(M) motorway |
|
| North end: | Bignell's Corner |
| Location | |
| Primary destinations: |
Holloway |
| Road network | |
The A1 road in London is an A road in North London. It runs from London Wall to Bignell's Corner, where it crosses the M25 and becomes the A1(M) motorway, alternating with the A1 as it continues to Edinburgh. The London section of the road passes through four London Boroughs: the City of London, Islington, Haringey and Barnet. Whilst the route of the A1 outside London closely follows the historic route of the Great North Road, the London section for the most part does not.
Most of the current route of the London section of the A1 road was designated as such in 1927. It comprises a number of historic streets in central London and the former suburbs of Islington, Holloway and Highgate and long stretches of purpose-built new roads in the outer London borough of Barnet, built to divert traffic away from the congested suburbs of Finchley and High Barnet.
The London section of the A1 is one of London's most important roads. It links North London to the M1 motorway and the A1(M) motorway, and consequently serves as Central London's primary road transport artery to the Midlands, Northern England and Scotland. It also connects a number of major areas within London, and sections of it serve as the High Street for many of the now-joined villages that make up north London.
Contents |
The A1 is the latest in a series of routes north from London to York and beyond, and was formed in 1921 by the Ministry of Transport as part of the Great Britain road numbering scheme.[1] The earliest documented northern routes are the roads created by the Romans during the period 43 to 410 AD, which consisted of a variety of "Iters" on the Antonine Itinerary,[2] a combination of which were used by the Anglo-Saxons as the route from London to York, and which became known as Ermine Street.[3] Ermine Street later became known as the Old North Road,[4] and is used within London by the current A10.[5] By the 12th century, because of flooding and damage by traffic, an alternative route out of London was found through Muswell Hill, and became part of the Great North Road.[4][5] A turnpike road, New North Road and Canonbury Road (A1200 road), was constructed in 1812 linking the start of the Old North Road around Shoreditch with the Great North Road at Highbury Corner.[6]
While the route of the A1 outside London mainly follows the Great North Road route used by mail coaches between London and Edinburgh, within London the coaching route is only followed through Islington.[7] During the early 1970s plans to widen the A1 along the Archway Road section were abandoned after considerable opposition and four public inquiries during which road protesters disrupted proceedings.[8] The scheme was finally dropped in 1990.[9]
The route of the A1 runs from London Wall to Bignell's Corner, where it crosses the M25 and becomes the A1(M) motorway, alternating with the A1 as it continues to Edinburgh. The London section of the road passes through four London Boroughs: the City of London, Islington, Haringey and Barnet.
The start of the A1 is the site of the now-demolished Aldersgate in the London Wall, next to the Museum of London. Aldersgate Street runs north from here to the northern border of the City of London, where it becomes Goswell Road. Adjacent to the modern roundabout on the site of the Aldersgate is the former headquarters of the General Post Office (closed in 1910 and demolished shortly afterwards), and the adjoining Postman's Park. Most of the buildings on Aldersgate Street were destroyed or badly damaged during the Blitz of the Second World War. The entire length of the eastern side of the street is now occupied by the 40 acre (162,000m²) Barbican Estate, an arts complex and residential estate.[10]
The route enters the London Borough of Islington at Goswell Road, running north from the border of the City of London to The Angel. The origins of the Goswell name are unclear, with some sources claiming the road was named after a nearby garden called 'Goswelle' or 'Goderell' which belonged to Robert de Ufford, 1st Earl of Suffolk,[11] whilst others state it derives from "God's Well", and the traditional pagan practice of well-worship.[12] The road is mostly occupied by offices and shops, and by the main campus of City University London. The New River originally passed along Goswell Road before turning to terminate at New River Head on Rosebery Avenue.[13] The course of the river at this point is now entirely underground, and no trace of it can be seen at the surface.
