A1 in London#Haringey
{{Short description|Section of road in London}}
{{About|the section of the road in London|the full extent of the road|A1 road (Great Britain)}}
{{good article}}
{{Use British English|date=April 2012}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2018}}
{{Infobox road
|country=GBR
|type=A
|route=1
|photo=Archway roundabout road sign.JPG
|photo_notes=The complex junction at the Archway interchange
|length_mi=
|direction_a=South
|terminus_a= City of London
|direction_b=North
|terminus_b=Continues to Edinburgh
}}
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 through the City and three London boroughs: Islington, Haringey and Barnet, which include the districts of Islington, Holloway, Highgate, Hendon and Mill Hill, and travels along Upper Street and Holloway Road, crossing the North Circular Road in Hendon, a district in the London Borough of Barnet.
The A1 is the most recent in a series of routes north out of London to York and beyond. It was designated in 1921 by the Ministry of Transport under the Great Britain road numbering scheme, comprising existing roads and streets, mostly historic, and later using stretches of purpose-built new roads in what is now the outer London borough of Barnet. The Archway Road section was built by Thomas Telford using Roman cement and gravel, an innovative technique that was used there for the first time, and is the basis for modern road building. The route closely follows the historic route of the Great North Road, though from 1954 it has diverted round the congested suburbs of Finchley and High Barnet along modern roads constructed in the 1920s and 1930s.
The A1 is one of London's main roads, providing a link to the M1 and the A1(M) motorways, and on to the Midlands, Northern England and Scotland. Despite this, its main use is to connect a number of neighbourhoods within north London; less than 5% of its vehicles are through traffic – the bulk is local. The roads along which the A1 route travels are the shared responsibility of the local boroughs, the Greater London Authority, and the British Government via the Department for Transport.
History
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.{{cite web |url=http://www.cbrd.co.uk/indepth/roadnumbers/history.shtml |title=CBRD » In Depth » Road Numbers » How it happened |author=Chris Marshall |work=cbrd.co.uk |year=2011 |access-date=7 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724050836/http://www.cbrd.co.uk/indepth/roadnumbers/history.shtml |archive-date=24 July 2011 |url-status=dead }} The earliest documented northern routes out of London 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,{{cite web|url=http://www.roman-britain.org/antonine-itinerary.htm |title=Roman Roads in Britain – Antonine Itinerary |publisher=Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge |year=1903 |work=roman-britain.org |author=Thomas Codrington |access-date=23 August 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110703033434/http://roman-britain.org/antonine-itinerary.htm |archive-date=3 July 2011 }} a combination of which were used by the Anglo-Saxons as the route from London to York, and which became known as Ermine Street.{{cite web |url = https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Periods/Roman/Topics/Engineering/roads/Britain/_Texts/CODROM/4*.html#1 |title=LacusCurtius • Codrington's Roman Roads in Britain – Chapter 4 |author =Thomas Codrington |work=penelope.uchicago.edu |access-date=23 August 2011}} Ermine Street later became known as the Old North Road,{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=rVHqBvtuLyMC&pg=PA98 |title=London 4: North |author1=Bridget Cherry |author2=Nikolaus Pevsner |page=98|publisher=Yale University Press|date= 11 March 1998 |isbn=0300096534 |access-date=5 December 2012}} and is used within London by the current A10.{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=sAA9olZqPSMC&pg=PA343 |title=The London Encyclopedia |page=343|author1=Christopher Hibbert |author2=Ben Weinreb |publisher=Pan Macmillan|year= 2009 |access-date=23 August 2011 |isbn= 978-1-4050-4925-2}} By the 12th century, because of flooding and damage by traffic on Ermine Street, an alternative route out of London was found through Islington and Muswell Hill, and this was the origin of the Great North Road that would become the A1.{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Rp66hfjBogcC&pg=PA14 |title=Great North Road |author =Frank Goddard|page=14|publisher=Frances Lincoln Ltd|year=2004 |access-date=23 August 2011 |isbn= 978-0-7112-2446-9}} Until the 14th century the route went up what is now Hornsey Road – the A103 road, but when that became impassable a new route along Holloway Road via Highgate was created in the 14th century.{{cite book|author1=A P Baggs |author2=Diane K Bolton |author3=Patricia E C Croot |title=A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 8: Islington and Stoke Newington parishes|editor1=T F T Baker |editor2=C R Elrington |publisher=Victoria County History|year=1985|pages=3–8|chapter=Communications|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=7111&strquery=}} The section through Highgate was bypassed in the early 19th century by the creation of a new road, Archway Road, and around the same time a turnpike road, New North Road and Canonbury Road (the A1200 road), was constructed linking the start of the Old North Road around Shoreditch with the Great North Road at Highbury Corner.{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=xa0D0PqiwfEC&pg=PA580 |title=The London Encyclopaedia |author1=Christopher Hibbert |author2=Ben Weinreb |page=580|publisher=Pan Macmillan|date= 9 May 2011 |isbn=9780230738782 |access-date=5 December 2012|edition=3rd }}
