Highgate Literary and Scientific Institute and attached railings and gate

The Highgate Literary and Scientific Institute is a detached house that has been converted into a library and educational institute. It dates from the mid-19th century, with remodeling around 1880 by R Parkinson of an earlier house. The building is constructed of stuccoed brick and features a hipped Welsh slate roof, along with a rendered brick return that has a tall chimney stack.

The exterior consists of two storeys with three windows. The windows on the ground floor are architraved sashes with cornices, while the first floor has a sill band supported by brackets. An entablature with a blocking course and a shallow pediment is dated 1839. The entrance is marked by a gabled red brick and terracotta portico that includes a semicircular arched doorway with a mask keystone, impost bands, a fanlight, and double panelled doors, topped by a lantern. To the left of the entrance, there is a geometric-style three-light window in the gable of the library, which has a buttressed rear wall.

Inside, the large ground floor room features an early 19th-century thin-beamed coffered ceiling with Gothick-style carving on a corner cupboard. At the back of this room is the lecture room from 1880, which has openwork spandrels supporting a four-bay arch-braced roof. The library, located behind the lecture room, was converted from a former lecture room in 1880 and displays a royal coat-of-arms that was presented in 1837 by Queen Victoria to a local innkeeper. The front range has a 18th-century pegged queen-post roof, and the cellar contains colorwashed late 17th/18th-century brickwork.

Additionally, there are attached cast-iron railings and a gate with a geometric pattern on a low wall.

Historically, the Institute is a rare example of the many similar establishments that thrived in the 19th century. It was founded in 1839 with the aim of promoting an intelligent interest in literature and science, although it did not allow "mechanics and labourers" as members until 1848. The building was previously used as a school for Jewish boys in the early 19th century before being taken over in 1840.