The route merges briefly with City Road, before turning right at The Angel to go along Upper Street. The start of Upper Street is called Islington High Street. The earliest reference to Islington High Street is its appearance on a 1590 map of the area. At this time, nine inns (including the Angel, which has subsequently given its name to the area), as well as housing and a public pond were shown lining the street.[14] In 1716 Islington High Street came under the control of the newly formed Islington Turnpike Trust. The Trust grew rapidly, and soon had control of most major roads in the area, building a number of major road arteries through the expanding residential areas, including Caledonian Road, Euston Road, City Road and New North Road.[15] The Peacock Inn at 11 Islington High Street dates from 1564, although the current facade dates from 1857. It featured in Tom Brown's Schooldays as the inn at which Tom stays prior to travelling to Rugby. It closed in 1962, although the building still stands.[16]
Upper Street is the main shopping street of the Islington borough of inner north London. It runs roughly north from Islington High Street to Highbury Corner. The hilltop village of Islington originally consisted of two streets in addition to the High Street: Upper Street and Lower Street, which diverged from the High Street at Islington Green and both date back to at least the 12th century.[17] The fields around Upper Street, with their close proximity to the growing city of London, were a major farming area. Islington was the home of the Royal Agricultural Hall, and a number of pubs and shops existed along the street to serve farmers and visitors to the hall.[18] In the 18th century Upper Street began to be redeveloped from an agricultural to a residential area. Ten houses were built in 1768 (later named Hornsey Row), and a further group built immediately south of Hornsey Row in 1792.[19] Upper Street is one of the few streets in London (along with adjoining Liverpool Road) to have a "high pavement". This was constructed to protect pedestrians from being splashed by the large numbers of animals using the road to reach the Royal Agricultural Hall; as a consequence, the pavement of the street is approximately 1 m above the road surface for some of the length of the street.[20]
After reaching the eight-way Highbury Corner interchange, the A1 turns north-west as Holloway Road. The origins of the name are unclear; it may derive from "hollow" due to the dip in the road, or from "hallow" in relation to being part of the pilgrimage route to Walsingham. The earliest record giving the name of the road as The Holloway dates from 1307. The main stretch of Holloway Road runs through the site of the villages of Tollington and Stroud. The exact time of their founding is not known, but the earliest record of them dates from 1000. The names ceased to be used by the late 17th century, but are still preserved in the local place names "Tollington Park" and "Stroud Green";[21] since that time, the area has been known as Holloway.
The northern point of Holloway Road is the complex interchange at Archway. The construction of the interchange left a few buildings isolated in the centre of the roundabout, including the Archway Tavern, which appears on the cover of The Kinks' 1971 album Muswell Hillbillies.[22] After the Archway roundabout, the A1 enters a cutting, and becomes Archway Road. The traditional Great North Road at this point heads north-west up a very steep Highgate Hill (now the B519) to the village of Highgate. By the early 19th century, this was proving unsuitable for increasingly heavy traffic, and the new Archway Road, crossing the hill at a shallower gradient, was authorised in 1810, financed by tolls. The easier ascent was made possible by a cutting and tunnel; the tunnel collapsed and instead the road bridge was built over the road which gives it its name. The tolls were abolished in 1876 and traffic increased substantially thereafter, particularly after the introduction of trams on the road.[23] An inquiry was held into widening the section from the Archway intersection to the Hornsey Lane Bridge to dual 3 lanes in 1969 and work start in 1971.[24] It was originally intended to widen a further section of the road, however severe disruption led to the first inquiry being abandoned in 1978[25] and a second in 1984.[26] Air Marshal Sir Michael Giddings chaired the inquiry concerning the second expansion.[27] This is generally considered the first successful modern road protest in the UK.[28]
The road passes north in cutting in a short dual carriageway with bus lanes through Highgate Hill and under Hornsey Lane before narrowing back to a single carriageway and passing through the eastern end of Haringey. It then veers northeast, crossing the original route of the Great North Road at a point just west of Highgate Wood.
With the influx of Jews to London in the early 20th century, Archway Road became a focal point of London's Jewish community. Highgate Synagogue opened in 1930 at 88 Archway Road, and moved to 200 Archway Road in 1950.[29]
While Archway Road is an important shopping street, it lacks the large supermarkets and superstores of Holloway Road, and instead retains long rows of small specialist shops.[30]
The large Jacksons Lane Centre, built in a large converted church near the peak of the hill, is one of north London's leading community arts venues.[31]
During Thomas Telford's construction of Archway Road, it was originally intended that it would pass through Highgate Hill in a tunnel. However, the tunnel collapsed, leaving an inadvertent cutting through the hill. In 1813, John Nash built a bridge, known as the Archway, to carry the ancient Hornsey Lane over the cutting.[32] Hornsey Lane runs between Highgate Village and Hornsey Rise along a ridge; at Hornsey Rise turning right (to the south) leads down into Islington, turning left (to the north) proceeds by way of Crouch End Hill to Crouch End. The boundary between Haringay and Islington runs down the centre of Hornsey Lane. Between 1897 and 1900, Nash's bridge was replaced with the present cast-iron structure, officially called the "Hornsey Lane Bridge" but locally known as Suicide Bridge.[33] The bridge is accessible from the Archway Road level by a steep flight of steps and as one of the highest points in London, it offers impressive views over London and is a popular spot for photographers.
