Barnet
OS grid reference	TQ245955
London borough	Barnet
Ceremonial county	Greater London
Region	London
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	BARNET
Postcode district	EN5
Dialling code	020
Police	Metropolitan
Fire	London
Ambulance	London
UK Parliament	Chipping Barnet
London Assembly	Barnet and Camden
European Parliament	London
List of places: UK • England • London

Coordinates: 51°′″N 0°′″W / 51.6444, -0.1997

High Barnet or Chipping Barnet is a town in the London Borough of Barnet. It is a suburban development located 10 miles (17 km) north north-west of Charing Cross.

Geography

The tower of Barnet parish church - St John the Baptist - at the top of Barnet Hill claims to be the highest point between itself and the Ural Mountains to the east. However, the same can be said of numerous other points. ^{[citation needed]} Before the building of the Barnet bypass, Barnet Hill was a major hill on the Great North Road.

High Barnet tube station is located at the northern end of the Northern Line.

History

The town was the site of the Battle of Barnet in 1471, where Yorkist troops led by King Edward IV killed the rebellious "Kingmaker" Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick and Warwick's brother, John Neville, 1st Marquess of Montagu.

It is the site of an ancient and well-known horse fair, hence the Cockney rhyming slang of "Barnet" for "hair". The fair goes back to 1588 when Queen Elizabeth I granted a charter to the Lord of the Manor of Barnet the right to hold a twice yearly fair.^[1]

Chipping Barnet was a civil parish of Hertfordshire and formed part of the Barnet Urban District from 1894. It was abolished in 1965 and its former area was transferred to Greater London.^[2] In 1801 the parish had a population of 1,258 and covered an area of 1,440 acres (6 km²). By 1901 the parish was reduced to 380 acres (1.5 km²) and had a population of 2,893. In 1951 the population was 7,062.^[3]

In Saxon Times the site was part of an extensive wood called Southaw, belonging to the Abbey of St Albans. The name of the town appears in early deeds as Bergnet, the Saxon word Bergnet signifies a little hill, monticulus. Its elevated position is also indicated in its alternate name of High Barnet, which it bears in many old books and maps, and which the railway company restored. It is the belief of the older natives the "Barnet stands on the highest ground betwixt London and York."

Church

St John the Baptist Church

Chipping Barnet Parish church of St John the Baptist (1560)

"The town consists of a straggling street over a mile long, chiefly of small commonplace houses, with two or three shorter streets diverging from it. From its situation on the main road, as the centre of an agricultural district, the seat of a county court and petty sessions, and having a barracks close at hand., Barnet is a busy-looking place, and has some good shops; one or two excellent inns, Red Lion and Old Salisbury Arms, and an undue proportion of public-houses; but on the whole it is a shabby and not a very picturesque appearance"

In coaching days, 150 stage coaches passed through Barnet daily. Since the opening of the railway, the town has increased considerably, especially on the west about the Common; or as it is now called, Arkley.

Barnet Church, St John the Baptist, which stands in what was the centre of the town, was erected by John de la Moote, abbot of St Albans, about 1400, the architect being Beauchamp. It consists of a nave and aisles separated by clustered columns which support four pointed arches; a chancel with an east window of good Perpendicular tracery; a vestry, built in the reign of James I by Thomas Ravenscroft; and at the west end, a low, square embattled tower. The living of Barnet is a curacy, held with the rectory of East Barnet till the death of the late incumbent in 1866, when the livings were separated. The town also includes parts of the parishes of Monken Hadley and South Mimms.

Education

Barnet High Street, viewed from the tower of St John the Baptist Church

Primary

• Barnet Hill School
• Christ Church CE School
• Foulds School
• Underhill School
• Whitings Hill School
• St. Catherines School
• Cromer Road School

Secondary

• Queen Elizabeth's School for Boys
• Queen Elizabeth's School for Girls
• The Ravenscroft School

Further

Barnet College has one of its main sites in High Barnet and is spread out through the London Borough of Barnet.

Sport and recreation

Barnet FC are the local football team, currently in Coca Cola league 2. They play at the Underhill Stadium. Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers is the a local athletics club. Chipping Barnet has a King George's Field in memorial to King George V.

High Barnet is home to one Odeon cinema, the Barnet Museum, the traditional annual Barnet Fair, the Ravenscroft local park and Barnet recreational park.

High Barnet till today is a popular location for restaurants and public houses. A small nightclub operated for a few years in the 1980s in the premises now occupied by The Misty Moon. The public houses in High Barnet include: The Misty Moon, The Dandelion, The Kings Head, The Monken Holt, Ye Olde Mitre Inn, and The Red Lion.

Tube stations

Victorian Architecture of High Barnet Tube Station

• High Barnet - Northern Line

Nearby:

• Totteridge and Whetstone - Northern Line

Famous residents

• Reginald Maudling local MP 1950 - 1979
• Cyril Bibby, who in 1958-59 was the prospective Labour Party candidate opposing Reginald Maudling
• Sir Sydney Chapman local MP 1979 - 2005
• Peter Banks, 1st guitarist for the band Yes.
• Stephen Douglas, Journalist, ITV
• Richard Baker, Broadcaster
• Samuel Pepys
• David Livingstone
• Spike Milligan
• John Strugnell Dead Sea Scrolls editor-in-chief and Harvard Professor
• Humphrey Lyttelton, who lived in nearby Arkley
• Norman Wisdom, who lived in nearby Arkley
• Emma Bunton
• David Crawley
• Stephanie Beacham
• William Cattley a popular orchid species cattleya was named after him due to his successful cultivation of lavender colored Cattleya Labiata.
• Séance on a Wet Afternoon is set predominantly in Barnet.

Nearest places

• Monken Hadley
• Battle of Barnet
• Hadley Wood
• East Barnet
• Friern Barnet
• New Barnet

References

1. ^ www.barnet4u.co.uk - Barnet Fair
2. ^ Vision of Britain - Chipping Barnet parish (historic map)
3. ^ Vision of Britain - Chipping Barnet parish - population

External links

• The Barnet Society
• Barnet Symphony Orchestra
• Barnet YHA local group
• Guide to Historical Pubs in Barnet
• Enfield and Barnet CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale)

London Borough of Barnet
Districts	Arkley · Barnet · Barnet Gate · Brunswick Park · Burnt Oak · Childs Hill · Cricklewood · Church End Finchley · Cockfosters · Colney Hatch · Colindale · East Barnet · East Finchley · Edgware · Finchley · Friern Barnet · Golders Green · Monken Hadley · Hale · Hampstead Garden Suburb · Hendon · Mill Hill · Mill Hill East · New Barnet · New Southgate · North Finchley · Oakleigh Park · Osidge · Temple Fortune · Totteridge · West Hendon · Whetstone · Woodside Park
Attractions	Hampstead Heath · RAF Museum
Constituencies	Chipping Barnet · Hendon · Finchley and Golders Green
Parks and open spaces in Barnet

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