Finchley

Coordinates: 51°35′56″N 0°11′13″W / 51.599°N 0.187°W / 51.599; -0.187

Finchley
Ballards Lane, Church End, Finchley
Finchley  Finchley shown within Greater London
OS grid reference	TQ255905
London borough	Barnet
Ceremonial county	Greater London
Region	London
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	LONDON
Postcode district	N2, N3, N12
Dialling code	020
Police	Metropolitan
Fire	London
Ambulance	London
EU Parliament	London
UK Parliament	Finchley & Golders Green
London Assembly	Barnet and Camden
List of places: UK • England • London

Finchley is a district in the London Borough of Barnet in north London. Finchley is on high ground, about out 11 km (7 miles) north of Charing Cross in the ceremonial county of Greater London and the historic county of Middlesex. It is predominantly a residential suburb, with three town centres.

History

Finchley probably means Finch's clearing or finches' clearing in late Anglo-Saxon; the name was first recorded in the early 13th century.^[1] Finchley is not recorded in the Domesday book but by the 11th century the lands were already included in those of the Bishop of London.^[2] In early medieval period the area was sparsely populated woodland. During the 12th and 13th century proper farming began, and by the 15th and 16th century the woods on the eastern side of the parish were cleared to form Finchley Common.^[3] The medieval Great North Road, which ran through the common, was notorious for Highwaymen until the early 19th century.^[1]

St Mary's Church

In the 1270s the parish church of St Mary is first recorded. The settlement at Church End grow up around it.^[4] Near the northern gate to the Bishop of London's park the hamlet of East End, later East Finchley had began to develop by 1365.^[5][6]

The Edgware, Highgate and London Railway (later the Great Northern Railway) reached Finchley in 1867.^[7] The route ran from Finsbury Park via Finchley to Edgware. The High Barnet branch opened from Finchley in 1872.

In 1905 tram services were established in Finchley, and extended shortly after to Barnet.^[8] They were eventually replaced by trolley buses.^[9]

In 1933, the Underground New Works Programme, 1935-1940 was announced, to electrify the lines through Finchley, and connect the Underground from Archway to East Finchley, via a new tunnel.

Much of the work was carried out, with East Finchley station being completely rebuilt, until stopped by the Second World War. All passenger services from Finchley to Edgware ended in September 1939. Nevertheless, Underground trains began running from central London to High Barnet in 1940, and to Mill Hill East, to reach the large army barracks, in 1941.

After the war, the introduction of London's Green Belt undermined pre-war plans, and the upgrading between Mill Hill East and Edgware was abandoned. although the line continued to be used by steam trains for goods traffic through Finchley, until it closed completely in 1964.

Governance and politics

From around 1547 Finchley had a parish vestry, which became a local board in 1878, an urban district in 1895, and finally a municipal borough between 1933 and 1965. It is now subsumed into the London Borough of Barnet.^[10]

Finchley was from 1959 to 1992 the Parliamentary constituency of Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990.^[11] Finchley is now covered by the new constituency of Finchley and Golders Green and has been held by Labour MP Rudi Vis since his unexpected victory in 1997.^[12]

Geography

Tally Ho Corner

Finchley is situated on a hill, 90 metres (300 ft) above sea level about 11 km (7 miles) north of Charing Cross and about 6 km (4 miles) south of Barnet. To the east is the Dollis valley formed by Dollis Brook which is the natural eastern boundary of Finchley.^[1] Dollis brook's tributary Mutton brook forms the southern boundary. Geologically, Finchley is formed of three layers. Most of Finchley is on Boulder clay, skirted by a layer of gravel, then the underlying layer of London clay. This roughly triangular gravel line was the most fertile area, hamlets grew at the three corners, which evolved into Finchley's early population centres^[5] corresponding to the three town centres in the area:

• Church End Finchley, often known as "Finchley Central", the area north and west of the North Circular Road, centred around Ballards Lane and Finchley Central tube station, and in postal area N3;
• East Finchley, roughly the area between Highgate and the North Circular Road, and in postal area N2; and
• North Finchley, the area surrounding Tally-Ho Corner, stretching west to and the Northern Line, in postcode district N12.

The residential areas West Finchley in postcode district N3 and Woodside Park in postcode district N12 are centred on their respective tube stations to the west of the area.

The area of London known as Finchley Road, around Finchley Road tube station, is not part of Finchley, but instead refers to a commercial district in Swiss Cottage, Camden. The area is named after a section of the A41 road, which eventually runs north to Finchley.

Neighbouring areas

	Totteridge	Whetstone	Friern Barnet
	Mill Hill		Muswell Hill
		Finchley
	Hendon	Golders Green	Highgate

Landmarks

St Mary's at Finchley is the parish church, with parts dating from 13th century. Avenue House is a large Victorian house (Grade II listed) situated on East End Road. College Farm is the last farm in Finchley, it was a model dairy farm, then a visitor attraction. The Phoenix Cinema in East Finchley with its 1930s art deco facade is one of the oldest purpose-built cinemas in the UK.

The Sternberg Centre for Judaism at 80 East End Road in Finchley is the largest Jewish cultural centre in Europe.^{[dubious – discuss]} It was founded to facilitate a number of important Reform and Liberal Jewish institutions, attached to the Movement for Reform Judaism. About half the residents of Finchley are of Jewish ancenstry, according to a 2006 study by the European Jewish Press.^{[dubious – discuss]}

The Archer is a ten-foot tall statue by Eric Aumonier of a kneeling archer captured as if having just released an arrow. Located on East Finchley tube station. The statue La Délivrance depicts a naked women holding a sword, it stands at the approach to Finchley from the south, in Regent's Park Road, just north of Henly's Corner.

