It is predominantly a residential suburb, with three town centres: North Finchley, East Finchley and Finchley Church End (Finchley Central). Made up of four wards, the population of Finchley was 65,812 as of 2011.[2]
History
Finchley probably means "Finch's clearing" or "finches' clearing" in late Anglo-Saxon; the name was first recorded in the early 13th century.[3] Finchley is not recorded in Domesday Book, but by the 11th century its lands were held by the Bishop of London. In the early medieval period the area was sparsely populated woodland, whose inhabitants supplied pigs and fuel to London.[4]
Extensive cultivation began about the time of the Norman conquest. By the 15th and 16th centuries the woods on the eastern side of the parish had been cleared to form Finchley Common.[4] The medieval Great North Road, which ran through the common, was notorious for highwaymen until the early 19th century.[3]
St Mary-at-Finchley Church is first recorded in the 1270s.[5] Near the northern gate to the Bishop of London's park, the hamlet of East End, later East Finchley, had begun to develop by 1365.[6][7] By the 18th century Finchley was well known for the quality of its hay, which was the dominant agricultural activity until the second half of the 19th century. North Finchley only began to develop after the enclosure of the common during the 1820s.[citation needed]
In 1933, the Underground New Works Programme (1935–1940), to electrify the lines through Finchley, and connect the Northern line from Archway to East Finchley, via a new tunnel was announced. Much of the work was carried out and East Finchley station was rebuilt, but the project was halted 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 army barracks, in 1941.
After the war, the introduction of London's Metropolitan Green Belt undermined pre-war plans and the upgrading between Mill Hill East and Edgware (the 'Northern Heights' project) was abandoned, although the line continued to be used by steam trains for goods traffic through Finchley, until 1964.
Finchley is on a plateau, 90 metres (300 ft) above sea level 11 km (6.8 mi) north of Charing Cross and 6 km (3.7 mi) south of Barnet. To the west is the Dollis valley formed by Dollis Brook the natural western boundary of Finchley.[3]Mutton Brook forms the southern boundary, joining the Dollis Brook to become the River Brent.
Most of Finchley is on boulder clay or glacial moraine, skirted by a layer of gravel, then the underlying layer of London clay. This roughly triangular gravel line was the most fertile area; hamlets which grew at the three corners evolved into Finchley's early population centres[6] corresponding to the three town centres in the area:
North Finchley, surrounding Tally-Ho corner, stretching west to the Northern line, in postcode district N12.
The residential areas of West Finchley, in postcode district N3, and Woodside Park, in postcode district N12, centre on their respective tube stations to the west of the area. Between East Finchley and Finchley Central is Long Lane, which runs parallel to the tube line and is dotted with small shopping parades.
According to the 2011 UK Census in Finchley Church End ward, 67% of the population was White (47% British, 18% Other, 2% Irish), 8% South Asian and 6% Other Asian. The largest religion was Judaism, claimed by 31% of the population, whereas Christians made up 28%.[14] West Finchley ward was 61% White (40% British, 18% Other, 3% Irish), 13% South Asian and 8% Other Asian.[15]
Landmarks
St Mary's at Finchley is the parish church, with parts dating from the 13th century.
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 façade is one of the oldest purpose-built cinemas in the United Kingdom.
The Sternberg Centre for Judaism in the old Manor House (formerly convent and school of St Mary Auxiliatrice) at 80 East End Road in Finchley is a Jewish cultural centre. It was founded to facilitate Reform and Liberal Jewish institutions,[clarification needed] attached to the Movement for Reform Judaism.
The Archer, on East Finchley tube station, is a 10-foot-tall (3.0 m) statue by Eric Aumonier of a kneeling archer having just released an arrow. The statue La Délivrance depicts a naked woman holding a sword (and is informally known as the Naked Lady); it stands at the approach to Finchley from the south, in a small garden beside Regent's Park Road, just north of Henlys Corner.
Transport
Transport for London is responsible for transport in Finchley.
Finchley has four London Underground stations, all on the High Barnet branch of the Northern line, which serves the West End and City (financial district).
East Finchley in zone three, serves East Finchley and is 21 minutes from Charing Cross.
Finchley Central in zone four, serves Finchley, Church End and is 25 minutes from Charing Cross.
West Finchley in zone four, serves North Finchley and is 27 minutes from Charing Cross.
Woodside Park in zone four, serves North Finchley and is 29 minutes from Charing Cross.
Whetstone in zone four, serves Whetstone / sections of North Finchley and is 31 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 Henlys Corner at the southern edge of Finchley.
North Finchley bus station is a hub with nine bus routes using bus stops around Tally Ho Corner.[16]
Woodhouse College in North Finchley, on the site of the old Woodhouse Grammar School, is one of two colleges in the borough.[17]
Sports
The local football team Old Finchleians (nicknamed the OFs) formed in 1901 who play home games at The Old Finchleians Memorial Ground in Southover and are members of the Southern Amateur League.
