Monken Hadley is an area in the

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

, at the northern edge of

Greater London Greater London is an administrative area in England, coterminous with the London region, containing most of the continuous urban area of London. It contains 33 local government districts: the 32 London boroughs, which form a Ceremonial count ...

, England, lying some north north-west of

Charing Cross Charing Cross ( ) is a junction in Westminster, London, England, where six routes meet. Since the early 19th century, Charing Cross has been the notional "centre of London" and became the point from which distances from London are measured. ...

. Anciently a country village near

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 C ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

, and from 1889 to 1965 in

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

, it is now a suburban area, while retaining some of its rural character.

Etymology

The old English place name "Hadley" means "heathery", a woodland clearing which is covered in heather. The prefix "Monken" refers to the fact that the parish was a possession of the monks of Walden Abbey. This is a development from 19th century historians, who argued that it was "compounded of two Saxon words – Head-leagh, or a high place; Mankin is probably derived from the connexion of the place with the abbey of Walden, to which it was given by Geoffrey de Mandeville, earl of Essex, under the name of the Hermitage of Hadley".

History

Middle Ages

Historically Monken Hadley was a

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

of Middlesex, forming part of a small protrusion into

. 19th-century historians took the parish to have been "formerly a hamlet to

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

... on the east side of the great north road, eleven miles from London".''The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction'', 4 August 1827 Its manor belonged to the Mandevilles, the founder of the Hermitage, and was given by Geoffrey de Mandeville to the monks of Walden, eventually being purchased by the Pinney family in 1791. One house, thought to have been connected to a monastic establishment was later owned by David Garrow, father of the great adversarial lawyer Sir William Garrow (1760–1840), coiner of the phrase "innocent until proven guilty", who was born and brought up in the village. As of 1827 that house had surviving "Chimney-pieces ... in alto-relievo: on one is sculptured the story of Sampson; the other represents many passages in the life of our Saviour, from his birth in the stall to his death on the cross". The main site of the

Battle of Barnet The Battle of Barnet was a decisive engagement in the Wars of the Roses, a War of succession, dynastic conflict of England in the Middle Ages, 15th-century England. The military action, along with the subsequent Battle of Tewkesbury, secured t ...

in 1471, one of the two principal engagements of the

Wars of the Roses The Wars of the Roses, known at the time and in following centuries as the Civil Wars, were a series of armed confrontations, machinations, battles and campaigns fought over control of the English throne from 1455 to 1487. The conflict was fo ...

, was in the parish of Monken Hadley. Yorkist troops advanced through the village, although the action took place north (Hadley Wood) and west (Hadley Green) of the settlement. Although the retreat of the forces of Lord William Hastings (at the hands of the Earl of Oxford) took place in the parish of Barnet, all of the other key engagements were within Monken Hadley parish, including the historically significant death of

Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, 6th Earl of Salisbury (22 November 1428 – 14 April 1471), known as Warwick the Kingmaker, was an English nobleman, administrator, landowner of the House of Neville fortune and military c ...

, believed to be at the place where a monument now stands on the Great North Road.

Stuarts to Georgians

Sir Roger Wilbraham (1553–1616),

Solicitor-General for Ireland The Solicitor-General for Ireland was the holder of an Kingdom of Ireland, Irish and then (from the Act of Union 1800) United Kingdom government office. The holder was a deputy to the Attorney-General for Ireland, and advised the Crown on Irish ...

, lived here towards the end of his life and is buried in the church, where his family monument is still visible. In 1616 he founded

almshouses An almshouse (also known as a bede-house, poorhouse, or hospital) is charitable organization, charitable public housing, housing provided to people in a particular community, especially during the Middle Ages. They were often built for the povert ...

in the village for six decayed housekeepers. Anthony Upton, a High Court judge in Ireland, was born in the village in 1656. The almshouses' endowment was modest and by 1827 was producing "more than 9£.6s. annually". The annuity was increased by Major Delafonte in 1762 but it expired in 1805, though a Mr Cottrell started a subscription and raised £2375 to be kept in trust. Samuel Whitbread also subscribed £1000 to support the almshouses. When corrupt lawyer George Booth died in 1726, Hester Pinney had been living with him in the village for three years and was his only executor. He left her the manor of Monken Hadley twelve miles outside London. Pinney died on 19 February 1740 in Holborn. East Barnet Valley Civil Parish Map 1894

East Barnet Valley Civil Parish Map 1894

A charity-school for girls was established in 1773 and expanded into a school of industry in 1800. That school was granting £1 each for clothes to twenty of its girls by 1827, at which date it also admitted thirty more girls for a weekly sum of 2d, who filled gaps in classes left by the £1 girls. This school and a boys' school were also supported by local inhabitants' contributions. As of 1804 the boys' school's endowment totalled £103 10 shillings and by 1827 it had 70 "day-scholars", twenty of whom were allowed £1 towards clothing and given free tuition, whilst the rest paid 2d a week.

19th century to present

By 1827 the parish covered "580 acres, including 240 allotted in lieu of the common enclosure of Enfield Chase" and the manor was owned by Peter Moore, Esq. In 1830 Stoberry Lodge was built. In 1840 the village became part of the

Metropolitan Police District The Metropolitan Police District (MPD) is the police area which is policed by the Metropolitan Police Service in London. It currently consists of the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London, which excludes the City of ...

, in which it remains. In 1889, under the

Local Government Act 1888 The Local Government Act 1888 (51 & 52 Vict. c. 41) was an Act of Parliament (United Kingdom), act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which established county councils and county borough councils in England and Wales. It came into effect ...