As Hornsey Lane marks the boundary between Islington and Haringey, the bridge marks the official boundary between Inner London and Outer London. Although technically the boundary runs down the centre of the bridge, in practice the bridge is treated as part of Haringey and the land beneath it as part of Islington.
Suicide Bridge is, as the name would suggest, noted to be a significant suicide bridge. It was the subject of Johnny Burke's 2006 film The Bridge.[34]
Following the suicides, by jumping from the bridge, of three young men in just over three weeks at the end of 2010, a campaign was set up by local residents to demand that better anti-suicide measures be put in place. [35] Based on extensive research campaigners believe that the best measures to prevent suicides at the bridge would be an anti-suicide net (used successfully in other parts of Europe), an 'S.O.S' telephone providing a direct line to the Samaritans (a measure that used to be in place at the site) and improved signage regarding sources of help. As one of the locations in London most associated with depression and mental illness, Suicide Bridge was the venue for the mental illness campaign group Mad Pride's inaugural vigil.[36]
Although Highgate tube station is today a minor stop on the Northern Line, under the Northern Heights project, part of the New Works Programme of the 1930s, it was to have become a major transport interchange. Only the low-level Northern Line station is now in use; however, Charles Holden's abandoned and derelict high-level interchange station remains standing and can be seen from the footpath parallel to Archway Road leading north from the station entrance.[37] On a clear day, the outlines of the London Underground roundel can still be seen on the brickwork of the station platforms. The abandoned railway lines south to Finsbury Park and north to Muswell Hill were converted to pathways in the 1970s, and remain open today as the "Parkland Walk".[38]
At the northern end of Archway Road, the road re-intersects with the traditional Great North Road route (at this point called "North Hill"). The roads almost immediately re-diverge, with the Great North Road route heading north as the A1000 towards Finchley, Whetstone and Barnet and the A1 heading west as Aylmer Road. The two routes do not meet again until they converge at Hatfield, well to the north of London.[39]
Aylmer Road is a very short stretch of road, running west for less than half a mile between the junction with the A1000 in Haringey to the junction with The Bishop's Avenue in Barnet, where it becomes Lyttelton Road. The entire southern side of the road is taken up by Highgate Golf Course, while the northern side is a mixture of small shops, flats and allotments.[40]
The road is named for General Sir Fenton John Aylmer, VC KCB,[41] British commander at the Siege of Kut in World War I. He received the Victoria Cross for his part in the assault on Nilt Fort on 2 December 1891.[42]
Immediately before becoming Lyttelton Road, Aylmer Road crosses The Bishops Avenue. As with much of the surrounding area, this land was owned by the Bishop of London following a land grant in 704. In 1894, the Church let building plots for construction of homes on the road. In the 20th century much of the land was sold by the Church, which now only owns one house on the road (46 The Bishop's Avenue) and a nearby residential home.[43]
Despite the relatively modest character of the surrounding area, this small 66-house street (and the parallel Winnington Road) have become the most expensive residential area in the world.[44] In 2006, the smallest houses in the street were selling for £5 million ($10 million), while a larger house was sold in the same year for £50 million ($100 million). Ten of the houses are owned by the House of Saud, whilst other notable owners of houses on the street include controversial businessman and fraudster Gerald Ronson,[45] pornography and newspaper magnate Richard Desmond (owner of two houses)[46] and billionaire industrialist Lakshmi Mittal.[47]
The road was repeatedly mentioned in Elton John's 1988 reworking of Give Peace a Chance ("Why not talk about Bishop's Avenue/I've got a lovely house on Bishop's Avenue").[48]
After crossing the Bishop's Avenue, the A1 becomes Lyttelton Road. Lyttelton Road was built in 1931 in an attempt to divert traffic away from the congested suburb of Finchley,[44] and runs east–west along the northern foot of Highgate Hill between Hampstead Garden Suburb and East Finchley.