The route of the A1 in London originally started at Aldersgate Bars, which marked the boundary of the City of London, and followed the Great North Road mail coach route through Barnet;{{cite book |url=http://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/wiki/index.php?title=1922_Road_Lists/Zone_1_Class_I|title=List of Class I and Class II Roads and Numbers|author =Ministry of Transport|publisher=HMSO|year=1923}} the route was re-designated in 1954 to follow the East Finchley and Barnet by-passes built in the 1920s and 1930s,{{cite web|url=http://www.pbhistory.co.uk/transport/motorways.html|title=A1/The Barnet By-Pass/A1(M)|publisher=PBHistory.co.uk|access-date=6 December 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120207033644/http://www.pbhistory.co.uk/transport/motorways.html|archive-date=7 February 2012}} so within London the coaching route is now mainly only followed when passing through the borough of Islington.{{cite book |title=The Great North Road |author =Norman W. Webster| year=1974|publisher=Adams and Dart |isbn=978-0-239-00142-9}} 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.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Hyg-AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA62|title=Transport planning, vision and practice|isbn=978-0-7100-0844-2|author1=John Adams|year=1981|publisher=Routledge & K. Paul }} The scheme was finally dropped in 1990.{{cite web|url=http://www.roadblock.org.uk/resources/roadsvictories.pdf |title=Road Victories |work=Road Block |access-date=22 January 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080216104935/http://www.roadblock.org.uk/resources/roadsvictories.pdf |archive-date=16 February 2008 |url-status=dead }}
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Governance
Responsibility for the roads along which the A1 route travels are shared by the individual local boroughs, the Greater London Authority (GLA), and the British Government. The first organised London-wide authority dealing with roads in London was the Metropolitan Board of Works (MBW), set up in 1856.{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=4TA262F55asC&pg=PA132 |title=Civil Engineering Heritage: London and the Thames Valley |page=132|author =Denis Smith |publisher=Thomas Telford|year= 2001 |isbn=9780727728760 |access-date=4 December 2012}} The MBW replaced the disparate turnpike trusts which had already been amalgamated in 1826 into the single control of Government Commissioners, and was itself replaced by the London County Council (LCC) in 1889. The LCC became the Greater London Council (GLC) in 1965, and during the 1960s when traffic management in London was being modernised, and the London Ringways was proposed, the GLC, which was not in favour of increasing traffic into central London, had control of the inner London roads, while the government, through the Ministry of Transport, which was in favour of widening roads, had control of outer London. These different approaches resulted in the Ministry of Transport widening a stretch of the A1 until it reached the control of the GLC, when the widening abruptly stopped.
Due to the problems associated with two different and opposing bodies having responsibility for London's roads, the government were keen to take control of the major routes, and made plans in 1983 for the Department of Transport to take over 70 miles of road, including significant parts of the A1; when the GLC was abolished in 1986, the Department of Transport took over direct control of the 70 miles of major routes, plus had a significant influence on another 300.{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=eVo9AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA64 |title=Wheels Within Wheels: Study of the Road Lobby|page=64|author = Mick Hamer |publisher=Routledge |year= 1987 |isbn=9780710210074|access-date=4 December 2012}} In 2000 control of roads in London passed to Transport for London,{{cite book|author =Whitaker's|title=Whitaker's Almanack |publisher=A&C Black|date=18 October 2011|edition=2012|page=451|isbn=9781408130124 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jaXOWG6yLwwC&pg=PA451}} a department of GLA created in 2000 as part of the Greater London Authority Act 1999,{{cite web|url=http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/about-tfl/2881.aspx |title=Legislative framework |access-date=6 September 2008 |publisher=Transport for London |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120123023657/http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/about-tfl/2881.aspx |archive-date=23 January 2012 }} and the major roads, including the A1, were declassified as trunk roads.{{cite book|title=Trunk Roads|publisher=Hansard|year=2000|url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199900/cmhansrd/vo000306/text/00306w02.htm}}
Route
The route of the A1 in London runs from the northern end of St. Martin's Le Grand in the City to Borehamwood in Hertfordshire, then travels on the northern fringe of Greater London to Bignell's Corner, where it crosses the M25 and becomes a motorway, designated A1(M), which alternates with the dual carriageway A1 as it continues to Edinburgh. The London section of the road passes through part of the City of London and three London boroughs: Islington, Haringey and Barnet. The A1 is one of London's main northern routes, providing a link to the M1 motorway and the A1(M) motorway, and on to the Midlands, Northern England and Scotland. It 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. Even though it is one of London's major roads, less than 5% of its approximate 60,000 vehicles a day are through traffic – the bulk is local.
