…ation (Enfield) The Guide Arsenal (Islington) Ashburnham Triangle (Greenwich) Avery Hill (Greenwich) B Bakers Arms (Waltham Forest) Balham (Wandsworth) Barking (Barking & Dagenham) Barnehurst (Bexley) Barnes Cray (Bexley) Barnet Gate (Barnet) Barnsbury (Islington) Barons Court (Hammersmith & Fulham) Battersea (Wandsworth) Beavers Farm (Hounslow) Beckenham (Bromley) Beckton (Newham) Becontree (Barking & Dagenham) Beddington Corner (Sut…
South Barnet, Barnet An infrequently used name for the far south-eastern corner of Barnet, bordering Southgate’s Osidge Beside the Pymmes Brook in South Barnet South Barnet was formerly also known as Sans or Sarnes Barnet – that is, ‘without (meaning ‘outside’) Barnet’. Sarnets Barnet was a delightful alternative version. During the 12th century the Bishop of London gave South Barnet to the Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem, as p…
Chipping Barnet, Barnet The western part of the Barnet district, also known as High Barnet Church of St John the Baptist, Chipping Barnet The ‘chipping’ element of the name derives from the Saxon chepe, a market. King John granted the abbey of St Albans a formal market charter in 1199 although unofficial trading had already been carried on here for the previous hundred years. The town developed around this weekly trade and by providing services…
Barnet Gate, Barnet A western satellite of Barnet, at the junction of Barnet Road and Hendon Wood Lane Despite the impression given by this pub sign, the gate that gave the locality its name served merely to keep animals off the common. The inscription is borrowed from a country pub in Hook Norton, Oxfordshire. There was never a tollgate or turnpike here – as is often the case with places named ‘Somewhere Gate’ – just a barrier that prevented c…
Hadley, Barnet A loosely scattered, picturesque village also known as Monken Hadley, situated to the north-east of Chipping Barnet The name was first recorded as Hadlegh in 1248 and was formerly thought to mean ‘a high place’ but is probably derived from the Old English forms of ‘heath’ and ‘lea’. A 24-acre common called Hadley Green lay on the edge of Enfield Chase and the first residents were recorded here in the 14th century. St Mary’s Ch…
Lyonsdown, Barnet The south-western part of New Barnet, although for a while in the late 19th century the two names were virtually synonymous The church of the Holy Trinity, Lyonsdown The locality was first identified in an agreement dated 1553, referring to fields and grounds called ‘the Lyon downs’, and probably derives from a former resident of that name. Lyonsdown House was acquired in 1810 by Andrew Reid, of the brewery that became Watne…
Totteridge, Barnet A lovely (but inevitably pricey) ribbon village strung along the road from Whetstone to Highwood Hill and set amidst farmland, parks and golf courses Opinions differ on the derivation of the first part of Totteridge’s name, which was first recorded as Taderege in the 12th century. Most experts now propose an association with a man called Tāta, but others have suggested that ‘tot’ meant either a height or a place of worship. T…
East Finchley, Barnet A distinctly different community from its parent district, which lies across the North Circular Road to the north-west The interior of the Phoenix cinema As early as the 14th century a chain of little hamlets took root beside Hornsey Park on the newly created Great North Road (as it later became), and were collectively known as East End. The extended settlement slowly acquired more cottages, a couple of inns and a succes…
The Bishops Avenue, Barnet An ultra-exclusive street running from the northern tip of Hampstead Heath to East Finchley Built by a Turkish business mogul, Toprak Mansion was nicknamed Top Whack Mansion The name derives from the bishops of London, who owned a large hunting park in the area in the late Middle Ages. Highgate golf course lies to the east and Hampstead Garden Suburb to the west. This is probably the most ‘desirable’ address outside…
Rowley Green, Barnet A farming hamlet in north-west Arkley, right on the border with the Hertfordshire’s borough of Hertsmere Rowley Green Common The first half of Rowley Green’s name dates from the late 13th century, when it meant a ‘rough woodland clearing’; the later second part indicated the presence of a village green, now lost to trees and shrubs since cattle grazing stopped after the Second World War. Adjacent to Arkley golf course (in…