Lyttelton Road is for the most part a nondescript residential road, beginning at the end of Deacons Rise, Deacons Rise being characterised by large detached houses built with the road in the 1930s. Due to high traffic on the road and consequent noise and pollution, the flats are set much further back from the road than is typical for English housing, leading to extremely wide pavements and verges in addition to large front gardens. These flat prices are lower than on surrounding streets, with flats typically selling for around a tenth of the price of homes on the adjoining The Bishop's Avenue and Winnington Road.[49]
On the northern side of Lyttelton road stands the Belvedere Court block of flats. Built with the road in the 1930s, the building is now Grade II Listed as a leading example of 1930s architecture.[50]
After passing playing fields to the south, Lyttelton Road crosses Kingsley Way and becomes Market Place.
As the name suggests, Market Place was formerly the site of a street market. Whilst no trace of the market now remains other than the name, this short stretch of road is still an important shopping district and the site of the local post office and library.
Immediately west of Market Place the A1 becomes Falloden Way, which runs west before turning northwest and converging with the North Circular Road. Falloden Way was built between 1914 as part of a programme of planned extensions to Hampstead Garden Suburb[51] and runs on embankment due to a dip in the ground caused by the valley of Mutton Brook, which runs parallel to the road immediately to the south for its entire length. The north side of the road is occupied by 1930s housing blocks, whilst the southern side is occupied by a narrow strip of parkland following the brook, and by the northern tip of Big Wood and Little Wood (see below).
Falloden Way is a notoriously dangerous stretch of road. The layout of bus stops and misunderstanding/ignoring of rules regarding their use means buses are often forced to turn sharply out of the stops into fast moving traffic or to stop short of the bus stops presenting a hazard to other drivers.[52] Additionally, the layout of pedestrian crossings mean a number of pedestrians attempt to run across the road rather than make their way to the inconveniently sited crossings.[53] In 2006 two bus stops were suspended from use due to the hazards caused by traffic having to cross onto the wrong carriageway to pass stopped buses.[54]
The western end of Falloden Way is dominated by the complicated Henlys Corner interchange, named after the Henlys Group motor dealer once located at the junction. The A406 runs from the northeast to converge with the A1 from the southeast. The roads run concurrently to a junction with the A598 north–south road, known as Finchley Road to the south of the junction and Regents Park Road to the north. The roads continue as a concurrency to the west, past the enormous Finchley Synagogue before diverging; the A406 turns sharply south to parallel Dollis Brook to Brent Cross, while the A1 turns northwest as Great North Way. Seven smaller roads also meet the A1 along the Henlys Corner stretch of road, while a complex system of subways beneath the interchange connect the various pedestrian footways.
Due to concerns about the safety of the underpasses, a number of people prefer to cross at surface level, leading to a number of serious road traffic accidents at the junction. There has been a sustained campaign in recent years to replace the subways with pedestrian crossings[55] or footbridges.[56]
Immediately south of Falloden Way are twin patches of woodland known as Big Wood and Little Wood. They are two of the few surviving remnants of the ancient woodland that once covered what is now north London. Big Wood covers a little over 7 hectares (70,000m²) while Little Wood covers around 2 hectares (20,000m²). In 704 Wealdheri, Bishop of London was granted the land in the area by Tyrhtel, Bishop of Hereford. From the 8th century until 1933 the land continued to belong to the Bishop of London, the western edge of Big Wood marking the edge of the estate. At the time of the Domesday Book, the land was noted as being "capable of supporting 1000 pigs".[57] Over the years the forest was gradually cleared, leaving twin patches of isolated woodland. The exact dates are not known, but it is known that Big Wood and Little Wood were separated by fields by 1767. In 1907, the woods became surrounded by the newly built town of Hampstead Garden Suburb. Ownership of the land was ceded by the Bishop of London to the newly created Municipal Borough of Finchley in 1933, which in 1965 passed to its successor, the London Borough of Barnet.[58]
Big Wood is dominated by large oak trees. It also contains one of London's highest concentrations of the relatively rare sorbus tree, the wild service tree, while the undergrowth is dominated by ivy, yellow archangel, bluebells and guelder roses. As a relatively isolated patch of woodland, it attracts large numbers of birds now rarely seen in the rest of London, particularly owls and the green woodpecker.[59] The current gates to the wood on the western boundary are the Hampstead Garden Suburb war memorial and commemorate the 29 local residents who died in the Second World War.[60] The nearby Little Wood, now separated from Big Wood by housing, is the site of an open-air theatre built in 1920 and now used in July by the Garden Suburb Theatre.[61] Big Wood and Little Wood are together a Local Nature Reserve, Borough Grade I, owned and managed by Barnet Council.[59] The nearby Park Farm, on the opposite side of Falloden Way, was owned by circus proprietor "Lord" George Sanger between 1904 and Sanger's murder in 1911. Prior to the construction of the Denman's Drive housing on the field between Little and Big Woods, the field was used for grazing elephants.[57]
After the Henlys Corner interchange, the A1 turns northwest as Great North Way. The southern section of the road is mainly residential, whilst the northern stretch is dominated by Sunny Hill Park to the south and the sprawling fields of the Copthall Sports Centre to the north. The Copthall Sports Centre complex includes a large running stadium, a number of tennis courts, the ground of Hendon RFC, a full golf course, a Powerleague centre and, unusually, a large cemetery.
