Burnt Oak is a suburb of

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, located northwest of

Charing Cross Charing Cross ( ) is a junction in Westminster, London, England, where six routes meet. Clockwise from north these are: the east side of Trafalgar Square leading to St Martin's Place and then Charing Cross Road; the Strand leading to the City ...

. It lies to the west of the

M1 motorway The M1 motorway connects London to Leeds, where it joins the A1(M) near Aberford, to connect to Newcastle. It was the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the UK; the first motorway in the country was the Preston By-pass, which ...

between

Edgware Edgware () is a suburban town in northern Greater London, mostly in the London Borough of Barnet but with small parts falling in the London Borough of Harrow and in the London Borough of Brent. Edgware is centred north-northwest of Charing Cros ...

and

Colindale Colindale is a district in the London Borough of Barnet; its main shopping street on the A5 forming the borough boundary with neighbouring Brent. Colindale is a suburban area, and in recent years has had many new apartments built. It's also th ...

, located predominantly in the

London Borough of Barnet The London Borough of Barnet () is a suburban 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 London borough ...

, with parts comprising the London Boroughs of Brent and Harrow. It was part of

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...

until it was transferred to

Greater London Greater may refer to: *Greatness Greatness is a concept of a state of superiority affecting a person or object in a particular place or area. Greatness can also be attributed to individuals who possess a natural ability to be better than al ...

in 1965.

History

Burnt Oak railway station 1951303 a449cb96

The earliest recorded use of the name Burnt Oak was in 1754,Weinreb, Ben; Hibbert, Christopher; Keay, Julia; and Keay, John (2011)
''The London Encyclopaedia'' (3rd edition)
p. 116. Pan Macmillan. Retrieved 1 May 2014. when it was used to refer to a field on the eastern side of Edgware Road (

Watling Street Watling Street is a historic route in England that crosses the River Thames at London and which was used in Classical Antiquity, Late Antiquity, and throughout the Middle Ages. It was used by the ancient Britons and paved as one of the main ...

) in the Ancient Parish of

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 Gre ...

. The name originates from the fact that the field had contained an ancient oak tree some time before the 1750s, having been burned by a lightning strike. The tree stood at the boundary of the Little Stanmore parish with the Kingsbury parish. Parts of modern-day Burnt Oak lie on what was once a 33-acre field known as Sheves Hill Common Field. However, outside of Sheves Hill, most areas of farmland had been owned by the Goldbeaters Farm since the 14th century. The Goldbeaters estate may have originated in a grant of land and rent by John le Bret to William of Aldenham, goldbeater of London, in 1308. John Goldbeater held a house and some land of the manor of Hendon in 1321. This land had been cultivated for hay and became enclosed by the late 1500s. A known custom from the area from the early 19th century had been established by hay farmers, who would assemble at the Bald Faced Stag pub and lead a procession to London. By the 1840s, two other notable farms existed in the area, known as Burntoak Farm and Redhill Farm, both also producing hay alongside being used as livery stables. In the 19th century, Sheves Hill field was rented out in divisions of land to 46 tenants, and later became the site of the Hendon Union Workhouse, commonly known as Redhill Workhouse, in 1838. The institution housed around 130 inmates in 1863, and was governed by Rev. Theodore Williams, Vicar of Hendon, who developed a reputation for cruelty toward inmates. The infirmary of the workhouse is now the site of Edgware Community Hospital. In May 1844, Burnt Oak field was sold to a Mr Essex. A union school for 150 children was built next to the workhouse in 1859. A farmhouse and cow farm existed to the south, which were still maintained into the early 1920s. In 1853, three residential streets: North Road, East Road, and South Road were built on the site of Burnt Oak field by the Middlesex Freehold Land Society. The application of the field name to the district followed from this new estate by the initiative of the land society, as the name Redhill had become associated with the ill-famed workhouse. The new name, Burnt Oak, was in use by the 1880s and first appeared on maps in 1895. However, the area continued to be referred to as Red Hill until the opening of Burnt Oak tube station, with a Redhill Drive still existing in the area. Similarly, an area known as Orange Hill existed closer to the outskirts of

Mill Hill Mill Hill is a suburb in the London Borough of Barnet, England. It is situated around northwest of Charing Cross. Mill Hill was in the historic county of Middlesex until 1965, when it became part of Greater London. Its population counted 18,4 ...