=City of London=
The current start of the A1 is the modern roundabout at the northern end of St. Martin's Le Grand where it meets Aldersgate Street, near the site of the now demolished General Post Office, London, the headquarters of the Post Office from 1829 to 1910.{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=sAA9olZqPSMC&pg=PA660 |title=The London Encyclopedia|author1=Christopher Hibbert |author2=Ben Weinreb |page=660|publisher=Pan Macmillan|date= 1 June 2010 |isbn=9781405049252|access-date=29 November 2012}} When originally designated in 1921 the A1 started a little further north along Aldersgate Street at Aldersgate Bars, which marked the boundary of the City, though some later maps indicate it starting at the southern end of St. Martin's Le Grand, near St Paul's Cathedral.{{cite book |title=A1: Portrait of a Road |author1=Jon Nicholson |author2=Nigel Richardson |page=6|publisher=Harper UK|date= 1 December 2000}} The route runs north from Aldersgate along Aldersgate Street which is a modern dual carriageway, and from the 13th century was known as a wide street with fine buildings and travellers' inns;{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=xa0D0PqiwfEC&pg=PA14 |title=The London Encyclopaedia |author1=Christopher Hibbert |author2=Ben Weinreb |page=14|publisher=Pan Macmillan|date= 1 June 2010 |isbn=9780230738782 |access-date=4 December 2012|edition=3rd }}{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=yaRZ1cAMd2UC&pg=PA25 |title=London Past and Present: Its History, Associations, and Traditions|page=25|author1=Henry Benjamin Wheatley |author2=Peter Cunningham |publisher=Cambridge University Press|date= 24 February 2011 |isbn=9781108028066|access-date=4 December 2012}} these were destroyed or badly damaged during the Blitz, and from 1965 to 1976 the 40 acre (162,000m²) Barbican Estate, an arts complex and residential estate, was constructed along the entire eastern side of the street.{{cite web | title =History of the Barbican Estate | publisher =City of London Corporation | url =http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/Corporation/our_services/barbican_estate/history.htm | access-date =10 May 2007 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070315232309/http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/Corporation/our_services/barbican_estate/history.htm| archive-date = 15 March 2007}} At the end of Aldersgate Street stood Aldersgate Bars, which marked the limits of the City of London.{{cite book |author=Philip Temple |series=Survey of London |volume=46 |title=Charterhouse Square area – Charterhouse Street and other streets |date=2008 |pages=265–279 |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=119421&strquery=Goswell%20Road#s5 |access-date=4 December 2012}}
=Islington=
The route enters the London Borough of Islington at Goswell Road becoming a single carriageway running north from the border of the City to Angel through a mix of offices and urban housing. Goswell Road and St John Street were the ancient routes from the City to Islington,{{cite book |url= https://archive.org/details/b29309013 |title=History and description of the parish of Clerkenwell|page=[https://archive.org/details/b29309013/page/31 31]|author = Thomas Cromwell |publisher=Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown and Green|year= 1828 |access-date=4 December 2012}} with St John Street being the start of the Great North Road until the General Post Office headquarters was built at St Martin's-le-Grand in 1829, whereafter stagecoaches used Aldersgate Street and Goswell Road.Norman W. Webster (1974) The Great North Road: 22–23 The New River originally flowed across Goswell Road, but is now underground and no trace of it can be seen at the surface.{{cite journal | author =Patricia Croot | title =Islington Introduction | journal =A History of the County of Middlesex | volume =8 | pages =1–3 | publisher =British History Online | year =1985 | url =http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=8471 | access-date =11 May 2007 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070610055733/http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=8471| archive-date= 10 June 2007 | url-status= live}} The street was reported in 1720 to be "meanly built and inhabited", containing numerous inns and brothels, and it largely remained a slum area until the rebuilding that took place after the Second World War – in particular the residential development outward from the Barbican and Golden Lane estates since 1980, replacing warehouses with flats.