On the Great North Way side of the Henlys Corner interchange stands Finchley Synagogue. Popularly known as "Kinloss", after a nearby street, it is one of Europe's largest Orthodox synagogues, with seats for 1,350.[62] While a synagogue has stood on the site since 1935, the current building dates from 1967.[63]
After passing the Copthall complex, the A1 meets the M1 motorway at Fiveways Corner. As most traffic leaves the A1 at this point to join the motorway, the road narrows north of this point. Immediately after passing Fiveways Corner, the A1 turns sharply north under the name of Watford Way and continues via Mill Hill Circus to Apex Corner.
Watford Way itself actually runs northwards from Brent Cross, well to the south. However, that section south of Fiveways Corner is designated as part of the A41 and is not part of the A1. Between Fiveways Corner and Apex Corner (see below) the A1 and A41 overlap.[64]
As the stretch of Watford Way north of Fiveways Corner was built as a bypass in 1930, and is also very close to the noisy and polluting M1, there is very little construction along this stretch of road.
At the northern end of Watford Way is the large Apex Corner roundabout. The A1 and A41 separate, with the A1 turning to run straight north and the A41 turning west, while Selvage Lane runs southwest to Mill Hill and Marsh Lane runs northeast to Totteridge. Although Apex Corner is adjacent to the M1, there is no interchange with the motorway.
As the car parks of shops at Apex Corner overlook the Midland Main Line, the location is extremely popular with trainspotters.[65]
After passing Apex Corner, the A1 runs north and out of London as the dual carriageway Barnet Way (also known as Barnet Bypass), built in the 1920s to divert traffic away from Barnet.
The northbound carriageway passes the entrance to Scratchwood, an area of ancient forest which is now a Local Nature Reserve. Scratchwood Services, now re-named London Gateway services, was named after the nature reserve. Opposite Scratchwood, off the southbound carriageway, is Moat Mount Open Space, another nature reserve has a picnic area and a tree trail.[66] A large camping and outdoor activity complex for schools, youth groups and probation services was opened in 1997,[67]
After passing Scratchwood, the A1 crosses the A411 from Watford to Barnet at the Stirling Corner roundabout, skirting Borehamwood, before turning northeast and running through open countryside to Bignell's Corner.
The "Thatched Barn" on the Barnet Bypass north of Stirling Corner is reported to have been a secret Special Operations Executive base during World War II.[68]
The Barnet Bypass was also the location of one of the last Metropolitan Police Police boxes in use (prior to the reintroduction of a single new box in Earl's Court in 1996). The box was taken out of use in 1981, seriously inconveniencing the filming of the Doctor Who story Logopolis which required a functioning police box as a key element and was intended to be filmed at the spot.[69]
At Bignell's Corner the A1 meets the M25 motorway at a large roundabout (also sometimes referred to as South Mimms owing to the Motorway Service Area at the site. North of Bignell's Corner the A1 becomes the A1(M) motorway, and rejoins the historic Great North Road route, running north to Edinburgh (see A1 road (Great Britain)).
|
|||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||