Highgate is a

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or as the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The Undergro ...

station and former railway station. It is located in

Archway Road The A1 in London is the southern part of the A1 road. It starts at Aldersgate in the City of London, passing through the capital to Borehamwood on the northern fringe of Greater London, before continuing to Edinburgh. The road travels throug ...

in the

London Borough of Haringey The London Borough of Haringey ( , same as Harringay) is a London boroughs, London borough in north London, classified by some definitions as part of Inner London, and by others as part of Outer London. It was created in 1965 by the amalgamation ...

North London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames and the City of London. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshi ...

. The station takes its name from nearby Highgate Village. It is on the

High Barnet Chipping Barnet or High Barnet is a suburban market town in north London, forming part of the London Borough of Barnet, England. It is a suburban development built around a 12th-century settlement, and is located north-northwest of Charing C ...

branch of the

Northern line The Northern line is a London Underground line that runs between North London and South London. It is printed in black on the Tube map. It carries more passengers per year than any other Underground linearound 340million in 2019making it the bu ...

, between

East Finchley East Finchley is an area in North London, immediately north of Hampstead Heath. Like neighbouring Muswell Hill, it straddles the London Boroughs of London Borough of Barnet, Barnet and London Borough of Haringey, Haringey, with most of East F ...

and Archway stations. It is in

Travelcard Zone 3 Fare zone 3 is an inner zone of Transport for London's zonal fare system used for calculating the price of tickets for travel on the London Underground, London Overground, Docklands Light Railway and, since 2007, on National Rail Nationa ...

. The station was originally opened in 1867, on the

Great Northern Railway Great Northern Railway or Great Northern Railroad may refer to: Australia * Great Northern Railway (Queensland) in Australia * Great Northern Rail Services in Victoria, Australia *Central Australia Railway was known as the great Northern Railway ...

's line between

Finsbury Park Finsbury Park is a public park in Harringay, north London, England. The park lies on the southern-most edge of the London Borough of Haringey. It is in the area formerly covered by the historic parish of Hornsey, succeeded by the Municipal ...

and

Edgware Edgware () is a suburban town in northwest London. It was an ancient parish in the county of Middlesex east of the ancient Watling Street in what is now the London Borough of Barnet but it is now informally considered to cover a wider area, inc ...

stations. As part of their only partially completed Northern Heights plan, the London Underground started serving the station in 1941, using new platforms in tunnels beneath the surface station. The platforms of the surface station remain, but were last used in 1954; the section of the line through them to Finsbury Park was closed in 1970 and lifted by 1972. One of the original 1867 station buildings still exists and is in use as a private house.

History

Original station

Highgate station was originally constructed by the

Edgware, Highgate and London Railway The Edgware, Highgate and London Railway was a railway in North London, England. The railway was a precursor of parts of London Underground's Northern line and was, in the 1930s, the core of an ambitious expansion plan for that line which was t ...

in the 1860s on its line from

Finsbury Park station Finsbury Park () is an intermodal passenger transport, intermodal interchange station in North London for London Underground, National Rail and London Buses services. The station is the third busiest Underground station outside Zone 1, with over ...

to Edgware station. Before the line was opened, it was purchased in July 1867 by the larger

(GNR), whose main line from King's Cross ran through Finsbury Park on its way to

Potters Bar Potters Bar is a town in Hertfordshire, England,in the historic County of Middlesex Hertsmere Borough Council – Community Strategy First Review (PDF) north of central London. In 2011, it had a population of 21,882.Highgate Hill, adjacent to

. Tunnels penetrated the hillside at each end of the station, leading towards East Finchley to the north and

Crouch End Crouch End is an area of North London, England, from the City of London in the western half of the borough of Haringey. It is within the Hornsey postal district (N8). It has been described as one of "a new breed of urban villages" in London ...

to the south. When built, the station had two

side platform A side platform (also known as a marginal platform or a single-face platform) is a platform positioned to the side of one or more railway tracks or guideways at a railway station, tram stop, or transitway. A station having dual side platforms, ...

s, with three tracks between them, and a station building on the south side. A footbridge linked the two platforms. A branch line was constructed from Highgate to

Alexandra Palace Alexandra Palace is an entertainment and sports venue in North London, situated between Wood Green and Muswell Hill in the London Borough of Haringey. A listed building, Grade II listed building, it is built on the site of Tottenham Wood and th ...

by the

Muswell Hill Railway The Edgware, Highgate and London Railway was a railway in North London, England. The railway was a precursor of parts of London Underground's Northern line and was, in the 1930s, the core of an ambitious expansion plan for that line which was t ...

(MHR) and was opened on 24 May 1873. The new branch split from the original route north of the station in a wide arc around

Highgate Wood Highgate Wood is a 28 hectare (70 acre) area of ancient woodland in North London, lying between East Finchley, Highgate and Muswell Hill. It was originally part of the ancient Forest of Middlesex which covered much of London, Hertfordshire and E ...

