Cockfosters is a suburb of

north London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshire. The term ''nort ...

to the east of

Chipping Barnet Chipping Barnet or High Barnet is a suburban market town in north London, forming part of the London Borough of Barnet, England. It is a suburban development built around a 12th-century settlement, and is located north-northwest of Charing Cr ...

, lying partly in the

London Borough of Enfield The London Borough of Enfield () is a London boroughs, London borough in North London. It borders the London boroughs of London Borough of Barnet, Barnet to the west, London Borough of Haringey, Haringey to the south, and London Borough of Walt ...

and partly in the

London Borough of Barnet The London Borough of Barnet () is a suburban London boroughs, London borough in North London. The borough was formed in 1965 from parts of the ceremonial counties of Middlesex and Hertfordshire. It forms part of Outer London and is the largest ...

. Before 1965, it was in the counties of

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

and

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

Origins and popular attractions

The name was recorded as far back as 1524 and is thought to be either the name of a family or that of a house which stood on

Enfield Chase Enfield Chase is an area of Enfield that is named for a former royal hunting ground. Much of the former area of the Chase has been developed, but a large part survives between Cockfosters in the west and Enfield in the east as Trent Country ...

. One suggestion is that it was "the residence of the cock forester (or chief forester)". Of note in Cockfosters is

Trent Park Trent Park is an English country house, together with its former extensive grounds, in north London. The original great house and a number of statues and other structures located within the grounds (such as the Orangery) are Grade II listed b ...

, now a

country park A country park is a natural area designated for people to visit and enjoy recreation in a countryside environment. United Kingdom History In the United Kingdom, the term ''country park'' has a special meaning. There are around 250 recognised coun ...

Christ Church, Cockfosters Christ Church, Cockfosters, is a conservative evangelical Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, i ...

, an

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...

church, was founded in 1839.

Christ the King, Cockfosters Christ the King (Vita et Pax) is an architecturally notable former priory of the Olivetan order in Bramley Road, Cockfosters, north London. It was founded in 1930 by Dom Constantine Bosschaerts Constantine most often refers to: * Constantine th ...

(Vita et Pax), a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

church, was founded in 1930. The

Piccadilly line The Piccadilly line is a deep-level London Underground line running from the north to the west of London. It has two branches, which split at Acton Town, and serves 53 stations. The line serves Heathrow Airport, and some of its stations are n ...

of the

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent ceremonial counties of England, counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and He ...

reached Cockfosters in 1933. The Cock Inn (formerly the Cock), off Cockfosters Road on Chalk Lane, opened in 1798.

Geography

Education

Southgate School Southgate School is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form located in the Oakwood area of London, England. The school is situated just east of the Cat Hill roundabout of the A111 and A110, between Cockfosters and Oakwood tube statio ...

is located on Sussex Way. Trent C of E Primary School is located on Chalk Lane.

Theatre and the arts

The

Chickenshed Theatre Company Chickenshed (also known as Chicken Shed or the Chicken Shed Theatre Company) is a British theatre company based in Southgate, London. Chickenshed's membership programme comprises four Children's theatre groups and two Youth theatre groups for you ...

, founded in 1975 in a chicken shed before relocating to its current site, originated the concept of inclusive theatre.

Sport and leisure

Cockfosters has a

non-League football Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

club, Cockfosters F.C., which plays at the Cockfosters Sports Ground. The

Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century Germany in the Middle Ages, German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings, to refer ...

used to play at Chase Side (also known as Clocktower Park); however, they are now based in

Hendon Hendon is an urban area in the Borough of Barnet, North-West London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has been part of Great ...

. The ground is still used for

Enfield F.C. Enfield Football Club is an English football club that is currently a member of the . The club plays its home matches at Woodside Park in Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, which it shares with owners Bishop's Stortford F.C. Traditionally b ...

training and for the Saracens' 'B' team, Saracens Storm. It is also used as Saracens Amateurs' training ground. Cockfosters Cricket Club and Southgate Compton Cricket Club play at Chalk Lane on fields adjacent to Christ Church, either side of Cockfosters Bowling Club. Trent Country Park covers approximately 320 hectares (791 acres, 1.2 sq mi) and features treetop

adventure park An adventure park is a place which can contain a wide variety of elements, including but not limited to, rope climbing exercises, obstacle courses, bouldering, rock climbing, target oriented activities, and zip-lines. They are usually intended ...

Go Ape Go Ape! is an outdoor adventure company which runs tree top ropes courses under the names Tree Top Challenge, Tree Top Adventure and Zip Trekking, as well as ground-based Forest Segway Safaris, at locations across the United Kingdom and the United ...

Demographics

Cockfosters has its own

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to t ...

in the Enfield borough. The 2011 census of Cockfosters ward counted a population of 16,137. The ethnic composition was 73.7%

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

(51.7%

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

, 19.7% Other, 2.2%

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

), 13.5%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

(6.5%

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

), and 8%

black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

(2.9%

African African or Africans may refer to: * Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa: ** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa *** Ethn ...

