Friern Barnet

 

Friern Barnet,
It was on the Tudor route north and theOlder buildings are strung along Friern Bamet Lane, whose winding course and many old trees still reflect a rural past. A small, thin parish stretching to Whetstone and an area of woodland.   It became an Urban District in 1895, a borough in 1933 while  Its population grew from under 1,000 in 1851 to 11,566 in 1901 and 23,101 in 1931.  The name Friern may mean ‘burnt common’ - fire in the forest or it  derives from the brothers of the Order of St John Hospitallers, who held an estate here - ‘Frerennebarnethe’, ‘Frerenbarnet’ 1274, ‘Frerenebarnet’ 1294, ‘Freresbarnet’ 1336, ‘Friern Barnet’ 1535, that is 'the Barnet of the brothers', with distinguishing affix Middle English ‘freren -of the brothers', referring to the early possession of this manor by the Knights of St John of Jerusalem. The medieval manor house here, referred to as ‘Frerynbury’ in 1428 that is -the brothers' manor', from Middle English ‘freren’ and ‘bury’, was replaced in the 16th century by a new house called Friary House or the Friary which was given by Queen Elizabeth I to Sir Walter Ralegh.  Friern Hospital was opened here in 1851; it was at first called Colney Hatch but was renamed in 1937.

Friern Barnet Lane

The Bishops would not let people onto their hunting grounds.  Belonged to the Friary, Abbott of St.Alban's. Granted by William the Conqueror, then to St.John of Jerusalem, then St.Paul's Cathedral and it still belongs to them.  Connections with Raleigh and Bacon.  
Starts with a cross-roads shopping centre opposite the Town Hall (pubs dated 1909 and 1910), followed by genteel suburbia.  
Friary Park. Statue of Peace on a pile of rocks, sited on a ridge.  1910. Park of 22 acres. Trees from Middlesex forest.
Part of Great Northern Railway
St.James the Great Church. Site is older than the church. A small medieval church swamped by W. G. & E. Habershon's enlargement of 1852-3. .  Polygonal extension of the 1970s. 12th door of one order,
Churchyard. Grave of Wolsey's servant.
Victorian School.  Paid for by John Miles. Now All Saints and St John Nursery.  
Manor House was hostel for travellers
Town Hall.  Friern Barnet Municipal Offices. This is a brick building erected by Friern Barnet Urban District Council in 1939~41 to a design by Sir John Brown and A E Benson, following a competition in 1937. Economy of planning and construction were paramount, so the site of the old council' building was reused and the new one was built with load-bearing brick walls. It has been used since 1965 as, departmental offices with the inevitable 'loss of fittings in the civic spaces. 
Pillar by the site of a well from which Elizabeth I is said to have drunk
Lawrence Campe Almshouses.  Dating from 1612.  One of the oldest surviving in London. Renovated 1843, 1899, and by John Phillips in 1982
Pillar box by A. Handyside & Co. Ltd. Later E VII R cypher 1901 - 1904


Friern Barnet Road
Christ Churches - Baptist and United Reformed.  Cheerful free perpendicular.
Church Hall
The Turrets Pub 1880s pub looking down Station Road
36-38 Pub Banker's Draft
St. John the Evangelist.  A late work by J. L. Pearson, begun 1890-1 and Completed by Frank Pearson
Parish room by Tinforum Architects, 1992.
Library.  1933. By W. T. Curtis of the MCC, 1933.  Three gables and central entrance.
Christ Church Baptist and United Reformed, 1909-10.  
Church Hall behind, 1883.
Pillar box by A. Handyside & Co. Ltd. Later E VII R cypher 1901 - 1904

Friary Park
Was Friern Hospital. Converted to flats. 
Fryant Farm

Holly Park Road
Holly Park Estate 19th development

Glenthorne Road,
Pillar box by A. Handyside & Co. Ltd. Derby & London.  Anonymous High posting aperture 1879 - c. 1884

MacDonald Road
Pillar box by A. Handyside & Co. Ltd. Later E VII R cypher 1901 - 1904

Manor Drive
Methodist Church.  Somerset Road?
St John's United Reform Church rebuilt on previous foundations
St. Mary Immaculate and St.Peter

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