, giving its name to Orange Hill Road. This area took its name from Orange Hill House, which in turn was possibly named to celebrate the accession of William of Orange in 1689. The building which now stands at the site, once the site of St Rose's Convent, was built in 1881 for a Mr Ruddock. The area was largely rural, having little buildings except for pubs such as the Bald Faced Stag, Royal Oak, Prince of Wales, and Load of Hay, which catered to travelers. However, there were a handful of shops by the 1890s; a post office and grocery run by George and William Plumb, a bakery run by Caller & Poole, as well as James Huggett the greengrocer. A new school had been opened in 1884, later being replaced by a larger school housing up to 300 students in 1901. The Metropolitan Electric Tramway along Edgware Road to

Cricklewood Cricklewood is an area of London, England, which spans the boundaries of three London boroughs: Barnet to the east, Brent to the west and Camden to the south-east. The Crown pub, now the Clayton Crown Hotel, is a local landmark and lies north ...

opened in 1905, but the population remained small, being around in 1921. Burnt Oak would begin to urbanise after Burnt Oak stationThen as Burnt Oak (for Watling). on

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 counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The ...

Northern line The Northern line is a London Underground line that runs from North London to South London. It is printed in black on the Tube map. The Northern line is unique on the Underground network in having two different routes through central London, t ...

opened on 27 October 1924. Plans to open the tube station had existed since 1913, being postponed due to the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

; initially proposed names differed, including Sheves Hill, Orange Hill, and Goldbeaters. The station was first open on weekdays with a small booking hall suitable for a rural area. The Underground Electric Railways Company of London constructed a new road, Watling Avenue, known as Mill Hill Avenue until 1927. This was to link to Edgware Road, and originally for transporting soil and materials for the construction of the tube station. At 100 Watling Avenue, the first remotely controlled electrical substation in the country was constructed, which was able to power the train line while being controlled remotely from Golders Green. Also in 1924, it was announced that the

London County Council London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today kn ...

was to build a housing estate (Watling Estate), which was ready for its first occupants in April 1927. The estate offered three main styles of houses, made of brick, wood, and steel, as well as newly constructed flats. Other housing estates were opened on former farmland, such as the Canada Park Estate and Highlands Estate. In 1927, Redhill Hospital was also opened near the Union Workhouse. With this and other new amenities the area was provided with a new station by 1928, and the population by 1931 had grown to . A shop parade was built along Watling Avenue in 1930, as well as a number of new schools to serve the area, such as Woodcroft and Goldbeaters. Most of the residents who migrated to Burnt Oak when the area urbanised in the 1920's came from the once-overcrowded working class districts of

Islington Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ...

and St Pancras. This led to discontent among some long-time residents, who accused the working class of pick-pocketing and possible

Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, ...

sentiments, giving the area the nickname "Little Moscow". This led to some shop owners denying service to those who lived on the estates. However, the Watling Centre, established in 1933, provided facilities and entertainment to the local population. On 29 June 1936, the Regent Cinema was opened on Burnt Oak Broadway, later becoming known as the Odeon Cinema and Savoy Cinema. From 1961, the building housed Mecca Bingo, London's first bingo club. The club closed in 2014, with the building becoming derelict, and as of 2021 is set to be transformed into apartments. Similarly to neighbouring

and Grahame Park, Burnt Oak's history was associated with early aviation. The area was once the site of the Stag Lane Aerodrome, where pioneering pilot Amy Johnson had learned to fly. In July 1921, aviation pioneer