). The most spoken foreign languages were Turkish and

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

. Fifty per cent of the population were

Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

, with

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

s and

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...

s forming 10% and 9% respectively. Of the 5,215 households, 3,219 resided in a whole house or

bungalow A bungalow is a small house or cottage that is either single-story or has a second story built into a sloping roof (usually with dormer windows), and may be surrounded by wide verandas. The first house in England that was classified as a b ...

; 68.8% of home tenures were owned, with minorities of privately rented and socially rented homes. Of economically active people, 4.2% were unemployed. The

median age A population pyramid (age structure diagram) or "age-sex pyramid" is a graphical illustration of the distribution of a population (typically that of a country or region of the world) by age groups and sex; it typically takes the shape of a pyramid ...

was forty years. The part within the borough of Barnet is covered by the

East Barnet East Barnet is an area of north London within the London Borough of Barnet bordered by New Barnet, Cockfosters and Southgate. It is a largely residential suburb whose central area contains shops, public houses, restaurants and services, and ...

ward.

Culture

''Cockfosters'' is the name of a 2015 short-story collection by Helen Simpson. One of the short stories features a visit to "lost property" at Cockfosters Underground station. The poet

John Betjeman Sir John Betjeman (; 28 August 190619 May 1984) was an English poet, writer, and broadcaster. He was Poet Laureate from 1972 until his death. He was a founding member of The Victorian Society and a passionate defender of Victorian architecture, ...

, who taught at

Heddon Court School Belmont, originally known as Mount Pleasant, was a house in East Barnet, London, near Cockfosters, that dated back to the sixteenth century. By the end of the nineteenth century it had become Heddon Court and was the home of a preparatory scho ...

in 1929–30, wrote "The Cricket Master" about his experiences there.

People

The

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for

Enfield Southgate Enfield Southgate is a constituency in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. It was created in 1950 as Southgate, and has been represented since 2017 by Bambos Charalambous, a member of the Labour Party. History From 1950 to the 1983 ge ...

from 2005 to 2017,

David Burrowes David John Barrington Burrowes (born 12 June 1969) is a British politician. He was the Conservative Member of Parliament for Enfield Southgate from 2005 to 2017, is the co-founder of the Conservative Christian Fellowship. He has been the Chair ...

, was born in Cockfosters. George Baillie Duncan ministered at

, and the cricketer

Andrew Wingfield Digby Rev. Canon Andrew Richard Wingfield Digby (born 27 July 1950) is a Church of England priest and former English cricketer. Wingfield Digby was a left-handed batsman who bowled right-arm medium pace. He served as vicar of St Andrew's Church, Oxf ...

was a

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy w ...

there.

Cameron McVey Cameron Andrew McVey (born 11 March 1957) is an English singer, songwriter and music producer. He worked with the bands Massive Attack, Portishead, All Saints, Sugababes/Mutya Keisha Siobhan and his wife Neneh Cherry. He is the father of Ma ...

grew up in Cockfosters. Other transient residents have included the footballers

Tommy Docherty Thomas Henderson Docherty (24 April 1928 – 31 December 2020), commonly known as The Doc, was a Scottish football player and manager. Docherty played for several clubs, most notably Preston North End, and represented Scotland 25 times betwe ...

and

George Eastham George Edward Eastham, OBE (born 23 September 1936) is an English former footballer. He is known for playing for Newcastle United, Arsenal and Stoke City, as well as a member of England's 1966 World Cup-winning squad. However, he is also nota ...

and

Dave Davies David Russell Gordon Davies (born 3 February 1947) is an English guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was the lead guitarist and backing vocalist for the English rock band the Kinks, which also featured his elder brother Ray Davies. He was ind ...

of the

Kinks The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, north London, in 1963 by brothers Ray and Dave Davies. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British rhythm ...

. Professors

John Stollery Professor John Leslie Stollery, (21 April 1930 – 28 June 2013) was a British engineer and academic. He was Professor of Aerodynamics at Cranfield University. He served as president of the Royal Aeronautical Society from 1987 to 1988 and Editor ...

and

Ian Jacobs Ian "Powerhouse" Jacobs is an Australian kickboxer and former 3 time World Kickboxing Champion. He has had victories over other former World Champions, such as Gurkan Ozkan by Unanimous points decision, and 'Diamond' Dale Westerman by Kn ...

also grew up in Cockfosters.

Transport

Two tube stations are located within Cockfosters: * Cockfosters Station is the terminus of the Piccadilly line. * Oakwood Station is the next station after Cockfosters.

London Buses London Buses is the subsidiary of Transport for London (TfL) that manages most bus services in London, England. It was formed following the Greater London Authority Act 1999 that transferred control of London Regional Transport (LRT) bus se ...

routes 298,

299 __NOTOC__ Year 299 (Roman numerals, CCXCIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. In the Roman Empire, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Diocletian and Maximian (or, l ...

307 __NOTOC__ Year 307 ( CCCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Severus and Maximinus (or, less frequently, year 1060 ...

384 __NOTOC__ Year 384 ( CCCLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Ricomer and Clearchus (or, less frequently, year 1137 ' ...

692 __NOTOC__ Year 692 (Roman numerals, DCXCII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 692 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini ...

699 __NOTOC__ Year 699 ( DCXCIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 699 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar e ...

, N91 serve Cockfosters.

References

External links

{{Authority control Areas of London