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was built here probably about 1120, in which was placed the image
of "Our Lady of Muswell," and to this shrine pilgrims came
from all parts of the country. Some miraculous cures were said
to have been effected by the water of this well.
The water from wells in Southwood Lane was at one time
celebrated for the purpose of bathing " weak eyes." Persons
came from great distances to fetch it, and it was sold in London
as " Highgate eye water." The last wells in Southwood Lane
were closed in 1873.
In 1819 a formal complaint was made at the " Court Leet
that drainage was finding its way into the ponds on the top of
Highgate Hill (the site now known as South Grove), which had
been for two hundred years the only source of water supply for
the poor and for those who did not possess wells of their own.
It is said that " a nameless hermit dwelling in the Hermitage,
where now the school is, on his own cost caused ground to be
digged on the top of Highgate Hill, where is now a fair pool of
water, and therewith made a causeway from Highgate to Islington;
a two-handed charity, providing water on the hill, where it
was wanted, and cleanliness in the vale, which before, especially
in the winter, was passed with much tribulation." In Highgate
water used to be carted up the hill on occasions and sold at
prices varying from twopence to one halfpenny per bucket, according
to the degree of competition. The last vendor of water died
as recently as 1064, the year in which New, River water was
supplied to Highgate and the old ponds on the top of the hill
filled in and planted over by public subscription.
The last public well in Hornsey was situated in Crouch End.
It was more than 160 feet deep and the water, which was very
highly esteemed, was soft and very unlike that drawn from most
of the surface wells in the neighbourhood. It always yielded an
abundant and pure supply. Most of the surface wells had their
water drained off when railway cuttings were made throughout
the district and when sewers were laid down, but the Crouch End
well was still in use in 1875. By this date the New River water
had been supplied to most of the houses in the area.
In his twentieth Annual Report to the Metropolitan Water
Board, Sir Alexander Houston, Director of Water Examination,
has written in a most charming manner of " the romance of the