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Arkley is a
village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...
in
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, within 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 ...
. It is located north-northwest of Charing Cross. It consists of a long village strung out between Barnet and Stirling Corner, and composed of the ancient
hamlets A hamlet is a human settlement that is smaller than a town or village. This is often simply an informal description of a smaller settlement or possibly a subdivision or satellite entity to a larger settlement. Sometimes a hamlet is defined f ...
of Barnet Gate, Rowley Green and Arkley. At above sea level, Arkley is one of the highest points in London.


History


Toponymy

The origins of the name ''Arkley'' are unclear; it is first recorded as ''Arkleyslond'' in 1332. The first element of the name appears to come from the
Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...
word ''(e)arc'' (or ark, meaning a chest, bin or other wooden receptacle), while the second element is from ''leāh'', a woodland clearing or glade. ''–lond'' in the earlier name means "cultivated ground". The name ''Arkley'' would thus mean "woodland clearing by the ark or by the place where arks are made".


Historical background

It is thought by some that Hendon Wood Lane was originally a minor Roman road. Certainly the name, "Grendel's Gate" (now Barnet Gate, and formerly known as "Grims Gate"), is associated with the monster from the Saxon epic,
Beowulf ''Beowulf'' (; ) is an Old English poetry, Old English poem, an Epic poetry, epic in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 Alliterative verse, alliterative lines. It is one of the most important and List of translat ...
. This implies that the place was of modest importance as early as 1005. It may have been a centre of a small but significant community, founded on a woodland economy. The area is later referred to in
medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...
documents as "Southhaw", and may have predated the settlement at Chipping Barnet. Certainly, Barnet manorial court was held here in the 13th century. From at least the early 19th century until the 1890s, Arkley was commonly known as "Barnet Common" or "West Barnet". Prior to 1894, Arkley was part of the parish of Chipping Barnet. 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 ...
parish and district councils were established, with new
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 ...
es created where the old parishes straddled the sanitary districts which formed the building blocks of the new districts. Chipping Barnet parish was therefore split into three separate civil parishes, with the part within Barnet Urban District retaining the Chipping Barnet name, the part within East Barnet Valley Urban District becoming Barnet Vale, and the rural part of the old parish becoming the civil parish of Arkley. The changes to parish boundaries took effect on 4 December 1894, ahead of the new district councils coming into being later that month. Arkley was part of Barnet Rural District. Arkley parish council formally came into office on 31 December 1894 and held its first meeting on 3 January 1895 at the village school in Arkley. Arkley parish comprised the areas to the west and south of the town of Barnet, including areas such as Ducks Island and Underhill as well as Arkley village itself, which was on the north-western edge of the civil parish. After a boundary change in 1897 ceding some territory to Barnet Urban District, the civil parish of Arkley covered . Arkley was absorbed into Barnet Urban District on 1 April 1905, at which point its parish council was dissolved and it was thereafter governed by Barnet Urban District Council. Whilst no longer having its own parish council, Arkley civil parish was not formally abolished until 1 April 1965, when Barnet Urban District was transferred from Hertfordshire to become part of the London Borough of Barnet in
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 ...
. Between 1901 and 1951 the population of the civil parish of Arkley rose from 483 to 7,536.


Second World War listening station

From 3 October 1940, Arkley became the home of the Radio Security Service. It was located in a large house, Arkley View off Arkley Lane. Its secret address was PO Box 25 Barnet. Other large houses in the area such as Rowley Lodge, the Lawns and Meadowbank were used as billets and as transmitting and receiving stations. Messages were intercepted from German spy networks and passed to
Bletchley Park Bletchley Park is an English country house and Bletchley Park estate, estate in Bletchley, Milton Keynes (Buckinghamshire), that became the principal centre of Allies of World War II, Allied World War II cryptography, code-breaking during the S ...
for decoding. Many local people worked first in Arkley and were then transferred to
Bletchley Park Bletchley Park is an English country house and Bletchley Park estate, estate in Bletchley, Milton Keynes (Buckinghamshire), that became the principal centre of Allies of World War II, Allied World War II cryptography, code-breaking during the S ...
.Arkley View http://www.barnet4u.co.uk/BARNET%20HISTORY/Arkley%20View/Arkley%20viewl.html accessed 14 February 2023


