Holly Village in Highgate, London, England

Holly Village was built in 1865 by a remarkable, but now little- known philanthropist, Baroness Burdett-Coutts, who inherited the Coutts banking fortune from her grandfather's second wife, but who never forgot her own humble origins. In her time, Angela Burdett-Coutts was known as the "queen of the poor", building schools at her own expense - such as the Burdett-Coutts primary school in Westminster. She was also a great friend of Charles Dickens, with whom she collaborated on establishing a home for "fallen women" in Shepherd's Bush. - These tremendous photos were taken by Susan Gina Mackey, of London EC4A. Ms. Mackey owns the copyright of the photos I used in this posting of my blog.