Time to step back to 1664. Here at The Old Forge, Thomas Sconce a blacksmith, was granted a parcel of land. It was on the Bank before the Elms. He built a house here.
Sconce died in 1674. He left his property to his wife. When she died, the shop, stable, and forge went to their son Thomas Sconce. The adjoining house went to the other son, Henry Sconce.
Thomas Sconce’s only child was Anne. She was four when he died in 1685. She was 13 when her mother died. In 1694, the forge was in John Hix’s hands.
At 18, Anne was married to John Allen, a London surgeon. She conveyed The Old Forge to William Jewkes. He was a draper from St. Clement’s Danes. William Poulson, a blacksmith, was the tenant. The dimension from north to south was 40 feet. This matches the frontage of today’s Nos. 39, 39a, and 41.
John Bostock was a tenant in 1733. John Dodd was a tenant in 1782, 1808, and 1845. It is unlikely it was the same person each time. The Broadbent family owned The Old Forge from 1854 until the century’s end.
Henry Sconce died in 1692. His house next to The Old Forge passed to his brother Lawrence. The occupiers then were Ann Hatton junior, a widow, and William Jones, a spurrier.
Lawrence Sconce conveyed it to John Orton, a bricklayer, in 1692. The Orton family lived on the site of Ridgemont Terrace. John Orton died in 1716. His daughter Mary, married to Thomas Woolford, sold the property. Woolford was a pattern maker from Pangbourne. Robert Harrison, a bricklayer, bought it in 1717. By then, there were three houses.
In 1728, there were four houses. They were described as being in “Middle Row.” The family kept possession until 1807.
The Old Forge was once a picturesque structure. It stood at the corner of South Grove. It faced the Angel Inn. The forge was removed in 1896. A printing works replaced it.
The houses between Pond Square and High Street are numbered in the latter. Most seem rebuilt. A few years ago, their backs were picturesque towards the Square. Numbers 39 and 41 sit where The Old Forge once stood.
Today, The Old Forge is listed on the National Heritage List for England. It is a reminder of Highgate’s history. It links us to blacksmiths, brewers, and families of long ago.