Jackson’s Lane
Jackson’s Lane, Haringey
A Victorian road in north-east Highgate, located just south-west of Highgate station
The road acquired its name from Joseph B Jackson, an early 19th-century resident of a house called Hillside. Jackson’s Lane previously crossed Archway Road and continued as a footpath, but this eastern part was renamed Shepherd’s Hill when it was built up with some very pricey homes in the 1880s. The old lane, too, was developed around this time with detached houses and a mansion block, which closed in on some substantial Georgian properties.
In 1893 a site on the corner of Archway Road was obtained for the construction of Highgate Wesleyan Methodist church, which eventually opened in 1905 with an adjacent hall and Sunday school that had almost as great a capacity as the church.
In the area between Southwood Lane and Jackson’s Lane, Southwood House and its former grounds gave way in the late 1950s to a triangle of 30 terraced houses with a communal garden. Other large houses were demolished in the mid-1960s and replaced with flats or smaller houses. Many of the surviving Victorian properties have been subdivided into bedsits or small apartments.
Highgate Methodist church operated a counselling centre in the 1960s. It closed in 1976 and the church was subsequently converted into a theatre, while the adapted hall offers a wide range of arts classes, courses and activities.
Postal district: N6
Website: Jacksons Lane multi-arts venue