File:James Pollard - North Country Mails at the Peacock, Islington - Google Art Project.jpg, one of several travellers' inns that were on Islington High Street from the 16th to 19th centuries]]
At the northern end of Goswell Road, the route northwards follows a one-way section to the Angel, turning right into Islington High Street. The southwards route from Islington High Street follows City Road for a short distance before joining Goswell Road via Wakley 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 subsequently gave its name to the area), as well as housing and a public pond were shown lining the street.{{cite journal | author =Patricia Croot | title =Islington Growth | journal =A History of the County of Middlesex | volume =8 | pages =9–19 | publisher =British History Online | year =1985 | url =http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=6734 | access-date =11 May 2007 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070610055821/http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=6734| archive-date= 10 June 2007 | url-status= live}} The Peacock Inn, one of the nine inns, and which operated on Islington High Street from 1564 to 1962, was where Tom of Tom Brown's Schooldays stayed prior to travelling to Rugby School.{{cite web|title=Places of Note |publisher=London Borough of Islington |url=http://www.islington.gov.uk/Education/LocalHistory/BriefBoroughHistory/415.asp |access-date=11 May 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041110071316/http://www.islington.gov.uk/Education/LocalHistory/BriefBoroughHistory/415.asp |archive-date=10 November 2004 }} 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.{{cite journal | author =Patricia Croot | title =Islington Communications | journal =A History of the County of Middlesex | volume =8 | pages =3–8 | publisher =British History Online | year =1985 | url =http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=7111 | access-date =11 May 2007| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070610060736/http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=7111| archive-date= 10 June 2007 | url-status= live}}
Upper Street, running roughly north from Islington High Street to Highbury Corner, is the main shopping street of Islington, and dates back to at least the 12th century.{{cite web | title =1811-Medieval Origins |publisher=BBC | url =https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/trail/local_history/city/street_01.shtml?origins | access-date =12 May 2007 }} Livestock herded along the Great North Road for Smithfield Market, would – when passing through what was mainly fields and farmland – pause at lairs built between Upper Street and Liverpool Road by an enterprising farmer, Richard Laycock;{{cite book|editor1=T F T Baker |editor2=C R Elrington |author1=A P Baggs |author2=Diane K Bolton |author3=Patricia E C Croot|title=A History of the County of Middlesex |publisher=Victoria County History|year=1985|volume=8: Islington and Stoke Newington parishes |pages=69–76|chapter=Islington: Economic history|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=999&strquery=Smithfield|access-date=6 December 2012}} Laycock's lairs would be used in 1861 for the site of the Royal Agricultural Hall,{{cite book|author1=Christopher Hibbert |author2=Ben Weinreb |title=The London Encyclopaedia |publisher=Pan Macmillan|date=9 May 2011|edition=3)|page=708|isbn=9780230738782 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xa0D0PqiwfEC&pg=PA708}} and a number of pubs and shops existed along the street to serve farmers and travellers headed for Smithfield.{{cite book|author =William Gaspey|title=Tallis's Illustrated London|publisher=J. Tallis|year=1851|page=[https://archive.org/details/tallissillustra02gasp/page/215 215]|url=https://archive.org/details/tallissillustra02gasp}} In the 18th century, Upper Street began to develop 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.{{cite journal | author =Patricia Croot
| title =Islington Growth – Canonbury | journal =A History of the County of Middlesex | volume =8 | pages =19–20 | publisher =British History Online | year =1985 | url =http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=275 | access-date =12 May 2007 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070422052224/http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=275| archive-date= 22 April 2007 | url-status= live}} Liverpool Road, originally called Back Road, was used as an alternative to Upper Street for the Smithfield herders,{{cite book|author1=Christopher Hibbert |author2=Ben Weinreb |title=The London Encyclopaedia |publisher=Pan Macmillan|date=9 May 2011|edition=3)|page=490|isbn=9781405049252 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sAA9olZqPSMC&pg=PA490}} and both streets have a "high pavement" constructed to protect pedestrians from being splashed by the passing animals; in places, the pavement is approximately 1 m above the road surface.{{cite web
|author=Chris Corby |title=Angel Town Centre Strategy |publisher=London Borough of Islington |date=March 2004|url=http://www.islington.gov.uk/downloadabledocuments/environment/pdf/angeltowncentrestrategy.pdf
|access-date=12 May 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060504015642/http://www.islington.gov.uk/DownloadableDocuments/Environment/Pdf/angeltowncentrestrategy.pdf |archive-date=4 May 2006 }}
{{anchor|Holloway Road}}
After reaching the eight-way interchange at Highbury Corner, the A1 turns north-west as Holloway Road. Until the 14th century the route turned off along what is now Hornsey Road – the A103 road – to go through Muswell Hill, but when that became impassable a new route along Holloway Road via Highgate was created in the 14th century. 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";{{cite journal | author =Patricia Croot | title =Islington Growth: Holloway and Tollington | journal =A History of the County of Middlesex | volume =8 | pages =29–37 | publisher =British History Online | year =1985 | url =http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=1374 | access-date =13 May 2007 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070610060612/http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=1374| archive-date= 10 June 2007 | url-status= live}} 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.{{cite web|url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/intelligent-travel/2013/07/25/london-paradise-following-the-kinks/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190603040941/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/intelligent%2Dtravel/2013/07/25/london%2Dparadise%2Dfollowing%2Dthe%2Dkinks/|url-status=dead|archive-date=3 June 2019|work=nationalgeographic.com|publisher=National Geographic Society|author=Robert Reid|title=London Paradise: Following the Kinks|date=July 25, 2013}}
=Haringey{{anchor|Archway Road}}=
{{anchor|Suicide Bridge}}{{anchor|Hornsey Lane Bridge}}
File:The original Archway Bridge.jpg
After the Archway roundabout, the A1 enters a cutting, and becomes Archway Road. The original road north went up the very steep Highgate Hill (now the B519) to the village of Highgate. By 1808 this was proving unsuitable for increasingly heavy traffic, and a road, crossing the hill through a tunnel at a shallower gradient, was proposed by a mining engineer, Robert Vazie; a turnpike trust – the Highgate Archway Company – was set up and work started in 1810.{{cite web|url=http://www.locallocalhistory.co.uk/mh/page092.htm|title=Muswell Hill Road|author =Jack Whitehead|publisher=locallocalhistory.co.uk|pages=92|access-date=7 December 2012}} The brick built tunnel collapsed during construction on 13 April 1812, and John Nash constructed a brick bridge, using a series of arches like a canal viaduct, to carry Hornsey Lane over what was now a cutting.
