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 counted 65,812 as of 2011.[2]
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's Church
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.
Tally Ho Corner in North FinchleyApartments in Finchley (Church End)
Finchley is on a plateau, 90 metres (300ft) above sea level 11km (6.8mi) north of Charing Cross and 6km (3.7mi) 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:
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% Indian 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% Indian and 8% Other Asian.[15]
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 (3.0m) 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
East Finchley tube station
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]
The local football team Old Finchleians formed in 1901 who play home games at The Old Finchleians Memorial Ground in Southover and are members of the Southern Amateur League. Nicknamed The OF's the club have had well-known players like Gordon Finnie, Wayne Gosling and Cliff Brooks on their books.
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 to "the people of Finchley". The estate, a public park, is now known as Stephens House and Gardens.
It has a visitor centre with a small museum, the Stephens Collection, which covers the history of 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 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 Belloc, one of the poems is about Lord Finchley.
Bluebottle, a character in the 1950s BBC radio series The Goon Show, hails from East Finchley. 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.
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,[35] lived in Finchey. 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.
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.[36] His statue, sitting on a bench, occupies a prominent position at Stephens House and Gardens.
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.
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