History of North Finchley
Encyclopedia
Tally Ho Corner and the High Road
North End, the old name for the area of North Finchley and Whetstone, was first recorded in 1462. North Finchley did not develop into an urban area until after the enclosure of Finchley CommonFinchley Common
Finchley Common was an area of land in Middlesex, and until 1816 the boundary between the parishes of Finchley, Friern Barnet and Hornsey.- History :...
after 1816. Prior to that, in 1627, Thomas Rawson was allowed to construct a windmill and house which by 1722 had also become an inn, the Windmill. By 1754 the inn was called the Swan with Two Nicks and had ceased as a mill. The site is now a police garage.
Ballards Lane did not always connect with the High Road. For many centuries it terminated near where Victoria Park is today. In 1756 a raised way was constructed from the end of Ballards Lane to the High Road, then the Great North Road, making North Finchley a junction. This suggests that Ballards Lane had already become a link in a route from London via Hendon to the Great North Road. There was a beer house in 1814, licensed to provide gunpowder and shot, near the junction. The name Tally Ho came in the 1830s when a coaching company of the same name based a staging post of 16 horses on the corner. But it was later, with the enclosure of the common after 1816 and the creation of the Finchley Road turnpike along Ballards Lane in the late 1820s, that beginnings of a suburb were sparked.
Charles Jacques built twenty one cottages in Lodge Lane around 1824 and constructed Torrington Cottage as a residence. By the 1830s there were other houses and in 1837 a dissenting chapel, "Cottagers Chapel", which had been converted from the stables of Orchard Cottage.
By 1839 North Finchley had at least five retail outlets including a blacksmith called Elizabeth Humphreys. These were on Lodge Lane rather than on the High Road. Incidentally Lodge Lane was the home of Private John Parr the first British soldier to be killed in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, and the actor David Jason
David Jason
Sir David John White, OBE , better known by his stage name David Jason, is an English BAFTA award-winning actor. He is best known as the main character Derek "Del Boy" Trotter on the BBC sit-com Only Fools and Horses from 1981, the voice of Mr Toad in The Wind In The Willows and as detective Jack...
.
In 1851 there was a regular 'bus service running from the Torrington to Charing Cross
Charing Cross
Charing Cross denotes the junction of Strand, Whitehall and Cockspur Street, just south of Trafalgar Square in central London, England. It is named after the now demolished Eleanor cross that stood there, in what was once the hamlet of Charing. The site of the cross is now occupied by an equestrian...
and railway connections had been established with London, first at New Southgate
New Southgate
New Southgate is a residential suburb in the south-east corner of the London Borough of Barnet and the south-west corner of the London Borough of Enfield in North London, England....
. During the 1850s and 1860s Woodside Lane, Torrington Park, Friern Park, Grove Road, Finsbury Road (now Finchley Park) had all been laid out. In 1872 the Edgware, Highgate and London Railway
Edgware, Highgate and London Railway
The Edgware, Highgate and London Railway was a railway in north London. The railway was a precursor of parts of London Underground's Northern Line and was, in the 1930s the core of an ambitious expansion plan for that line which was thwarted by the Second World War...
opened Torrington Park Station which was renamed Woodside Park
Woodside Park tube station
Woodside Park tube station is a London Underground station in Woodside Park, north London.The station is on the High Barnet branch of the Northern line, between West Finchley and Totteridge and Whetstone stations, and in Travelcard Zone 4...
in 1882. It was during the construction of a railway through Finchley from 1864 that a Reverend Henry Stephens opened a mission for the navvies working on the line. A church had been constructed by 1869 which was formally opened in 1870 as Christ Church. It became a new parish in 1872. By 1874 it was said that there were 350 dwellings within this ecclesiastical parish.
In 1905 the Metropolitan Electric Tramways (the M.E.T.) opened a tram
Tram
A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
line between Highgate
Highgate
Highgate is an area of North London on the north-eastern corner of Hampstead Heath.Highgate is one of the most expensive London suburbs in which to live. It has an active conservation body, the Highgate Society, to protect its character....
and Whetstone
Whetstone, London
-Buses:* 34 - Barnet Church to Walthamstow Central bus/tube/railway station* 125 - Winchmore Hill to Finchley Central* 234 - Barnet to Highgate Wood * 251 - Edgware bus/tube station to Arnos Grove tube station...
and this was crossed by another from New Southgate
New Southgate
New Southgate is a residential suburb in the south-east corner of the London Borough of Barnet and the south-west corner of the London Borough of Enfield in North London, England....
to Golders Green
Golders Green
Golders Green is an area in the London Borough of Barnet in London, England. Although having some earlier history, it is essentially a 19th century suburban development situated about 5.3 miles north west of Charing Cross and centred on the crossroads of Golders Green Road and Finchley Road.In the...
from 1909. To facilitate this a tramway depot was opened in Woodberry Grove. Trams combined with motorbus services promoted the development of the retail district we see today. During the 1930s the old Ballards Lane, which terminated where the Embassy Lounge(formerly called the Purple Rain Bar, before that the Cherry Tree and previously the Coach Stop) is today, was replaced by a new road called Kingsway. In 1937 the new plot created by this diversion became the location for the Gaumont Cinema. This was demolished in 1987 to be replaced with the recently opened Arts Depot.
