Friern Barnet

infobox UK place
country = England
region= London
official_name= Friern Barnet
latitude= 51.6126
longitude= -0.1584
constituency_westminster=Chipping Barnet
post_town= LONDON
postcode_area= N
postcode_district= N10, N11, N12
london_borough= Barnet
dial_code= 020
os_grid_reference= TQ276920

Friern Barnet is a place in the London Borough of Barnet. It is a suburban development situated convert|7.4|mi|km|1 north of Charing Cross. The centre of Friern Barnet is formed by the busy intersection of Colney Hatch Lane (which runs north-south), Woodhouse Road (which takes west-bound traffic into Finchley) and Friern Barnet Road (which leads east towards New Southgate).

Housing

The housing generally consists of late Victorian, early Edwardian semi-detached properties and some other larger houses from later periods. Much of the property is owner-occupied, but in recent years some has been subdivided into flats and bedsits. There are also some areas of modern housing, notably Princess Park Manor, a redevelopment of the once famous Victorian institution the Colney Hatch Lunatic Asylum. England footballer Ashley Cole met his future wife, pop singer Cheryl Tweedy, when both owned apartments at this development.Fact|date=October 2008 Boyband Busted are also known to be among the residents of this establishment.Fact|date=October 2008

Friern Village

Adjacent to Princess Park Manor is a modern housing development called Friern Village. This was once the area farmed by the Colney Hatch Hospital residents. In 1998 the newly formed local resident's association held a ballot amongst the new residents to find a name for this new area. The name Friern Village was chosen and subsequently the resident's association changed their name to The Friern Village Resident's Association. A new public park in front of Princess Park Manor, Friern Barnet Road, was also named Friern Village Park.

History

Friern Barnet was an ancient parish in the Finsbury division of Ossulstone hundred, in the county of Middlesex. The area was originally considered to be part of Barnet, most of which was in Hertfordshire. By the thirteenth century the Middlesex section of Barnet was known as "Little Barnet", before becoming "Frerenbarnet" and then "Friern Barnet". The "Friern" part of the parish's name, denotes "brotherhood", and referred to its ownership by the Priory of the Knights of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem. [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=22490 "Friern Barnet: Introduction", Victoria County History of Middlesex: Volume 6, (British History Online) accessed January 24, 2008] ] [ [http://www.barnet.gov.uk/archives-finchleyhistories "Finchley and Friern Barnet", Barnet Online, accessed January 24, 2008] ]

Friern Barnet was mainly rural until the nineteenth century. The opening of Colney Hatch Hospital in 1851, and of railway stations on the Great Northern and Metropolitan Railways in the middle of the century began its development as an outer London suburb. This process was accelerated by the arrival of electric trams in 1909. [cite web |url=http://www.zyworld.com/friernbarnet/history.htm |title=History of the Area |accessdate=2008-06-16 |work= |date= |publisher=Friern Barnet and District Local History Society ]

Local affairs were administered by the parish vestry until 1875, when it was grouped with neighbouring parishes as part of Barnet Rural Sanitary District. In response to a petition by local ratepayers who wished the area to be removed from the Barnet RSD, the parish adopted the Local Government Act 1858 and formed a local board of health of nine members in 1884. Under the Local Government Act 1894 the local board's area became an urban district. ["Friern Barnet - Local Government" in "Victoria County History of Middlesex", Vol.6, (British History Online), accessed January 24, 2008] [cite vob|url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/relationships.jsp?u_id=10153244&c_id=10001043|name=Friern Barnet UD|
] The urban district occupied an area of 1,304 acres in 1911 and had a population of 14,924. In 1961 it occupied an area of 1,342 acres and the population was 28,813. [cite vob|name=Friern Barnet UD|population=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/data_cube_table_page.jsp?data_theme=T_POP&data_cube=N_TPop&u_id=10153244&c_id=10001043&add=N|area=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/data_cube_table_page.jsp?data_theme=T_POP&data_cube=N_AREA_A&u_id=10153244&c_id=10001043&add=Y|accessdate=2008-01-24] In 1965 it became part of the London Borough of Barnet.

Parks and open spaces

Friern Barnet is a leafy suburb of private gardens and trees and Friary Park. The area includes the North Middlesex Golf Club and Coppetts Wood nature reserve, a medium sized green area of rare plants and wildlife including some types of small Bat and Great Crested Newts.

Education

Local schools and colleges include Friern Barnet Secondary School, Woodhouse College, The Compton School, and Coppetts Wood Primary School.

Transport

The North Circular Road bisects the southern part. The nearest London Underground stations are Arnos Grove and Finchley Central. The nearest National Rail station is New Southgate. The area is served by London Buses routes 34, 43, 134, 221, 232, 234, 382, 634 and 683.

Economy

The area has recently seen a boom in the tertiary sector with many salons and beauty parlours opening along Woodhouse Road.

Nearest places

*Muswell Hill
*New Southgate
*Whetstone
*North Finchley
*Colney Hatch
*Brunswick Park

References

External links

* [http://www.eleflat.co.uk/Friern_Barnet-83_N11-2007-council-tax.htm Local council tax] bands and charges