Nash's Archway Bridge, a little way south of the current bridge,{{cite web|url=http://www.locallocalhistory.co.uk/mh/page093.htm|title=Muswell Hill Road|author =Jack Whitehead|publisher=locallocalhistory.co.uk|pages=93|access-date=30 December 2013}} and the new Archway Road were opened in 1813, though the road surface, being constructed of sand and gravel, proved difficult for heavy traffic.{{cite book|author = Henry Parnell|title=A Treatise on Roads|publisher=Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green & Longman|year=1833|page=[https://archive.org/details/atreatiseonroad02parngoog/page/n176 163]|url=https://archive.org/details/atreatiseonroad02parngoog}} Parliamentary Commissioners took over the road, and John Benjamin Macneill, chief engineer to Thomas Telford, proposed using Roman cement and gravel,{{cite book|author = Henry Parnell|title=A Treatise on Roads|publisher=Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green & Longman|year=1833|page=[https://archive.org/details/atreatiseonroad02parngoog/page/n178 165]|url=https://archive.org/details/atreatiseonroad02parngoog}} an innovative technique that was used for the first time on Archway Road, and is the basis for modern road building.{{cite book|author1=M. G. Lay |author2=James E. Vance |title=Ways of the World: A History of the World's Roads and of the Vehicles That Used Them|publisher=Rutgers University Press|date=1 December 1992|page=[https://archive.org/details/waysofworldhisto00laym/page/220 220]|isbn=9780813517582 |url=https://archive.org/details/waysofworldhisto00laym|url-access=registration }} The construction was financed by tolls which were abolished in 1876 – traffic increased substantially thereafter, particularly after the introduction of trams on the road.{{cite journal|title=Hornsey, Including Highgate: Communications|author1=A P Baggs |author2=Diane K Bolton |author3=M A Hicks |author4=R B Pugh |editor1=T F T Baker |editor2=C R Elrington |journal=A History of the County of Middlesex|volume=6|pages=103–107|publisher=British History Online|year=1980|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=22516|access-date=14 May 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070610031417/http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=22516|archive-date=10 June 2007 |url-status=live}}
Between 1897 and 1900, Nash's bridge was replaced with the present cast-iron Hornsey Lane Bridge, designed by Sir Alexander Binnie, accessible from the Archway Road level by a steep flight of steps. Hornsey Lane Bridge, designated a Grade II listed building by English Heritage in 1972,{{National Heritage List for England |num= 1204360|desc=Archway Bridge (part in the London Borough of Islington)|access-date= 30 June 2017}}{{National Heritage List for England |num= 1358839|desc=Highgate Archway (part in the London Borough of Haringey)|access-date= 30 June 2017}} is informally called "Suicide Bridge" as it is a known suicide spot.{{cite web|title=Hornsey Lane Bridge Anti-Suicide Campaign|publisher=Hornsey Lane Bridge Anti-Suicide Campaign|date=September 2011|url=http://hornseylanebridge.net|access-date=9 October 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111020213100/http://www.hornseylanebridge.net/|archive-date=20 October 2011|url-status=usurped}} It was the venue for the mental illness campaign group Mad Pride's inaugural vigil in 2000,{{cite web|url=http://asylumonline.net/archive/v13_n4_15-23.htm |title=Archive Volume 13 > Number 4: 'Believing in Bedlam' |author =Rob Dellar |work=AsylumONLINE |year=2002 |access-date=29 November 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050219102051/http://asylumonline.net/archive/v13_n4_15-23.htm |archive-date=19 February 2005 }} and was the subject of Johnny Burke's 2006 film The Bridge.{{cite web|title=Special Screenings|publisher=Rio Cinema|date=April 2006|url=http://www.riocinema.ndirect.co.uk/2006/Apr06/specialcreenings.htm|access-date=14 May 2007|quote=THE BRIDGE UK MiniDV 8mins 8 Director/Producer/Screenplay Johnny Burke There is a 100 year old woman, a serial killer, in North London. Her name is "Suicide Bridge". High above the Archway Road, throwing a heavy shadow over the passing traffic, she assists the tragic people who come for her help. }} When, at the end of 2010, three men in three weeks committed suicide by jumping from the bridge, a campaign was set up by local residents for better anti-suicide measures to be put in place. Hornsey Lane and the bridge marks the boundary between the Inner London Borough of Islington and the Outer London Borough of Haringey.{{cite web|url=http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?x=529315&y=187562&z=110&sv=Hornsey+Lane&st=6&tl=Map+of+Hornsey+Lane,+London,+N_6&searchp=ids.srf&mapp=map.srf |title=Map of Hornsey Lane, London |last=Streetmap EU Ltd 2012 |work=Streetmap.co.uk |publisher=Streetmap EU Ltd 2012 |access-date=7 December 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131213162932/http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?x=529315&y=187562&z=110&sv=Hornsey+Lane&st=6&tl=Map+of+Hornsey+Lane%2C+London%2C+N_6&searchp=ids.srf&mapp=map.srf |archive-date=13 December 2013 }}
File:A1-A1000 junction.JPG (right)]]