, the civil parish was transferred to Hertfordshire. Under the

Local Government Act 1894 The Local Government Act 1894 ( 56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales outside the County of London. The act followed the reforms carried out at county leve ...

the parish was split in two, with a Hadley parish becoming part of the Barnet Urban District, while the remaining part of the parish became part of the East Barnet Urban District of Hertfordshire. The writers

Kingsley Amis Sir Kingsley William Amis (16 April 1922 – 22 October 1995) was an English novelist, poet, critic and teacher. He wrote more than 20 novels, six volumes of poetry, a memoir, short stories, radio and television scripts, and works of social crit ...

and Elizabeth Jane Howard lived for a time in Lemmons, a house near the Common, where their friend the Poet Laureate

Cecil Day-Lewis Cecil Day-Lewis (or Day Lewis; 27 April 1904 – 22 May 1972), often written as C. Day-Lewis, was an Anglo-Irish poet and Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom from 1968 until his death in 1972. He also wrote mystery stories under the pseudony ...

died. In 1965, under the

London Government Act 1963 The London Government Act 1963 (c. 33) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which created Greater London and a new local government structure within it. The Act significantly reduced the number of local government districts in the ...

, its area was transferred to

and combined with that of other districts formerly in Hertfordshire and Middlesex to form the present-day

.Vision of Britain �
Monken Hadley parish

historic map

Spike Milligan Terence Alan "Spike" Milligan (16 April 1918 – 27 February 2002) was an Irish comedian, writer, musician, poet, playwright and actor. The son of an English mother and Irish father, he was born in British Raj, British India, where he spent his ...

(1918–2002), comedian, lived at Monkenhurst in the village from 1974 until 2002.

Parish church

The parish church of ''St Mary the Virgin'' was built in its present form in 1494 (the date being carved in stone over the west door) although a church is believed to have stood on the site for more than 800 years. The present building is in the perpendicular style, and includes two side chapels (in transepts) dedicated to St Anne and St Catherine. The building was heavily renovated in Victorian times, and contains large quantities of Victorian woodwork furniture. The parish and church were heavily influenced by tractarianism and the

Oxford Movement The Oxford Movement was a theological movement of high-church members of the Church of England which began in the 1830s and eventually developed into Anglo-Catholicism. The movement, whose original devotees were mostly associated with the Un ...

,See th
British History Online
website. and it remains a focus of eucharistic worship within the surrounding district.

Sport and recreation

Monken Hadley has a

Non-League football Non-League football describes association football, 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 ...

team Hadley F.C. who play at their Brickfield Lane ground in nearby Arkley. King George's Fields is an open space that is popular for tobogganing when there has been a good fall of snow. The fields descend into the

Hadley Wood Hadley Wood is suburb of north London, close to the border with Hertfordshire. It is part of the London Borough of Enfield, north of Charing Cross, close to Chipping Barnet. History The area in which Hadley Wood is situated is part of ...

s, which make their way into the Tudor Sports Ground area. Hadley Green is a Local Nature Reserve which is a Site of Metropolitan Importance, and traditionally considered the main site of the

. Hadley Common has a cricket field, home to a well-known cricket club, Monken Hadley CC, which is mentioned in one of the works of

Anthony Trollope Anthony Trollope ( ; 24 April 1815 – 6 December 1882) was an English novelist and civil servant of the Victorian era. Among the best-known of his 47 novels are two series of six novels each collectively known as the ''Chronicles of Barsetshire ...

, who lived in Monken Hadley.

School

Monken Hadley CofE primary school
sitting opposite the cricket field within Hadley Common, was founded in 1832. It serves approximately 20 children per year from the local areas; predominantly High Barnet, New Barnet and Hadley Wood. While each year has only 20 children each class has 30 children; this results in classes with mixed year groups. The current head is Ms Julie Eyres.

Transport links

Buses

Monken Hadley and Hadley Green are not well-served by bus routes, with most services terminating further south in Barnet. The two

Transport for London Transport for London (TfL) is a local government body responsible for most of the transport network in London, United Kingdom. TfL is the successor organization of the London Passenger Transport Board, which was established in 1933, and His ...

routes which run nearby are: * 84 – New Barnet railway station to St Albans * 399 – Barnet (the Spires) to Hadley Wood railway station – circular service; Monday to Saturday shopping hours only.

Railway

Both fairly nearby are: * New Barnet railway station – Great Northern * Hadley Wood railway station – Great Northern

Tube

Two tube stations are relatively nearby: *

High 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 C ...

(Northern Line) is the closer of the two and lies to the south, within walking distance (under a mile), and is accessible via the 84 bus. *

Cockfosters Cockfosters is a suburb of north London to the east of Chipping Barnet, lying partly in the London Borough of Enfield and partly in the London Borough of Barnet. It is 10 miles (16 km) north of Charing Cross. Before 1965, it was in the count ...

(Piccadilly Line) is accessible via a longer walk, nearly three miles, eastwards across Monken Hadley Common.

Geographic location

References

External links

Monken Hadley Parish Church websiteMonken Hadley Cricket Club websiteArchives relating to Monken Hadley
at

The National Archives (United Kingdom) The National Archives (TNA; ) is a non-ministerial government department, non-ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. Its parent department is the Department for Culture, Media and Sport of the United Kingdom, United K ...

{{Areas of London Districts of the London Borough of Barnet Areas of London Places formerly in Middlesex