Living the high life
PETER BARBER, president of the Hornsey Historical Society, drops his bombshell almost casually: ‘Highgate village is a myth.’ Having taken in a sequence of colourful shop fronts, pretty Georgian houses and tree-studded squares, all sharing a clear identity, occasional visitors might—once they regain their breath after the uphill walk—be inclined to disagree with him. But Mr Barber is quick to explain: Highgate has been a settlement for centuries; nonetheless, it was primarily a country retreat split among different parishes and didn’t even have a proper church until 1832. It was only in the 1820s, when it became clear that London would soon encroach on the area, that locals came up with defensive strategies to
