Friern Barnet Road, N11

At the eastern end of Friern Barnet Road was the hamlet of Betstile. Before 1815 most of the houses lay in Hertfordshire or Edmonton, apart from Betstile House on the corner of Friern Barnet Road and Oakleigh Roads, but by 1846 others stood north of the road, on the site of the former Friern great park, and the former Friern little park in Oakleigh Road had been divided into plots with cottages. Since the mid 19th century Betstile has been better known as New Southgate.

The White House and the Orange Tree inn stood on the north-west, a little below Brook House, the Priory on the north-east, with the Woodlands, Green bank, and Springfield further north, and the Hermitage and several cottages on the south-west by 1783.

There was very little change in the 19th century before the construction of the county lunatic asylum, and in 1882 Colney Hatch was described
as a village which had sprung up to serve the staff.



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