Highgate Archway excavations. 19th-century artwork of excavations taking place for the construction of the Highgate Archway, then in the county of Middlesex, now part of North London, UK. An aqueduct-style archway, designed by John Nash, was constructed here in 1812 to cross a cutting dug to allow what is now Archway Road to bypass the steep Highgate Hill. Visitors have congregated on a temporary wooden bridge that allowed views of London to the south. St Paul's Cathedral is seen in the distance at left. The 1812 bridge was demolished in 1901. Dating from 1812, this coloured aquatint was engraved by J. Hill.