London Borough of Haringey

The **London Borough of Haringey** is a borough of North London, classified by some definitions as part of Inner London, and by others as part of Outer London. It shares borders with six other boroughs. Clockwise from the north, they are: Enfield, Waltham Forest, Hackney, Islington, Camden, and Barnet.

Haringey covers an area of more than 11 sqmi. Some of the more familiar local landmarks include Alexandra Palace, Bruce Castle and Tottenham Hotspur Football Club.

The borough is very ethnically diverse. It has extreme contrasts, with areas in the west, such as Highgate, Muswell Hill and Crouch End that are among the most prosperous in the country. In the east of the borough, some wards are classified as being among the most deprived 10% in the country.

Haringey is also a borough of contrasts geographically. From the wooded high ground around Highgate and Muswell Hill, at 426.5 ft, the land falls sharply away to the flat, open low lying land beside the River Lea in the east. The borough includes large areas of green space, which make up more than 25% of its total area.

## History

In the Ice Age, Haringey was at the edge of a huge glacial mass that reached as far south as Muswell Hill.

Prior to the Romans' arrival, Harringay was part of a large area covering Essex and Middlesex which was home to a celtic tribe called Trinobantes.

The Romans' presence is evidenced chiefly by the roads they built through the area. Tottenham High Road was part of the main Roman thoroughfare of Ermine Street. There have also been Roman finds in the borough which suggests possible Roman settlement.

In the 5th and 6th centuries the Saxon invasions brought Haering, the chieftain whose name still lives on today in local placenames.

At the time of Domesday, the western part of modern Haringey was within the Manor of Harengheie and part of the Bishop of London's principal Manor of Stepney. The eastern part was within the Manor of Tottenham held by Waltheof II, Earl of Northumbria, the last of the great Anglo-Saxon Earls.

Haringey remained a rural area until the 18th century when large country houses close to London became increasingly common. The coming of the railways from the mid-nineteenth century onwards led to rapid urbanisation. So that by the turn of the century much of Haringey had been transformed from a rural to an urbanised environment.

The borough in its modern form was founded in 1965, from the former Municipal Borough of Hornsey, the Municipal Borough of Wood Green and the Municipal Borough of Tottenham which had all previously been part of Middlesex. The legacy of these old municipal divisions survives to the present day, with the relative propsperity of the different parts of the borough still split broadly along the old boundary lines.

### Etymology

The names *Haringey*, *Harringay* and *Hornsey* in use today are all different variations of the same Old English - *Haeringes-hege*. Haering was a Saxon chief who lived probably in the area around Hornsey. *Haering's Hege*, meant Haering's enclosure and evolved into *Haringey*, *Harringay* and *Hornsey*.

### The Haringey coat of arms and logo

The official explanation of the coat of arms is given as:

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The modern logo is fashioned on the coat of arms.

## Demographics

Haringey has a population of 216,507.

The population grew by 8.6% between 1991 and 2006 and is projected to grow by a further 5.4% by 2016 to 233,125. The male to female ratio is 50:50 and the age structure is similar to that of London as a whole although younger than the national average.
Haringey has a high proportion of young adults in the 20-39 age range and a low proportion of residents aged 45 and over. The borough has a high proportion of lone parent households.

The ethnic composition of Haringey's residents is 65.7% White, 14.7% Asian, 12.1% Black, 4.6% Mixed, 1.1% Chinese and 2% Other. An estimated 193 languages are spoken in the borough.

### Housing

There are about 97,101 dwellings in Haringey. Of those: 46% are owner occupied; 17.4% are council rented; 10.8% are rented from a registered social landlord; and 24% are rented from a private landlord. Just over 55% of residents in Haringey live in flats, apartments or maisonettes. The local council and housing associations provide about 27,463 affordable homes and in 2006 over 19,000 households were waiting to be housed by the borough. There are almost 5,500 households living in temporary accommodation. In 2002/03 over 1,300 households were accepted as homeless by the council.

## Political composition

The borough has been Labour-run since 1971. In May 2006 Labour retained control of the Council with a majority of just three seats over the Liberal Democrats.

In November 2007 a Liberal Democrat councillor, Catherine Harris, crossed the floor to join the Labour Party. This was the first such occasion in the history of the borough. The Labour majority thus increased to 5 (31 Labour, 26 Liberal Democrat).

No Conservative candidate has won a local government election in Haringey since 1998.

**Seats on Haringey Council, by party:**

 2007 | 0 | 31 | 26

*(boundary changes in 2002 reduced the number of councillors by 2)*

See also List of Mayors of Haringey

## Economy

In 2006, there were 8,200 businesses in Haringey employing a total of 64,700 people. This accounted for 1.6% of all employment in London.

Haringey's economy is dominated by small businesses with 94.2% of businesses employing less than 24 people. These small businesses account for 39.3% of total employment in the borough.