Harry Hawker Harry George Hawker, MBE, AFC (22 January 1889 – 12 July 1921) was an Australian aviation pioneer. He was the chief test pilot for Sopwith and was also involved in the design of many of their aircraft. After the First World War, he co-fo ...

died after crashing in a park in Burnt Oak. Stag Lane was also the site of the

de Havilland The de Havilland Aircraft Company Limited () was a British aviation manufacturer established in late 1920 by Geoffrey de Havilland at Stag Lane Aerodrome Edgware on the outskirts of north London. Operations were later moved to Hatfield in H ...

aircraft works, which employed a significant number of residents in the area. London's RAF Museum is located nearby in Grahame Park, on the site of the former Hendon Airfield. In September 1931 Jack Cohen opened the first

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British Multinational corporation, multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues an ...

store at 54 Watling Avenue, Burnt Oak.Maurice Corina: ''Pile It High Sell It Cheap: The Authorised Biography of Sir Jack Cohen'', Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London, 1971Andrew Hosken
Like a Dame: The Scandals of Shirley Porter''
Granta, 2007Sarah Ryle
''The Making of Tesco: A Story of British Shopping''
Random House, 2013 The store was later moved to a larger plot on Watling Avenue, before moving to Burnt Oak Broadway in 1976. This store closed in 2018 and is set to be redeveloped into apartments. In 1930, Dominican nuns established St Rose's Convent at Orange Hill House, which led to the foundation of St James' Catholic High School in 1934. On 31 October 1936, the

Co-op A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-control ...

opened its department store at the junction of Stag Lane and Burnt Oak Broadway (now a Poundstretcher). The Watling Market began offering a hundred covered shops and stalls in December 1960; this market ceased trading around 2014. In 2018, a stairwell previously used to access the marketplace was closed to the public, along with another on the opposite side which led to the derelict electrical substation. On 10 December 2014, a large fire destroyed the roof of the Lansdowne pub in Burnt Oak. The building was demolished in 2016 and is now the site of a car dealership. In 2017, 500 people were evacuated from the area due to the eruption of a large fire behind shops in Watling Avenue.

Watling Estate

The Watling Estate is one of 12 London County Council cottage estates built between the wars to provide

Homes fit for Heroes A council house is a form of British public housing built by local authorities. A council estate is a building complex containing a number of council houses and other amenities like schools and shops. Construction took place mainly from 1919 a ...

Geography

Burnt Oak lies about 160 (50 m) to 200 feet (60 m) above sea level. Prior to urbanisation, much of the area had been rolling grassland. The

Silk Stream The Silk Stream is a brook just over long in the London Borough of Barnet. It is one of the major components of the Blue Ribbon Network. The Silk Stream is a tributary of the River Brent, which it joins at Brent Reservoir. It has several tri ...

Burnt Oak Brook Burnt Oak Brook is a one-mile-long stream between Mill Hill and Burnt Oak in the London Borough of Barnet. It is a tributary of the Silk Stream, which is a tributary of the River Brent, which is a tributary of the River Thames. The stream's co ...

, and Deans Brook flow through Burnt Oak, all tributaries of the

River Brent The River Brent is a river in west and northwest London, England, and a tributary of the River Thames. in length, it rises in the Borough of Barnet and flows in a generally south-west direction before joining the Tideway stretch of the Thame ...

. There are several parks in the area:

Watling Park Watling Park is a public park in Burnt Oak in the London Borough of Barnet. It is one of Barnet's sixteen premier parks. It is a hilly open area with mown grassland, a children's playground, a football pitch, a basketball pitch and a small rose gar ...

, Silkstream Park, Lyndhurst Park, Woodcroft Park, and The Meads Open Space. Burnt Oak lies northwest of

in central London.