Wingate & Finchley plays in the premier division of the Isthmian league. The club was formed in 1991 following the merger between Finchley Football Club (est. 1874) and Wingate Football Club (est. 1946). Although the club is sometimes incorrectly perceived to be exclusively Jewish, it is open to people of every religion and ethnic background. Wingate & Finchley play home games at Summers Lane, N12.
The local rugby team is Finchley RFC. Finchley Cricket Club (founded 1832), plays in the Middlesex premier league, at Arden Field, East End Road, N3.[25] Finchley golf club on Frith Lane was designed by five-times Open Champion James Braid. Ken Brown, Ryder Cup player and BBC presenter, described it as "The best presented golf course for club play that I have seen in years".
Finchley Victoria Bowls and Croquet Club, with two greens and a modern clubhouse in Victoria Park, offers lawn bowls, croquet and pétanque facilities in the summer and year-round social activities.
Finchley Memorial Hospital, on Granville Road, North Finchley, was a small NHS hospital administered by NHS Barnet, a primary care trust. Built with local donations in 1908 it was originally Finchley Cottage Hospital, renamed and expanded after the First World War as a war memorial.[27] A modern new hospital on adjacent land opened in September 2012; the old hospital buildings were demolished.
The artsdepot, a community arts centre including a gallery, studio and theatre, opened in 2004, at Tally Ho Corner, North Finchley.[28]
Finchley Film Makers was founded as the Finchley Amateur Cine Society in 1930, making it one of the oldest clubs in the Country. It meets at the Quaker Meeting House in Alexandra Grove, North Finchley.
Victoria Park is off Ballards Lane between North Finchley and Finchley Central. It was proposed in 1887 to mark Queen Victoria's golden jubilee and opened in 1902 to be Finchley's first public park.[29] It is home to tennis courts and Finchley Victoria Bowling and Croquet Club. There is also a small nature reserve adjacent to the North Circular Road known as Long Lane Pasture.
Avenue House in East End Road was built in 1859. In 1874 it was acquired by Henry Charles Stephens, known as "Inky" Stephens, the son of the inventor of indelible blue-black ink Dr Henry Stephens. On his death in 1918 he bequeathed the house and its grounds for 'Public enjoyment subject to reasonable rules'. The estate, a private garden to which public access is granted, is now known as Stephens House and Gardens and managed from 2002 on a 125-year lease by Avenue House Estate Trust, an independent charity.
It has a visitor centre with a small museum, the Stephens Collection, which covers the history of the Stephens family, the Stephens Ink company and the history of writing materials. The bequest also included Avenue House Grounds, designed by the leading nineteenth-century landscape gardener Robert Marnock. This has a tearoom, a children's playground, a walled garden and building called The Bothy, a pond and rare trees. A recent attraction is a bronze statue of Spike Milligan sitting on a bench.[30]
In More Peers, a book of comic verse by Hilaire Bellocf, one of the poems is about Lord Finchley.
Bluebottle, a character in the 1950s BBC radio series The Goon Show, hails from East Finchley.[32]Peter Sellers, who played Bluebottle, lived in the area at one time.
In various episodes of the Channel 4 comedy Peep Show Finchley is used as an on-site shooting location.
The background of the cover of Iron Maiden's second studio album, Killers, depicts Etchingham Court, North Finchley, where artist Derek Riggs lived at the time.
The 2013 David Bowie song 'Dirty Boys' on The Next Day album makes reference to Finchley Fair.[34]
Notable people
In birth order
Sir Thomas Allen (1603–1681), politician and lawyer, died in Finchley.
William Lawson (1774–1850), one of three earliest British explorers to cross the Blue Mountains in Australia, was born in Finchley.
Rudolph Ackermann (1764–1834), Anglo-German inventor and bookseller, died in Finchley.
Henry Stephens (1796–1864), who founded the Stephens Ink company, and his son Henry Charles Stephens, who was the local Member of Parliament (MP) from 1887 until 1900, lived in Finchley: Henry Charles in Avenue House which he left, in 1918, as a bequest to the people of Finchley, along with its grounds, now known as Stephens House and Gardens.
Eric Blore (1887–1959), actor, was born in Finchley.
Private John Parr (1897–1914), the first British soldier and the first soldier of the Commonwealth killed in World War I, was born in Church End Finchley, and lived at 52 Lodge Lane, North Finchley.
Harry Beck (1902–1974), an engineering draftsman who created the present London UndergroundTube map in 1931,[39] lived in Finchley. There is a plaque commemorating him along with a copy of his original map on the southbound platform at Finchley Central tube station.