Transport

East Finchley tube station

Being in Greater London Transport for London is responsible for transport in Finchley. Finchley is served by four London Underground stations, all on the High Barnet branch of the Northern Line.

• East Finchley tube station in zone three, serves East Finchley and is 21 Minutes from Charing Cross.
• Finchley Central tube station in zone four, serves Finchley, Church End and is 25 Minutes from Charing Cross.
• West Finchley tube station in zone four, serves North Finchley and is 27 Minutes from Charing Cross.
• Woodside Park tube station in zone four, serves North Finchley and is 29 Minutes from Charing Cross.

Two of London's major roads, the east-west A406 North Circular Road and the north-south A1 meet and briefly merge at Henley's Corner at the southern edge of Finchley.

North Finchley serves as a major bus hub with nine buses using bus stops around Tally Ho Corner.^[13]

Education

The old Christ's College, now a primary school

There are 17 primary schools in the district.^[14]

There are six secondary schools.

• Three are voluntary aided schools, all Catholic:
  • Bishop Douglass Catholic^[15]
  • Finchley Catholic High^[16]
  • St Michael's Catholic Grammar.^[17]

• Two are community schools:
  • Christ's College Finchley
  • The Compton.^[18]

• One is an academy:
  • 'Wren Academy',^[19] named after Sir Christopher Wren, and sponsored by the Church of England.^[20]

There is also a special school, Oak Lodge Special.

Woodhouse College in North Finchley is one of two colleges in the borough.^[14]

Sports

The local football team is Wingate & Finchley which plays in the Southern League Eastern Division. It was founded as a specifically Jewish football club in 1946. The local rugby team is Finchley RFC. Finchley Cricket Club (founded 1832), plays in the Middlesex Premier League, with a pitch at Arden Field, East End Road, N3.^[21]

Public services

Veolia Water Central Limited formerly Three Valleys Water supplies Finchley's water, the area is in the south-east corner of the company's water supply arera^[22]. EDF Energy Networks is the Distribution network operator licensed to distribute electricity from the transmission grid to homes and businesses in Finchley.^{[citation needed]}

The Finchley Memorial Hospital, on Granville Road North Finchley, is a small NHS hospital administrated by NHS Barnet, a primary care trust. Built with local donations in 1908 it was originally called Finchley Cottage Hospital, but renamed and expanded after the First World War as a war memorial.^[23] London Ambulance Service responds to medical emergencies in Finchley. Home Office policing in Finchley is provided by the Metropolitan Police Service. Statutory emergency fire service is provided by the London Fire Brigade, which has a station on Long Lane.

Community Facilities

The artsdepot, a community arts centre including a gallery, studio and theatre, opened in 2004, at Tally Ho Corner, North Finchley.^[24]

Victoria Park is located in Ballards Lane between North Finchley and Finchley Central. It was opened in 1902, to mark Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee, and was Finchley's first public park.

Cultural references

March of the Guards to Finchley

William Hogarth's painted his satirical 'March of the Guards to Finchley' in 1750. It is a depiction of a fictional mustering of troops on the Tottenham Court Road to march north to Finchley to defend the capital from the second Jacobite rebellion of 1745.

Perhaps because of its rather ordinary, middle-class suburban image, a number of fictional characters have been associated with the area, including:

• Bluebottle, a character in the 1950s BBC radio series The Goon Show, hails from Finchley.
• In the 2005 film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Susan Pevensie says that she and her siblings, Peter, Edmund, and Lucy, are from Finchley, despite no mention of Finchley being made in C. S. Lewis's book.

The Monty Python's Flying Circus comedy sketch, The Funniest Joke in the World, is set in Finchley.

Notable people

• Sir William Shee, the first Roman Catholic judge to sit in England and Wales since the Reformation lived in Finchley ^[1].
• The novelist Charles Dickens wrote Martin Chuzzlewit whilst staying at Cobley Farm on Bow Lane, North Finchley.^[25]
• Octavia Hill a social reformer amd a founder of the National Trust, Kyrle Society and the Army Cadet movement. She lived at Brownswell Cottages on the High Road in East Finchley just south of the junction with the North Circular Road today.^[26][27]
• Harry Beck, an engineering draftsman who creating the present London Underground Tube map in 1931^[28] lived in Finchey, there is a plaque commemorating him along with a copy of his original map on the south bound platform at Finchley Central tube station.
• Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, 1979-1990, was Conservative MP for Finchley from 1959 to 1992,^[11] although she never lived in the area, instead preferring to live in Dulwich before and after her time in Downing Street.
• Spike Milligan, the comedian who was the chief creator and main writer The Goon Show, lived in Woodside Park from 1955 to 1974. He was president and patron of the Finchley Society.^[29]

Twinning

Finchley Borough had four twin towns, the London Borough of Barnet continues these links.

• Jinja, Uganda Since 1963^[30]
• Le Raincy, France Since 1962^[31]
• Montclair, United States Since 1945^[32]
• Siegen-Wittgenstein, Germany Since 1951^[33]

Gallery

Dollis Brook Viaduct

Art Deco 'Archer' Statue at East Finchley Tube Station

The Phoenix Cinema

Route of Edgware, Highgate and London Railway highlighted on a 1900 map

References

External links

• The Finchley Society
• The Finchley Arrow

v • d • e London Borough of Barnet Districts Arkley · Barnet · Barnet Gate · Brent Cross · Brunswick Park · Burnt Oak · Childs Hill · Cricklewood · Church End Finchley · Cockfosters · Colney Hatch · Colindale · East Barnet · East Finchley · Edgware · Finchley · Friern Barnet · Golders Green · The Hale · Hampstead Garden Suburb · Hendon · The Hyde · Mill Hill · Monken Hadley · 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