Place Name
Directional, the road that leads to Crouch End. The name is a throw back to the Middle Ages, when the devout (almost everyone) would erect crosses at road junctions with the names of their village or hamlet. So in this sense it means district by a cross. It was first recorded in 1465 as Crouchend, in 1480 as Crowchenede, and two years later as Crouche ende. It comes from two Middle English words crouch (cross) and end (district). David Mills in A Dictionary of London Place Names writes: “It was no doubt the home of Stephen atte Cruche and Geoffrey atte Crouche (that is ‘at the cross’) mentioned in local records from the late 14th century. There must have been a way side cross at the junction of roads where the hamlet developed.” The cross is said to have stood a little below old Crouch Hill and was a resting place for pilgrims, if they were travelling to the shrine of Our Lady of Muswell, before they ascended the hill.