The main sectors of employment in Haringey are:

* Retail and wholesale distribution - 19.9%
* Health and social work - 19.0%
* Real estate, renting and business activities - 15.3%
* Education - 12.8%
* Manufacturing - 8.3%
* Public administration - 6.8%
* Hotels and catering - 6.8%
* Transport and communications - 6.6%
* Construction - 3.5% (Source:Annual Business Inquiry)

The principal shopping areas in the borough are Wood Green and Turnpike Lane, Muswell Hill, Crouch End, and Haringey.

Haringey is situated within the growth corridor connecting London with Stansted, Cambridge and Peterborough.

## Culture

The borough has a number of facilities offering a wide range of cultural activity

### Performing arts

Haringey's theatres include:

* Haringey Shed - an outreach theatre group of Chicken Shed Theatre.
* Jackson's Lane Community Centre.
* Mountview Conservatoire.
* Upstairs at the Gatehouse.
* North London Performing Arts Centre.
* In 2007, the new £14 million Bernie Grant Arts Centre opened, as part of the borough's regeneration strategy.
* Downstairs at the King's Head.
* A wide range of small live music venues together with the bigger venues of Finsbury Park and Alexandra Palace.

### Visual arts

* The Chocolate Factory.
* Royal Academy Schools Gallery.
* Collage Arts.

## Green spaces

Haringey has 600 acre of parks, recreation grounds and open spaces which make up more than 25% of its total area. They include both smaller local areas and large green areas which provide an amenity for Londoners beyond the borough's boundaries. Local Nature Reserves and a number of conservation areas can also be found in the borough. The borough is also home to five distinct ancient woods. These are Highgate Woods, Queen's Wood, Coldfall Wood, Bluebell Wood and North Wood.

The borough has achieved Green Flag status for eight of its parks which is the highest awarded to any London borough. Highgate Woods in Haringey is one of only eight Green Heritage sites in London.

Amongst the larger open spaces are: Finsbury Park, Alexandra Park, Highgate Woods, Coldfall Wood and the Lee Valley Park.

There are three rivers of note still flowing above ground in the borough. These are:

* River Moselle (not to be confused with the French river and region).
* The New River
* River Lee

## Education

Haringey has 63 primary (including infant and junior) schools, 10 secondary schools, a City Academy, 4 special schools and a pupil support centre. In addition there is off site provision and study support centres for children and young people with additional needs. Ten Children’s Centres were opened in 2006 and a further eight are planned for 2008.

The number of pupils in Haringey Schools as at January 2006 was 34,990 (Including nursery age children). This total was made up as follows:

* Primary Total 16,705 (pupils of compulsory school age).
* Secondary Total 12,431 (including sixth form students).
* Special School pupils and students 299 (including post 16 children).
* Pupil support centre 77.

### Primary schools

* Alexandra
* Belmont
* Bounds Green
* Broadwater Farm
* Bruce Grove
* Campsbourne
* Chestnuts
* Coldfall
* Coleraine Park
* Coleridge
* Crowland
* Devonshire Hill
* Downhills
* Earlham
* Earlsmead
* Ferry Lane
* The Green CE
* Highgate
* Lancasterian
* Lea Valley
* Lordship Lane
* Mulberry
* Muswell Hill
* Nightingale
* Noel Park
* North Harringay
* Our Lady of Muswell RC
* Rhodes Avenue
* Risley Avenue
* Rokesly
* St Ann’s CE
* St Aidan's Voluntary Aided
* St Francis de Sales RC
* St Gildas’ RC
* St Ignatius RC
* St James CE
* St John Vianney RC
* St Martin of Porres RC
* St Mary’s CE
* St Mary’s RC
* St Michael’s CE (N22)
* St Michael’s CE (N6)
* St Paul’s and All Hallows CE
* St Paul’s RC
* St Peter in Chains RC
* Seven Sisters
* South Harringay
* Stamford Hill
* Stroud Green
* Tetherdown
* Tiverton
* Welbourne
* West Green
* Weston Park

### Secondary schools

* Alexandra Park School
* Fortismere School
* Gladesmore Community School
* Greig City Academy
* Highgate Wood Secondary School
* Hornsey School for Girls
* The John Loughborough School
* Northumberland Park Community School
* Park View Academy
* St Thomas More RC School
* Woodside High School

### Public school

Highgate School, which is a public school, lies within the London Borough of Haringey.

## Sport

Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, currently in the FA Premier League, is located in the borough in Tottenham High Road.

London Skolars are a rugby league team that compete in National League 2, they play at New River Stadium in Wood Green, Haringey. The annual Middlesex 9s rugby league tournament also takes place at the New River Stadium.

The Borough's ice hockey team, the Haringey Greyhounds currently play at Alexandra Palace. Alexandra Palace has also hosted other events including the PDC World Darts Championship and a number of Boxing events.

## Notable current and former residents

There are a large number well-known people who have lived or are living in the borough, particularly in the areas of Highgate, Muswell Hill and Crouch End. The group includes Samuel Taylor Coleridge, J. B. Priestley, Yehudi Menuhin, Sting, George Michael, Ho Chi Minh, David Gray and Oliver Tambo.