West Hendon

Suburb, existing until now.

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Suburb · * · ·
December
11
2012
West Hendon - or New Hendon to the older folk. Or The Hyde to those older folk's grandparents.

West Hendon was a settlement within that part of the ancient parish of Hendon known as the Hyde, and is now a part of the London Borough of Barnet.

It was formally known, from 1878–1890, as New Hendon, a small railway development on the Edgware Road. Before the 1830s there were three farms, Upper and Lower Guttershedge (east of the road) and Cockman’s in the Wood (west of the road) and an inn, The Welsh Harp. Between 1835 and 1838, the Brent Reservoir was constructed by damming the Brent and the Silk brooks and flooding much of Cockman’s Farm. The water was used to supply the Grand Union Canal. At its greatest extent, in 1853, it covered 400 acres but was dramatically reduced to 195 acres in the 1890s. Subsequently it has been reduced to 110 acres. It contains enough water to fill 3 million baths and in 1991 was believed to contain 10,000 lb of fish.

The residue of Cockman’s Farm became Woodfield House, home to the Roman Catholic Passioist Fathers (1852 and 1858). The house was demolished in 1940 and the site used by the Borough of Hendon and its successor the London Borough of Barnet as a plant nursery.

Originally The Harp and Horn (c1750s), The Welsh Harp was rebuilt in 1859 and again in 1937, before finally being pulled down in 1970 to make way for the M1. During the 1960s, it was known as The Lakeside Scene and hosted some of the great rock and blues bands of the day, such as the Yardbirds. From 1859 until the end of the century it was run by the Warner brothers, and the reservoir became a centre for all sorts of sporting events such as ice skating, swimming and angling; it was, until 1878, the Kingsbury Race Course and the first mechanical hare in greyhound racing was used there in 1876. By 1850, there was a second public house, the Upper Welsh Harp. At its height in the mid-1880s crowds in excess of 25,000 people could be expected on a Bank Holiday weekend.

Two railway stations were opened, both of the Midland Railway: Hendon (1868), and Welsh Harp (1870). A local builder called Bishop laid the first brick of a new terrace called Neeld Terrace (1881), which heralded the start of New Hendon. Brent Vue was built on land originally owned by the Midland Company. In 1885, the Baptists had a mission hall and their present hall was opened in 1930. By 1886, there were 200 new houses and the Anglican church of St. John’s was built.

In 1896 Schweppes opened a large mineral water factory, and the present Anglican church of St. John’s was established in Algernon Road. With a planned tram line along the West Hendon Broadway due to open in 1904, Welsh Harp station was closed in 1903, and West Hendon became a thriving Edwardian retail district until overshadowed by Golders Green.

During World War II, on 13 February 1941, the Luftwaffe dropped an SC2500 Maximum Heavy Explosive bomb (equivalent to two V2 rockets), killing 80 people and destroying 40 houses in an area west of the Edgware Road. This area was completely redeveloped in the 1960s.


Licence: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence

CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE LOCALITY

None so far :(
LATEST LONDON-WIDE CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE PROJECT

Comment
Wendy    
Added: 22 Mar 2024 15:33 GMT   

Polygon Buildings
Following the demolition of the Polygon, and prior to the construction of Oakshott Court in 1974, 4 tenement type blocks of flats were built on the site at Clarendon Sq/Phoenix Rd called Polygon Buildings. These were primarily for people working for the Midland Railway and subsequently British Rail. My family lived for 5 years in Block C in the 1950s. It seems that very few photos exist of these buildings.

Reply

Steve   
Added: 19 Mar 2024 08:42 GMT   

Road construction and houses completed
New Charleville Circus road layout shown on Stanford’s Library Map Of London And Its Suburbs 1879 with access via West Hill only.

Plans showing street numbering were recorded in 1888 so we can concluded the houses in Charleville Circus were built by this date.

Source: Charleville Circus, Sydenham, London

Reply
Comment
Steve   
Added: 19 Mar 2024 08:04 GMT   

Charleville Circus, Sydenham: One Place Study (OPS)
One Place Study’s (OPS) are a recent innovation to research and record historical facts/events/people focused on a single place �’ building, street, town etc.

I have created an open access OPS of Charleville Circus on WikiTree that has over a million members across the globe working on a single family tree for everyone to enjoy, for free, forever.

Source: Charleville Circus, Sydenham, London

Reply
Comment
Charles   
Added: 8 Mar 2024 20:45 GMT   

My House
I want to know who lived in my house in the 1860’s.

Reply

NH   
Added: 7 Mar 2024 11:41 GMT   

Telephone House
Donald Hunter House, formerly Telephone House, was the BT Offices closed in 2000

Reply
Comment
Paul Cox   
Added: 5 Mar 2024 22:18 GMT   

War damage reinstatement plans of No’s 11 & 13 Aldine Street
Whilst clearing my elderly Mothers house of general detritus, I’ve come across original plans (one on acetate) of No’s 11 & 13 Aldine Street. Might they be of interest or should I just dispose of them? There are 4 copies seemingly from the one single acetate example. Seems a shame to just junk them as the level of detail is exquisite. No worries if of no interest, but thought I’d put it out there.

Reply
Comment
Diana   
Added: 28 Feb 2024 13:52 GMT   

New Inn Yard, E1
My great grandparents x 6 lived in New Inn Yard. On this date, their son was baptised in nearby St Leonard’s Church, Shoreditch

Source: BDM London, Cripplegate and Shoreditch registers written by church clerk.