. The next station on the branch line, when it opened, was

Muswell Hill Muswell Hill is a suburban district of the London Borough of Haringey, north London. The hill, which reaches over above sea level, is situated north of Charing Cross. Neighbouring areas include Highgate, London, Highgate, Hampstead Garden ...

and an intermediate station was built later at Cranley Gardens in 1902. In the 1880s, the station was rebuilt, with two tracks flanking a central

island platform An island platform (also center platform (American English) or centre platform (British English)) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway inte ...

instead of the two side platforms. The island platform was accessed from a ticket office in the middle of the footbridge. In 1911, the MHR branch was taken over by the GNR. After the

Railways Act 1921 The Railways Act 1921 ( 11 & 12 Geo. 5. c. 55), also known as the Grouping Act, was an act of Parliament enacted by the British government, and was intended to stem the losses being made by many of the country's 120 railway companies, by "grou ...

created the '' Big Four'' railway companies, the GNR became part of the

London & North Eastern Railway The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) was the second largest (after LMS) of the " Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain. It operated from 1 January 1923 until nationalisation on 1 January 1948. At tha ...

(LNER) in 1923. At the start of the 1930s, the station had around 54 trains daily from High Barnet, 43 from Alexandra Palace and a few through trains from Edgware. Services ran to Finsbury Park and then either King's Cross,

Moorgate Moorgate was one of the City of London's northern gates in its defensive wall, the last to be built. The gate took its name from the Moorfields, an area of marshy land that lay immediately north of the wall. The gate was demolished in 1762, but ...

or Broad Street.

Northern Heights project

Extract of 1900 Map showing Edgware Highgate and London Railway

In 1935, the

London Passenger Transport Board The London Passenger Transport Board was the organisation responsible for local public transport in London and its environs from 1933 to 1948. In common with all London transport authorities from 1933 to 2000, the public name and brand was Londo ...

(LPTB) announced a proposal, which became known as the Northern Heights project. This was to take over the LNER lines from Finsbury Park to Edgware, High Barnet and Alexandra Palace, then link them to both the

at East Finchley and the

Northern City line The Northern City Line (NCL) is a commuter railway line in England, which runs from Moorgate station to Finsbury Park in London with services running beyond. It is part of the Great Northern Route services, and operates as the south-eastern b ...

at Finsbury Park. The construction of the first phase of this project involved extending tube train services from the Northern line's existing terminus at Archway station (then also called Highgate), through a new section of paired tunnels under Highgate station to emerge south of East Finchley station, where track connections to the LNER line were made. To provide an interchange between the new deep-level platforms and the existing surface platforms, a subterranean concourse was constructed immediately beneath the existing station. The concourse was connected to the deep-level platforms with escalators and to the existing platforms by stairs. Street entrances to the concourse were provided from the south (Archway Road) and the north (Priory Gardens). At the same time, the buildings on the surface platforms were partly reconstructed and the footbridge was removed. Northern line services through the new tunnels to East Finchley started operating on 3 July 1939, although they did not stop at Highgate until later.

Wartime

Following the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in September 1939, works to complete the electrification of the LNER lines were slowed or halted. The line from Finchley Central to Edgware closed for reconstruction on 11 September 1939. Northern line services were extended from East Finchley to High Barnet on 14 April 1940 and started serving the deep level platforms at Highgate on 19 January 1941, though not all of the new station buildings had been completed. The surface platforms at Highgate continued to be served by LNER steam trains. The deep-level platforms were constructed long to accommodate extra-long nine-car trains, which were planned for services on the Northern line but never served Highgate, having been withdrawn at the start of the war. With the interchange between LNER and Northern line services available at Highgate from January 1941, LNER trains to East Finchley ended on 2 March 1941, after which they operated between Finsbury Park and Alexandra Palace only. In 1942, LNER services through Highgate were reduced to rush hour only operations. During the war, the deep-level platforms at Highgate were used, as many were, as a shelter from the bombing of London by the

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

and, later, V-1 and

V-2 The V2 (), with the technical name '' Aggregat-4'' (A4), was the world's first long-range guided ballistic missile. The missile, powered by a liquid-propellant rocket engine, was developed during the Second World War in Nazi Germany as a " ven ...

missiles.

Post-war

After the war, plans to complete the Northern Heights project were reviewed. In early 1946, the conversion of the LNER line from Mill Hill East to Edgware was scheduled by the LPTB for completion between January 1947 and June 1948. No work was carried out as maintenance works and reconstruction of war damage on the existing network had the greatest call on London Underground funds. Funds for new works were severely limited and priority was given to the completion of the western and eastern extensions of the Central line to West Ruislip, Epping and Hainault. Despite being shown as under construction on Underground maps as late as 1950, work never restarted on the unimplemented parts of the Northern Heights project. After a temporary closure between October 1951 and January 1952,

British Railways British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Commis ...