An inquiry was held into widening the section from the Archway intersection to the Hornsey Lane Bridge to a three lane dual carriageway in 1969 and work started in 1971.{{cite web|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1971/apr/28/archway-road-islington|date=28 April 1971|title=ARCHWAY ROAD, ISLINGTON|work=Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)}} It was originally intended to widen a further section of the road, but severe disruption led to the first inquiry being abandoned in 1978,{{cite web|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1978/mar/21/archway-road-improvement-scheme|date=21 March 1978|title=Archway Road Improvement Scheme|work=Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)}} and a second inquiry in 1984, chaired by Air Marshal Sir Michael Giddings, was also abandoned.{{cite news|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article6180847.ece|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090505182318/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article6180847.ece|url-status=dead|archive-date=5 May 2009|title=Air Marshal Sir Michael Giddings: Spitfire pilot|date=28 April 2009|work=The Times|access-date=15 April 2010}}{{cite web|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1984/feb/28/archway-road-inquiry|title=Archway Road Inquiry|work=Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)|year=1984}} The traffic flow was projected to increase to 180,000 cars a day by 1981, but by 1986 the actual flow was only 30,000 a day.{{cite journal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Tp0v6A18frAC&pg=PA22|journal=New Scientist|title=Running rings round the traffic planners|pages=22–23|author =Mick Hamer|date=30 October 1986|access-date=3 December 2012}}
When originally constructed, Archway Road went through countryside with few buildings – though by 1828 the Woodman pub at the junction with Muswell Hill Road, and the now demolished Wellington pub at the junction with North Hill provided refreshments to travellers;{{cite web|url=http://www.haringey.gov.uk/revised_archway_road_neighbourhood_plan_with_map.pdf |title=Revised Archway Road Neighbourhood Plan |last=Haringay Council Environmental Services |date=July 2002 |work=haringey.gov.uk |publisher=London Borough of Haringey |access-date=7 December 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110428083526/http://www.haringey.gov.uk/revised_archway_road_neighbourhood_plan_with_map.pdf |archive-date=28 April 2011 }} however, with the coming of the railways in 1867 ribbon development started along the road, including the Camra Heritage listed Winchester Tavern with the distinctive attached parade of shops and house with deep arched eaves built by the Imperial Property Investment Co in 1881.{{cite web|url=http://www.heritagepubs.org.uk/pubs/national-inventory-entry.asp?pubid=2038|title=National Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors Part Two|last=CAMRA|work=heritagepubs.org.uk|publisher=CAMRA|access-date=7 December 2012}}{{cite book|title=A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 6: Friern Barnet, Finchley, Hornsey with Highgate|author1=A P Baggs |author2=Diane K Bolton |author3=M A Hicks |author4=R B Pugh |editor1=T F T Baker |editor2=C R Elrington |pages=122–135|publisher=Victoria County History|year=1980|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=22519&strquery=|access-date=7 December 2012 }} 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.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xa0D0PqiwfEC&pg=PA343|title=The London Encyclopaedia|page=342|author1=Christopher Hibbert |author2=Ben Weinreb |publisher=Pan Macmillan|year=2009|isbn=9780230738782|access-date=5 December 2012|edition=3rd}}
{{anchor|Aylmer Road}}
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 Bishops Avenue in Barnet.{{cite web|url=http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?x=527547&y=188612&z=110&sv=Aylmer+Road&st=6&tl=Map+of+Aylmer+Road,+London,+N_2&searchp=ids.srf&mapp=map.srff |title=Map of Aylmer Road, London |last=Streetmap EU Ltd 2012 |work=Streetmap.co.uk |publisher=Streetmap EU Ltd 2012 |access-date=7 December 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201232752/http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?x=527547&y=188612&z=110&sv=Aylmer+Road&st=6&tl=Map+of+Aylmer+Road%2C+London%2C+N_2&searchp=ids.srf&mapp=map.srff |archive-date=1 February 2014 }} The southern side of the road is partly taken up by Highgate Golf Course, while the northern side is a mixture of small shops, flats and allotments.{{cite web|title=Environment|publisher=London Borough of Haringey|date=31 January 2007|url=http://www.haringey.gov.uk/index/news_and_events/fact_file/ward_profiles/fortis_green1/environment_fortis_green.htm|access-date=16 May 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070228021152/http://www.haringey.gov.uk/index/news_and_events/fact_file/ward_profiles/fortis_green1/environment_fortis_green.htm|archive-date=28 February 2007}} The road is named after Sir Fenton Aylmer,{{cite web|title=150th Anniversary of the Victoria Cross|publisher=Norvic Philatelics|date=21 September 2006|url=http://www.norvic-philatelics.co.uk/2006/09-vicx.htm|access-date=16 May 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070617164139/http://www.norvic-philatelics.co.uk/2006/09-vicx.htm|archive-date=17 June 2007 |url-status=live}} who received the Victoria Cross for his part in the assault on Nilt Fort on 2 December 1891.{{cite book|author =Col G.W.A. Napier|title=The Sapper VCs|publisher=Museum of the Royal Engineers|year=1998|isbn=0-11-772835-7}}
