of London sold off a large south-facing field on the south side of Fortis Green on the corner of the East Finchley High Road. Four grand houses were built on the plot and proceeding from west to east these properties were Fairlawn, Cranleigh, Park Hall and Summerlee. A further large house, Park View was also built to the east of Summerlee. In 1835 the architect Anthony Salvin purchased a field and built two Italianate villas, Springcroft and Colethall (later Uplands) to the east of Summerlee. In the 1850s St James Church school was constructed on the north side of Fortis Green near to the junction with Tetherdown. Fortis Green was affected by the construction of the Great Northern Railway stations at East Finchley, which opened in 1867, and Muswell Hill in 1872 and also by the opening of Alexandra Park in 1872. Twenty houses were built in the decade to 1861, most of them on the Haswell Park estate to the south of the road which was acquired in 1852 by the National Freehold Land Society. Meant for superior villas, it was divided into 180 plots facing Eastern, Western, and Southern roads and the paths later called Haswell Passage, Francis Road, and Shakespeare Gardens. Some roads existed by 1855 and in 1856 it was claimed that all lots were fenced and connected to main services. In spite of auctions in 1852 and 1856 some lots were still unsold in 1858; there were only 28 houses in 1871. Vacant plots remained in 1896, and the southern part of the estate was never built on. In 1871 there were only twelve houses, six built during 1867–68, standing north of Fortis Green and in 1896 there were just two large houses between Eastern Road and Muswell Hill Road. During the 1890s, with the expansion of London, building spread to Fortis Green. By 1900 builders had laid out the curved Creighton Avenue from Page's Lane to Coldfall Wood. By 1900 the builder W. J. Collins had laid out the area south of Fortis Green and west of Muswell Hill Road, previously the site of the large houses Midhurst, Fortismere, and the Firs, which were replaced before 1905 by five streets of terraced houses running southward from Fortis Green to Grand Avenue. In 1902 the Police Station was opened. The Clissold Arms is on the site of the Fortis Green Brewery which operated from 1843