(the successor to the LNER) ran the last passenger services between Finsbury Park and Alexandra Palace on 3 July 1954. British Railways freight traffic continued to pass through the station until 1964. After freight traffic ceased, the line continued to be used for occasional London Underground rolling stock transfers between Highgate depot and the Northern City line, with the stock being pulled over the unelectrified lines by

battery locomotive An electric locomotive is a locomotive powered by electricity from overhead lines, a third rail or on-board energy storage such as a Battery (electricity), battery or a supercapacitor. Locomotives with on-board fuelled prime mover (locomotive), ...

s. This ceased in 1970, due to the poor condition of some of the intermediate bridges, and the track was lifted through the surface platforms in 1972. Completion of the station buildings was delayed for many years. Designed by the architect

Charles Holden Charles Henry Holden (12 May 1875 – 1 May 1960) was an English architect best known for designing many London Underground stations during the 1920s and 1930s, the Underground Electric Railways Company of London's headquarters at 55 Broadwa ...

, the pre-war plans included a large entrance building at the top of the hill next to ''The Woodman''

public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

with a pair of escalators between the entrance and the sub-surface concourse. These were to be enclosed in an inclined structure down the side of the cutting parallel with the surface tracks. Taking inspiration from the local legend, the building would have been topped by a statue of

Dick Whittington and his cat ''Dick Whittington and His Cat'' is the English folklore surrounding the real-life Richard Whittington ( 1354 – 1423), wealthy merchant and later Lord Mayor of London. The legend describes his rise from poverty-stricken childhood with the for ...

. When works were finished in 1957, a single and upwards only escalator was provided to take passengers from the sub-surface ticket hall up to a simple exit at the top of the cutting. One of the GNR's station buildings remains on the north side of the surface platforms: it is used as a private residence. Much of the route between Finsbury Park and Alexandra Palace now forms part of the

Parkland Walk The Parkland Walk is a linear green pedestrian and cycle route in London, which follows the course of the railway line that used to run between Finsbury Park and Alexandra Palace, through Stroud Green, London, Stroud Green, Crouch End, High ...

, although this bypasses the station site for safety reasons. On 2 May 2023, a fire broke out in the ground-level station.

Current station

The current station consists of a central subterranean ticket hall, with

escalators An escalator is a moving staircase which carries people between floors of a building or structure. It consists of a motor-driven chain of individually linked steps on a track which cycle on a pair of tracks which keep the step tread horizon ...

leading down to 2 separate 9-car long platforms. The stairs to the closed surface platforms have been blocked off from the public areas of the station by a staff room. There are 2 entrances to the station: one leading to Priory Gardens on the east and the

to the south. This entrance is directly opposite the Jacksons Lane Arts Centre. There is also a one-way escalator leading to a simple exit north of the station.

Services and connections

Services

Highgate station is on the High Barnet branch of the Northern line between

to the north and Archway to the south. Train frequencies vary throughout the day, but generally operate every 3–7 minutes between 06:01 and 01:01 northbound and 05:37 and 00:18 southbound (as of 2015).

Connections

As of 2024,

London Bus Buses have been used as a mode of public transport in London since 1829, when George Shillibeer started operating a horse-drawn ''omnibus'' service from Paddington to the City of London. In the decades since their introduction, the red London ...

routes 43,

134 134 may refer to: *134 (number) *AD 134 *134 BC *134 (MBTA bus) *134 (New Jersey bus) 134 may refer to: *134 (number) *AD 134 *134 BC *134 (MBTA bus) The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority MBTA bus, bus division operates 151 bus routes ...

234 __NOTOC__ Year 234 (Roman numerals, CCXXXIV) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Pupienus and Sulla (or, less frequently, year 987 ''Ab urbe condita''). The ...

and night bus route N20 serve the station.

Use in media

The disused platforms and tunnels have sometimes been used for filming. They have appeared in several productions, including the feature film '' Paperhouse'' and the television series '' Waking the Dead''.

Births

Jerry Springer Gerald Norman Springer (February 13, 1944 – April 27, 2023) was a British-American broadcaster, journalist, actor, lawyer, and politician. He was best known for hosting the controversial tabloid talk show '' Jerry Springer'' from 1991 to 2 ...

, mayor of

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

, and later a TV host, was born at Highgate tube station in 1944 during a

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

bombing raid Strategic bombing is a systematically organized and executed military attack from the air which can utilize strategic bombers, long- or medium-range missiles, or nuclear-armed fighter-bomber aircraft to attack targets deemed vital to the enemy' ...

by the

Notes and references

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * *

External links

London Transport Museum Photographic Archive
** ** ** Buildings on Archway Road are visible beyond, showing depth of cutting in which the surface station was built. {{Closed london underground stations Northern line stations Former Great Northern Railway stations Tube stations in the London Borough of Haringey Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1867 Charles Holden railway stations

Tube station The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or as the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The Undergro ...

London Underground Night Tube stations Unopened Northern Heights extension stations