Reply
Comment
Vic Stanley   
Added: 24 Feb 2024 17:38 GMT   

Postcose
The postcode is SE15, NOT SE1

Reply


NEARBY LOCATIONS OF NOTE
Gutters Hedge Farm Gutters Hedge Farm was also known as Park Hill Farm.
Silk Stream Silk Stream is just over 4 kilometres long and lies entirely within the current London Borough of Barnet.
St John, Hendon St John is a church built by Temple Moore (1856–1920) was an English architect who was born in Tullamore, Ireland.

NEARBY STREETS
Algernon Road, NW4 Algernon Road was built on the Hendon side of the Midland Railway tracks during the last decade of the nineteenth century (Hendon)
Audley Road, NW4 Audley Road was built along the line of a former footpath (Hendon)
Bertram Road, NW4 Bertram Road is one of a grid of pre-First World War streets (Hendon)
Brent View Road, NW4 Brent View Road is a terrace overlooking the Midland Main Line in West Hendon (West Hendon)
Cool Oak Lane, NW9 Cool Oak Lane connects West Hendon with Kingsbury (West Hendon)
Dallas Road, NW4 Dallas Road is a road running parallel to the Midland railway and M1 (Hendon)
Damsel Walk, NW9 Damsel Walk is a location in London (West Hendon)
Dartmouth Road, NW4 Dartmouth Road runs north-south across Vicarage Road (Hendon)
Dehar Crescent, NW9 Dehar Crescent is a road in the NW9 postcode area (West Hendon)
Esmar Crescent, NW9 Esmar Crescent is a road in the NW9 postcode area (West Hendon)
Gadsbury Close, NW9 Gadsbury Close is a street in Kingsbury (Kingsbury)
Garrick Road, NW9 Garrick Road is a street in Kingsbury (West Hendon)
Goldsmith Avenue, NW9 Goldsmith Avenue is a street in Kingsbury (Kingsbury)
Hazelmere Court, NW4 Hazelmere Court is sited on Station Road (Hendon)
Herbert Road, NW9 Herbert Road is now part of the West Hendon one way system (West Hendon)
Hollyview Close, NW4 Hollyview Close is a road in the NW4 postcode area (Hendon)
Ingledene Close, NW4 Ingledene Close is a location in London (Hendon)
Irving Way, NW9 Irving Way is a street in Kingsbury (West Hendon)
M1 motorway, NW4 The southernmost section of the M1 was built in 1977 (West Hendon)
Malcolm Court, NW4 Malcolm Court is a block on Malcolm Crescent (Hendon)
Malcolm Crescent, NW4 Malcolm Crescent is a road in the NW4 postcode area (Hendon)
Marriotts Close, NW9 Marriotts Close is a post-war development (West Hendon)
Marsh Drive, NW9 Marsh Drive is a street in Kingsbury (West Hendon)
Milton Road, NW9 Milton Road was the site of the first church in West Hendon (West Hendon)
Montagu Road, NW4 Montagu Road is a street in Hendon (Hendon)
Moorhen Drive, NW9 Moorhen Drive is a location in London (West Hendon)
Mount Road, NW4 Mount Road is a street in Hendon (Hendon)
Park Road, NW4 Park Road was formerly called Gutterhedge Lane (Hendon)
Perryfield Way, NW9 Perryfield Way is a location in London (West Hendon)
Pheasant Square, NW9 Pheasant Square is a location in London (West Hendon)
Pollard Road, NW9 Pollard Road was urbanised in the final decades of the nineteenth century (West Hendon)
Priestley Way, NW9 Priestley Way is a road in the NW9 postcode area (West Hendon)
Ramsay Road, NW9 Ramsay Road was the northernmost of a series of disappeared streets in West Hendon (West Hendon)
Ramsey Close, NW9 Ramsey Close consists of two storey semi-detached houses built in the 1980s (West Hendon)
Riverside, NW4 Riverside is a road in the NW4 postcode area (Hendon)
Russell Road, NW9 Russell Road is a street in Kingsbury (West Hendon)
Seelig Avenue, NW9 Seelig Avenue is a road in the NW9 postcode area (West Hendon)
Shearwater Drive, NW9 Shearwater Drive is a road in the NW9 postcode area (West Hendon)
Silk Bridge Retail Park, NW9 Silk Bridge Retail Park is a location in London (Kingsbury)
Sorrel Mead, NW9 Sorrel Mead is a location in London (West Hendon)
Station Road, NW9 Station Road was formerly called Burroughs Lane and led from the Burroughs to Edgware Road south of Silk Bridge (West Hendon)
Stuart Avenue, NW9 Stuart Avenue is a road in the NW9 postcode area (West Hendon)
Telford Road, NW9 Telford Road, now reduced to a stump, was a major part of the West Hendon Estate (West Hendon)
The Broadway, NW9 The Broadway is a street in Kingsbury (West Hendon)
Tyrrel Way, NW9 Tyrrel Way is a street in Kingsbury (West Hendon)
Verulam Court, NW9 Verulam Court is a street in Kingsbury (West Hendon)
Vicarage Road, NW4 Vicarage Road was laid out over a field of Renter’s Farm in the first decade of the twentieth century (Hendon)
Warner Close, NW9 Warner Close was part of the West Hendon Estate (West Hendon)
West Hendon Broadway, NW9 West Hendon Broadway is part of the Edgware Road (West Hendon)
Wilberforce Road, NW4 Wilberforce Road was one of a series of roads in the area built during the 1890s (Hendon)
Woolmead Avenue, NW9 Woolmead Avenue leads south from Cool Oak Lane (West Hendon)

NEARBY PUBS
Old Welsh Harp The Old Welsh Harp was a famous inn beside the Edgware Road.
Upper Welsh Harp The Upper Welsh Harp was a pub on West Hendon Broadway.


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