Greater London High Points

Greater London is divided into 32 local authority districts called Boroughs plus the City of London. Living relatively close to the edge of London, it was natural that I would want to visit all 33 high points. Much like the UK County Tops some feel like a proper summit and others are unremarkable points in flat areas.

Westerham Heights on the Kent border is the high point of both Bromley and the whole of Greater London. It’s also a very short walk from Betsom’s Hill, the Kent County Top. Other than their elevations neither is particularly interesting though. You’ll need to visit Sanderstead Plantation in Croydon for the highest point that actually feels like a hill.

Prior to 1st April 1994, the Greater London high point was on the north-eastern slope of Botley Hill. A boundary change moved this point to Surrey where Leith Hill is higher.

Hampstead Heath, the high point of Camden is also the high point of the old County of London Administrative County. This area came into being with Local Government Act 1888 which split some Historic Counties into new Administrative Counties. The Administrative Counties have since been replaced by the Metropolitan and Non-metropolitan Counties plus Greater London.

High Holborn, the high point of The City of London, is not a borough but an English Ceremonial County.

As you would expect with high points, several are marked with OS Trig Pillars. Sanderstead Plantation in Croydon has a Trig Pillar nearby at Selsdon Park but it’s not at the summit. Pole Hill, in Waltham Forest is the highest point of a Greater London Borough that has a Trig Pillar on the summit.

By the end of 2021 I had completed the high points of all Greater London Boroughs. Click on the links in the list below to see details on each one. I still have the remaining Trig Pillars and Summits >100m to complete. Let me know if you spot any mistakes in the data below and I’ll donate £1 per correction to one of my causes.


London’s High Points and OS Trig Pillars


Greater London Boroughs High Points

Sanderstead Plantation

Pole Hill, Waltham Forest

Pole Hill, Waltham Forest

Bushey Heath, Harrow


London’s Natural High Points vs its Buildings & Structures

Westerham Heights was the highest point in London until the completion of The Shard in 2012. The Observation Deck at the Shard is at 244m, just 1m lower than Westerham Heights. However, the highest point on The Shard is 309.6m.

When 22 Bishopsgate was completed in 2020, it relegated Westerham Heights to 3rd place.

At the time of writing (march 2026) there are now 22 buildings and structures in London with heights between those of Westerham Heights and Sanderstead Plantation, London’s 2nd highest Borough High Point.


Parent Peaks of The Greater London Boroughs

The Parent Peaks of the London Borough High Points have a distinct north/south split. All High Points north of the Thames have Haddington Hill in the Chilterns as their parent. Botley Hill in Kent is the parent for all London High Points south of the Thames. The Nearest Higher Neighbour, according to Peakbagger also keeps to this north/south split with the exception of Heston The Vale.

The graphic below shows the Borough High Points in descending order from left to right with peaks north of the river on the top half and south of the river on the lower half.



More London posts

If you enjoyed reading this post, there is plenty more to explore across the capital. I have put together a dedicated London Outdoors page where I keep track of all my other adventures around the city. It is a handy index where I group my posts by the different types of places I have visited: including historic boundary lines, canal towpaths, and some surprising urban high points.

The collection covers a bit of everything: from long-distance cycling routes to tracing the underground network on foot, and ticking off another Saturday morning parkrun. If you are looking for some inspiration for your own weekend outings, head back over to the London Outdoors page to see what else I have been up to.


More County Tops