Buildings

St Peter’s Church, which was designed by George Beckett, was built in 1840 as a private chapel at a cost of £5,000. It contains a wall tablet of its benefactor, Enosh Durant, who died in 1848. The chancel was added in 1898 and a Lady Chapel in 1921. After Durant's death the advowson was transferred to the rector of Barnet, and an ecclesiastical parish was formed in 1905. Arkley Windmill was in use by 1806. It is marked as "corn" windmill on the
Ordnance Survey The Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see Artillery, ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of ...
of the 1860s. From photographs, it appears to have had only two of its original sails by the 1890s, by which time it may have been powered by steam. It ceased to be a functioning mill during
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, and was restored in 1930, but not as a working mill. The Gate Inn retains some of its original features. The sign, in the form of a hanging five bar gate, has an inscription which reads: According to the old article displayed on one of its walls, the Gate was once visited by Anna Pavlova and her dancing troupe. Until the early 1960s a large tree grew up from the floor of the pub and out through the roof.


Nature reserves

For its size, Arkley has more Sites of Importance for Nature Conservations than any other district in Barnet: * Arkley Lane and Pastures * Arkley South Fields * Barnet Gate Wood * Glebe Lane Pastures * Rowley Green Common * Rowley Lodge Field * Totteridge Fields and Highwood Hill In addition, Dollis Brook and Folly Brook, which are also Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation, rise in Arkley.


Geography


Transport


Tube

Nearest: * High Barnet
Northern line The Northern line is a London Underground line that runs between North London and South London. It is printed in black on the Tube map. It carries more passengers per year than any other Underground linearound 340million in 2019making it the bu ...


Buses

* 107 – New Barnet Station to Edgware Station via Borehamwood * 307 – Barnet General Hospital to Brimsdown via Barnet and Enfield * 614 – Queensbury Station to Hatfield Business Park via Barnet (Monday to Saturday) *
384 __NOTOC__ Year 384 (Roman numerals, CCCLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Richomeres, Ricomer and Clearchus (consul), Clearchus (or, less frequently, ye ...
– Edgware to Cockfosters Station via Barnet (Quinta Drive)


Local industry

Local clay has been exploited for brick-making and
pottery Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other raw materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. The place where such wares are made by a ''potter'' is al ...
over the centuries. During the 1950s, a 13th-century
kiln A kiln is a thermally insulated chamber, a type of oven, that produces temperatures sufficient to complete some process, such as hardening, drying, or Chemical Changes, chemical changes. Kilns have been used for millennia to turn objects m ...
at Dyke Cottage was excavated, revealing a large cooking pot, and 19th-century
Ordnance Survey The Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see Artillery, ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of ...
maps mark a "Tile Works". St Peter’s Church was built with local bricks. In the 1970s, John Britten produced a small racing car named the "Arkley" in the area.


Sports

Arkley Golf Club was founded in 1909. The course was designed by James Braid and Harry Vardon.. On 29 November 1975, a Piper PA-23 Aztec aircraft piloted by retired
Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...
racing driver Graham Hill crashed on the golf course, resulting in the death of all six people on board.


Notable people

* Cyril Brine (1918–1988) – international speedway rider * Tony Blackburn – radio disc jockey * Graham HillF1 racing driver and twice World Champion, lived between Borehamwood and Shenley. He was killed when his private plane crashed on Arkley Golf Course in 1975. * Mark Heap – actor * Trevor Howard (1913–1988) – actor, lived for many years in Arkley with actress wife Helen Cherry, and also died there. His ashes were interred at St Peter's Church. * Humphrey Lyttelton – musician * W. E. Shewell-Cooperorganic gardener, used Arkley Manor for many years as a home and show garden * Norman Wisdom – comedian * Jermaine Jenas – footballer * Bacary Sagna – footballer * Marouane Chamakh – footballer * Zayn Malik – musician, formerly of One Direction * Perrie Edwards – musician, member of girlband Little Mix *
Theresa Villiers Dame Theresa Anne Villiers (born 5 March 1968) is a British politician who served as the Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Chipping Barnet (UK Parliament constituency), Chipping Barnet from 2005 United Kingdom ...
– MP for Chipping Barnet


References


External links


Arkley (A Guide to Old Hertfordshire)
{{Authority control Areas of London Districts of the London Borough of Barnet