Terry-Thomas (1911–1990), comedian and actor, was born in Finchley.
Gwilym Williams (1913–1990), a prominent figure in the Anglican Church who served as Bishop of Bangor and Archbishop of Wales.
Vera Lynn (1917–2020), singer, and her husband Harry Lewis (1915–1998), a saxophonist, lived in on Hendon Avenue in the 1950s and 1960s.[40][41]
Spike Milligan (1918–2002), the comedian who was chief creator and main writer of The Goon Show, lived in Woodside Park from 1955 to 1974. He was president and patron of the Finchley Society.[42] His statue, sitting on a bench, occupies a prominent position at Stephens House and Gardens.
Betty Driver (1920–2011), singer and actress, lived on Hendon Avenue in the 1950s with her husband, singer and theatrical agent Wally Petersen.[43][40]
The Finchley Gap – a corridor of low-lying land between the drainage basin of the rivers Colne to the north and Brent to the west, possibly the remains of an Ice age overflow channel.
References
^Finchley is made up of 4 wards in the London Borough of Barnet: East Finchley, Finchley Church End, West Finchley, and Woodhouse. "2011 Census Ward Population Estimates | London DataStore". Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 9 June 2014.
^"2011 Census Ward Population Estimates | London DataStore". Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 9 June 2014.
^ a b c dBaker & Elrington (1980). "A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 6". Victoria County History. pp. 38–55. Retrieved 27 April 2009.
^ a b"Finchley, Friern Barnet and Totteridge". London Borough of Barnet. Archived from the original on 22 March 2016. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
^"Hendon Lane (Finchley N3)". London Borough of Barnet. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
^ a bWeinreb, Ben; Christopher Hibbert (2008). The London Encyclopedia. Julia Keay, John Keay (3rd ed.). Macmillan. pp. 290–291. ISBN 978-1-4050-4924-5.
^Nurse, Richard (13 February 2008). "Finchley N2 East End Road". LB Barnet. Archived from the original on 26 April 2010. Retrieved 23 September 2009.
^"CULG – Northern Line". www.davros.org.
^London Transport Museum Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine Tram in Finchley, dated 1905 to 1915
^London Transport Museum Archived 25 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine Trolley bus at North Finchley
^Baker, T F T; C R Elrington (1980). "Finchley Finchley Local government". British History Online. Retrieved 21 September 2009.
^ a b"Historic Figures Margaret Thatcher (1925 – )". BBC. Retrieved 27 April 2009.
^Lowe, Rebecca (21 February 2010). "Green Party conference held in Finchley". The Times Series. Retrieved 6 March 2010.
^Services, Good Stuff IT. "Finchley Church End – UK Census Data 2011". UK Census Data.
^Services, Good Stuff IT. "West Finchley – UK Census Data 2011". UK Census Data.
^"Buses from North Finchley" (PDF). Transport for London. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 June 2009. Retrieved 22 September 2009.
^ a bCrouch, Suzanne (10 September 2009). "Schools and Colleges". LB Barnet. Archived from the original on 1 October 2009. Retrieved 24 September 2009.
^"Home Page | Archer". thearcheracademy.org.uk. 12 January 2012.
^"Bishop Douglass Catholic School - Home".
^Christ's College Finchley School web site Archived 10 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine
^"The Rt Hon John Bercow MP". City, University of London. 23 November 2020.
^"Bercow v Boris". Archived from the original on 15 November 2019. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
^"Inside DeepMind's epic mission to solve science's trickiest problem". Wired UK – via www.wired.co.uk.
^Godleman, Mike (4 July 2007). "Town twinning Jinja (Uganda)". LB Barnet. Archived from the original on 20 August 2008. Retrieved 28 April 2009.
^Costello, Laura (28 July 2008). "Town twinning Le Raincy (France)". LB Barnet. Archived from the original on 21 August 2008. Retrieved 28 April 2009.
^Costello, Laura (29 July 2008). "Town twinning Montclair (USA)". LB Barnet. Archived from the original on 21 August 2008. Retrieved 28 April 2009.
^Godleman, Mike (28 July 2008). "Town twinning Siegen Wittgenstein (Germany)". LB Barnet. Archived from the original on 4 September 2008. Retrieved 28 April 2009.
Further reading
James Thorne (1876). "Finchley". Handbook to the Environs of London. London: John Murray. hdl:2027/mdp.39015063815669.
Lawrence, G. R. P. (1964). Village into Borough (PDF) (2nd ed.). Finchley Public Libraries Committee. OCLC 899240019. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 October 2022.
Stephens, H. C. (1893). Parochial Self-government in Rural Districts: Argument and Plan (2nd ed.). London: Longmans, Green & Co. (Includes Finchley Vestry minutes 1780 to 1841)