=Barnet=
After crossing The Bishops Avenue, the A1 becomes Lyttelton Road, which was laid out in 1931 as part of the residential development of the area,{{cite web|title=Character Appraisal: The Bishop's Avenue |publisher=London Borough of Barnet |date=1 February 1999 |url=http://www.barnet.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/188/hampstead_garden_suburb_the_bishops_avenue |access-date=8 December 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201162252/http://www.barnet.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/188/hampstead_garden_suburb_the_bishops_avenue |archive-date=1 February 2014 }} and runs east–west along the northern foot of Highgate Hill between Hampstead Garden Suburb and East Finchley. It is for the most part residential; on the northern side stands the Belvedere Court block of flats. Built with the road in the 1930s, the building is now Grade II Listed as an example of 1930s architecture.{{cite web|title=Index of Listed Buildings|publisher=London Borough of Barnet|url=http://www.barnet.gov.uk/planning-listed-buildings.pdf|access-date=17 May 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070202163057/http://www.barnet.gov.uk/planning-listed-buildings.pdf|archive-date=2 February 2007}}
{{anchor|Falloden Way}}
After passing playing fields to the south, the A1 briefly becomes Market Place, a former street market that has evolved into a short stretch of shops, then becomes Falloden Way – built between 1914 and 1924 as part of a programme of planned extensions to Hampstead Garden Suburb,{{cite web|title=Walk the Capital Ring |publisher=London Borough of Haringey |url=http://www.haringey.gov.uk/capital_ring_walk_11.pdf |access-date=17 May 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070221195948/http://www.haringey.gov.uk/capital_ring_walk_11.pdf |archive-date=21 February 2007 }} and runs on an embankment due to a dip in the ground caused by Mutton Brook, a tributary of the River Brent, which runs parallel to the road for its entire length, mostly along the south side. 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 – two of the few surviving remnants of the ancient woodland that once covered what is now north London.{{cite web|url=http://www.gigl.org.uk/igigl/siteDetails.aspx?sID=BaBI05&sType=sinc |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121223231345/http://www.gigl.org.uk/igigl/siteDetails.aspx?sID=BaBI05&sType=sinc |url-status=dead |archive-date=23 December 2012 |title=Big Wood and Little Wood |work=Greenspace Information for Greater London |publisher=gigl.org.uk |year=2006 |access-date=29 November 2012 }}
{{anchor|Henlys Corner}}
The A1 merges with the North Circular Road (A406) and the two routes run briefly together, crossing over the Henlys Corner interchange. Henlys Corner is a junction with the 1820s turnpike road, Finchley Road, which was built to provide a by-pass to the route north from London through Hampstead;{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xa0D0PqiwfEC&pg=PA291|title=The London Encyclopaedia|page=291|author1=Christopher Hibbert |author2=Ben Weinreb |publisher=Pan Macmillan|year=2009|isbn=9780230738782|access-date=7 December 2012|edition=3rd}} the name changes to Regents Park Road on the northern, Finchley, side of the junction. The junction had an £8 million upgrade completed in January 2012,{{cite news|url=http://www.times-series.co.uk/news/9471785.Synagogue_thankful_for_safer_crossing_at_Henlys_Corner/|title=Synagogue thankful for safer crossing at Henlys Corner|newspaper=Hendon & Finchley Times|author=Kate Jenkinson|date=16 January 2012|access-date=30 November 2012}} which included Britain's first "hands-free" pedestrian crossing to allow Orthodox Jews to reach the nearby Finchley Synagogue, one of Europe's largest,{{cite news|author =Sara McConnell|title=Your guide to Jewish London|newspaper=The Times|date=1 September 2006|url=http://travel.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/travel/destinations/england/article622569.ece |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081012005231/http://travel.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/travel/destinations/england/article622569.ece |url-status=dead |archive-date=12 October 2008 }} without operating machinery on the Sabbath.{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/road-safety/10290501/Pedestrians-tricked-by-placebo-buttons-at-crossings.html|title=UK to get first hands-free pedestrian crossing so devout Jews can cross the road|author =Claire Carter|work=the Telegraph|date=6 Sep 2013|access-date=8 November 2019}} While a synagogue has stood on the site since 1935, the current building dates from 1967.{{cite journal|title=Finchley Judaism|journal=A History of the County of Middlesex|volume=6|page=91|year=1980|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=22512|access-date=18 May 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070610031830/http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=22512|archive-date=10 June 2007 |url-status=live}}
File:New road lanes at Henlys Corner.jpg. This junction was modified in 2011 to provide extra filter lanes.]]