Woodhouse and the Rough Lots
The Woodhouse area of Finchley began with three houses called the Woodhouses sometime before 1655. In the mid 18th century there was a single house of this name and it was home to the well-known plasterer Thomas CollinsThomas Collins
Thomas Collins may refer to:* Thomas Collins , American lawyer and Governor of Delaware* Thomas Collins , Member of Parliament for Knaresborough and Boston...
. It was reconstructed in 1888 and in 1925 it became Woodhouse Grammar School
Grammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and some other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching classical languages but more recently an academically-oriented secondary school.The original purpose of mediaeval...
(Now Woodhouse College
Woodhouse College
Woodhouse College is a single site state sixth form college situated between North Finchley and Friern Barnet on the eastern side of the London Borough of Barnet...
).
Summers Lane existed from at least the 18th century as a short cut from the main road through to Friern Barnet
Friern Barnet
Friern Barnet is a place in the London Borough of Barnet. It is a suburban development situated north of Charing Cross. The centre of Friern Barnet is formed by the busy intersection of Colney Hatch Lane , Woodhouse Road and Friern Barnet Road .-History:Friern Barnet was an...
. Below it and to the east is a small pocket of woodland called Coppetts Wood, one of the last remnants of the medieval Finchley Wood. Close to Coppetts Wood a sewage farm
Sewage treatment
Sewage treatment, or domestic wastewater treatment, is the process of removing contaminants from wastewater and household sewage, both runoff and domestic. It includes physical, chemical, and biological processes to remove physical, chemical and biological contaminants...
was established by Finchley in 1885, of which, since the area's sewage was diverted to Deephams Sewage Treatment Works
Deephams Sewage Treatment Works
Deephams Sewage Treatment Works is a sewage treatment facility close to Picketts Lock, Edmonton. The outflow discharges via Pymmes Brook into the River Lee Navigation at Tottenham Lock. The treatment works is in the process of being upgraded ....
, Edmonton
Edmonton, London
Edmonton is an area in the east of the London Borough of Enfield, England, north-north-east of Charing Cross. It has a long history as a settlement distinct from Enfield.-Location:...
in 1961, only the manager’s cottage remains.
Between 1882 and 1922 there was a small isolation hospital with 18 beds which was closed when Coppetts Wood Hospital was opened.
After enclosure the eastern end of Summers Lane was developed by Henry Dunger, owner of the Flower Pot brewery in Dunger Place (now Summers Place), from the 1830s until the 1870s.
The area popularly called the Rough Lots, officially called the Glebe
Glebe
Glebe Glebe Glebe (also known as Church furlong or parson's closes is an area of land within a manor and parish used to support a parish priest.-Medieval origins:...
Land, was the location (from 1879 until the early 20th century) of John Lawford's brick works. On a site where Summers Lane meets the High Road a gun battery was placed in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
as a defence against early German air raids
Airstrike
An air strike is an attack on a specific objective by military aircraft during an offensive mission. Air strikes are commonly delivered from aircraft such as fighters, bombers, ground attack aircraft, attack helicopters, and others...
.
Finchley football club (now Wingate and Finchley F.C.
Wingate and Finchley F.C.
Wingate & Finchley F.C. is an English football club based in Finchley in the London Borough of Barnet. The club are currently members of the Premier Division of the Isthmian League and play at The Harry Abrahams Stadium.-History:...
), founded in 1874, started playing football on the Glebe Lands in 1932. Ken Aston
Ken Aston
Kenneth George "Ken" Aston, MBE was an English teacher, soldier, and football referee, who was responsible for many important developments in football refereeing.- Early life and career :...
, late president of the club, was the man who started the system of red and yellow cards use by referees.
The Finchley Open Air Pool was a lido opened by Finchley Borough Council in September 1931. A tour de force of art deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
, the main pool was heated until World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. During the 1948 Olympic Games
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
the pool was used for the water polo. (Only a men's event in those days.) The pool was the first element in a Finchley complex which was to include a Town Hall for which plans were drawn up in 1936 but never realised.
In 1938 the War Office built a drill hall at the bottom of the hill for the 61 Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regt RA (TA), better known locally as the T.A. centre. The open air pool was closed in 1992 and replaced by the present complex in May 1996 The T.A. centre was demolished in 2004.