Demography and culture

In 2011, the Burnt Oak ward in Barnet had a population of 18,217. The census showed that 47% of the population was white (30% British, 14% Other, 3% Irish), 13% was Black African, and 12% Other Asian. Religiously, 50% was Christian, 18% Muslim, 7% Hindu, 2% Buddhist, and 1% Jewish. The area is known for its variety of multicultural shops, reflecting the established Indian, Turkish and Nigerian communities. In the 2010s, the area attracted a large community of Eastern Europeans, particularly from

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

. The large size of the Romanian diaspora and its concentration in the area has earned Burnt Oak the nickname "Little Romania", or "Little

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north o ...

". Similarly, in the 1930s, the area was known by some as "Little Moscow" due to rising fears of revolutionary sentiments among working-class people who arrived to settle the Watling Estate.

Transport

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 s ...

routes 32, 142,

204 __NOTOC__ Year 204 ( CCIV) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Cilo and Flavius (or, less frequently, year 957 ''Ab urbe c ...

, 251,

292 __NOTOC__ Year 292 ( CCXCII) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Hannibalianus and Asclepiodotus (or, less frequently, yea ...

, 302 all meet at the junction of Watling Avenue, Stag Lane and Burnt Oak Broadway. The old route 52 was split into a shorter 52 (between

Willesden Junction Willesden Junction is a railway station in Harlesden, north-west London, UK. It is served by both London Overground and London Underground services. History The station developed on three contiguous sites: the West Coast Main Line (WCML) st ...

and Victoria bus station) and new route 302 (from Mill Hill Broadway to

Kensal Rise Kensal Green is an area in north-west London. It lies mainly in the London Borough of Brent, with a small part to the south within London Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, Kensington and Chelsea. Kensal Green is located on the Harrow Road, a ...

via Burnt Oak) in 1992. Night bus route N5 runs between

Trafalgar Square Trafalgar Square ( ) is a public square in the City of Westminster, Central London, laid out in the early 19th century around the area formerly known as Charing Cross. At its centre is a high column bearing a statue of Admiral Nelson comm ...

and

Edgware bus station Edgware Bus Station serves the Edgware suburb of the London Borough of Barnet, Greater London, England. The station is owned and maintained by Transport for London. The bus station is off Station Road, situated a short distance away from Edgw ...

serving all the tube stations, and the N16 runs north from Victoria Station via the Edgware Road, to Edgware Station, via Burnt Oak.

trains on the Edgware Branch serve

Burnt Oak tube station Burnt Oak is a London Underground station in Burnt Oak, north London, on Watling Avenue, off the A5 (the Edgware Road, originally a Roman Road known as Watling Street). The station is on the Edgware branch of the Northern line, between Edgware ...

Notable people

Antony Costa Antony Daniel Costa (born 23 June 1981) is an English singer and songwriter. He is best known as a member of the boy band Blue. Early life Costa was born in Edgware, North London, Costa attended Hendon School in nearby Barnet. He is half-Gree ...

(b. 1981), singer * Robert Elms (b. 1959), writer and broadcaster

Gallery

File:Burnt Oak stn building.JPG,

File:Passing 114's - geograph.org.uk - 2292959.jpg, Starburn Court clock tower, former Co-op File:Burnt oak library.JPG, Burnt Oak Library File:Burnt Oak Broadway - geograph.org.uk - 1727893.jpg, Burnt Oak Broadway File:Deansbrook Rd2.jpg, Deansbrook Road File:Orange Hill Road.jpg, Orange Hill Road File:Watling Park.jpg,

File:Watling Park Silk Stream.jpg,

in Watling Park File:Bald Faced Stag, Burnt Oak, HA8 (3581232242).jpg, The Bald Faced Stag File:Lansdowne, Burnt Oak, HA8 (3580414051).jpg, The Lansdowne File:Mecca Bingo, Burnt Oak - geograph.org.uk - 2198151.jpg, Savoy Cinema

Footnotes

References

;Bibliography * * {{Authority control Districts of the London Borough of Barnet Areas of London District centres of London