{{anchor|Great North Way}}{{anchor|Watford Way}}
After the Henlys Corner interchange, the routes diverge, with the A406 going south to Brent Cross, while the A1 turns north-west as Great North Way through the leafy suburbs of Mill Hill and Hendon. Great North Way, built in 1926, joins Watford Way carrying the A41, completed in 1927, at Fiveways Corner, and in 1970 a junction with the M1 motorway was created.{{cite book|author1=A P Baggs |author2=Diane K Bolton |author3=Eileen P Scarff |author4=G C Tyack |title=A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 5: Hendon, Kingsbury, Great Stanmore, Little Stanmore, Edmonton Enfield, Monken Hadley, South Mimms, Tottenham|editor1=T F T Baker |editor2=R B Pugh |publisher=Victoria County History|year=1976|pages=2–5|chapter=Communications|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=26878&strquery=}} The A41 and A1 continue together as Watford Way via Mill Hill Circus to Apex Corner,{{cite book|title=A-Z London|url=https://archive.org/details/azlondon0000unse|url-access=registration|publisher=Geographer's A-Z Map Company Ltd|year=2002|location=Sevenoaks|isbn=1-84348-020-4 }}
{{anchor|Apex Corner}}{{anchor|Barnet Way}} where they separate, with the A41 turning west, and the A1 turning to run straight north. After passing Apex Corner, the A1 runs north and out of London as the dual carriageway Barnet Way (or Barnet Bypass). This dual carriageway was part of a 1920–24 road improvement programme that was mentioned in parliament in 1928 as hopefully being completed by the end of that summer.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nEogLRpuxZQC&pg=PT501|title=London: A Social History|page=501|author =Roy Porter|publisher=Penguin UK|date=5 October 2000|access-date=5 December 2012|isbn=9780140105933}}{{cite web|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1928/jun/21/barnet-by-pass|title=BARNET BY-PASS. (Hansard, 21 June 1928)|work=Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)|date=21 June 1928|access-date=5 December 2012}}
The northbound carriageway passes the entrance to Scratchwood, an area of ancient forest which is now a local nature reserve, then crosses the A411 from Watford to Barnet at the Stirling Corner roundabout. A {{convert|0.6|miles|km}} proposed link road at this roundabout, estimated at £22.8m in 1987, would have provided access to the M1,{{cite web|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1989/jan/11/flying-displays|title=Flying Displays|work=Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)|author =Paul Channon|author-link =Paul Channon, Baron Kelvedon|date=11 January 1989|access-date=17 June 2013}}{{cite web|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1994/jan/25/transport-schemes|title=Transport Schemes|work=Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)|author =John MacGregor|author-link =John MacGregor, Baron MacGregor of Pulham Market|date=18 January 1994|access-date=17 June 2013}} but the plans were subsequently abandoned. The link had been planned during discussions for the Hendon Urban Motorway, which was intended to carry the M1 all the way down to Hyde Park Corner as part of the London Ringways scheme;{{cite book|author1=Peter Baldwin |author2=John Porter |author3=Robert Baldwin |title=The Motorway Achievement: Visualisation of the British Motorway System: Policy and Administration|publisher=Thomas Telford|year=2004|page=155|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ndZVcax375EC&pg=PA155|isbn=9780727731968}} the interchange would have been junction 3 on the motorway; which is currently the unnumbered junction for London Gateway services.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/notesandqueries/query/0,,-2887,00.html|title=Why is there no junction 3 on the M1 motorway?|last=Nick Atkinson|year=2011|work=guardian.co.uk|publisher=The Guardian|pages=Notes & Queries|access-date=8 December 2012}}
Past Stirling Corner, the A1 skirts Borehamwood, before turning northeast and running through open countryside to Bignell's Corner. At Bignell's Corner the A1 crosses under the M25 motorway at a large roundabout near South Mimms services. North of Bignell's Corner the A1 becomes the A1(M) motorway for a while, and follows the Great North Road route, running north to Edinburgh.
Construction
The A1 route was designated in 1921 by the Ministry of Transport under the Great Britain road numbering scheme. Through the inner boroughs of the City, Islington, and Haringey it uses existing roads and streets; when it reaches what is now the outer London borough of Barnet, some stretches of purpose-built new roads were built, and others have been widened and made into dual carriageways. In 1828, John Benjamin Macneill, chief engineer to Thomas Telford, used Roman cement and gravel to solve problems with wear and tear on the Archway Road section of what is now the A1, an innovative technique that was used there for the first time, and is the basis for modern road building.