Fallow Corner
The area of Fallow Corner was recorded in 1429, probably Cobley’s Farm (so called by the 17th century). By the 18th century there was a small hamlet of houses and the access roads from these to the main road formed the distinct Bow Road we see today.Between 1806 and 1827 the clown Joseph Grimaldi
Joseph Grimaldi
Joseph Grimaldi , was an English actor and comedian who is perhaps best known for his invention of the modern day whiteface clown. He chiefly appeared at Drury Lane in pantomime where his greatest success was appearing in Harlequin and Mother Goose; or the Golden Egg and followed with a successful...
lived here. It was whilst “ghost writing” Grimaldi’s memoirs that Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
probably first stayed at the farm during 1836 and 1837. Later, in 1843, he returned and wrote portions of Martin Chuzzlewit
Martin Chuzzlewit
The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit is a novel by Charles Dickens, considered the last of his picaresque novels. It was originally serialized between 1843-1844. Dickens himself proclaimed Martin Chuzzlewit to be his best work, but it was one of his least popular novels...
, conceiving the character of 'Sairey' Gamp whilst out walking in Finchley. The Farm’s fields were realised for building, as the Etchingham Park Estate, between 1878 and 1920, the farm itself disappearing in 1905.
Two institutions occupied the fields within the bow of Bow Lane.
- Finchley Cottage Hospital opened with 18 beds in 1908 and was renamed the Finchley Memorial Hospital in 1922. The original hospital was paid for out of subscriptions and the later extensions raised to form a memorial for the Finchley dead of World War IWorld War IWorld War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
.
- Finchley County School was opened in 1903. Dame Evelyn TurnerEvelyn TurnerBrigadier Dame Evelyn Marguerite Turner, DBE, RRC, QHNS, Hon ADC , known as Margot Turner, was a British military nurse and World War II POW. After the war she resumed her career with a succession of foreign postings....
(1910-1993), on whose life the television series TenkoTenko (TV series)Tenko is a television drama, co-produced by the BBC and the ABC. A total of thirty episodes were produced between 1981 and 1984 for women, followed by a one-off special , Tenko Reunion, in 1985 - also for women in mind.The series dealt with the experiences of British, Australian and Dutch women...
was partially based, went to school here. The building was demolished in 2004.
Moss Hall and Woodside Park
On the north western edge of Finchley CommonFinchley Common
Finchley Common was an area of land in Middlesex, and until 1816 the boundary between the parishes of Finchley, Friern Barnet and Hornsey.- History :...
there were four houses by the 17th century. At Nether Street was Moss Hall, a name taken from a house in the area which may have existed in the 15th century (named after the Mosse family), and certainly in existence since the 18th century. The house was demolished in 1927 after much of the estate had been built on after the 1860s. The name survives in the names of streets such as Moss Hall Grove and, until the 1990s, a pub called the Moss Hall Tavern (the pub still exists but has been renamed the Elephant Inn).
Further up was Court House which may have been the house in 1664 owned by the Peacock Family who owned Frith Manor. Prior to the building of Frith manor house
Manor house
A manor house is a country house that historically formed the administrative centre of a manor, the lowest unit of territorial organisation in the feudal system in Europe. The term is applied to country houses that belonged to the gentry and other grand stately homes...
in 1790 the Court House was the main house of the estate and it is possible that the manorial courts were held here (hence the name). The house was demolished and the remnants of the estate sold in 1936.
Finchley Lodge (from which Lodge Lane takes its name) may have existed by 1564 and was certainly there by 1667. Finally there was Woodside House, again possibly a medieval property but certainly known by 1699, around which a small hamlet had developed by the 1750s. By the 1800s it was called Woodside Farm and when the estate was left to Henry Holden, after whom Holden Road is named, the estate was developed into housing as the Woodside Park Estate. Holden built an assembly room, Woodside Hall, in 1885. In 1950 it was converted to a synagogue
Synagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
. St Barnabas church was established as a tin chapel in 1885 and as a proper church in 1912. Spike Milligan
Spike Milligan
Terence Alan Patrick Seán "Spike" Milligan Hon. KBE was a comedian, writer, musician, poet, playwright, soldier and actor. His early life was spent in India, where he was born, but the majority of his working life was spent in the United Kingdom. He became an Irish citizen in 1962 after the...
, the comedian, lived in Holden Road.
Further online resources for the history of Finchley
- Municipal Borough of FinchleyMunicipal Borough of FinchleyFinchley was a local government district in Middlesex, England, from 1878 to 1965. It formed part of the northern suburbs of London and was within the Metropolitan Police District and London Passenger Transport Area. Its former area now forms part of the London Borough of Barnet.-Formation:The...
for further population figures and Finchley's entries in Kelly's Directory - Ordnance Survey 1870s
- Historical Post Cards from the collection of Clive Smith
- Prints and Paintings from Guildhall Collection
- Victoria County History for a more detailed history of Finchley
- Barnet Archives is the London Borough of Barnet local history library
- Finchley Society has a local history collection
- London Metropolitan Archives is the archive for the Greater London area