Cockfosters is a suburb of north London to the east of Chipping Barnet, lying partly in the

London Borough of Enfield The London Borough of Enfield () is a London boroughs, London borough in Greater London, England. The main communities in the borough are Edmonton, London, Edmonton, Enfield, London, Enfield, Southgate, London, Southgate and Palmers Green. Enfi ...

and partly 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 ...

. It is 10 miles (16 km) north of Charing Cross. Before 1965, it was in the counties of

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 Hertfordshire.

Origins and popular attractions

The name was recorded as far back as 1524 and is thought to be either the name of a family or that of a house which stood on Enfield Chase. One suggestion is that it was "the residence of the cock forester (or chief forester)". Of note in Cockfosters is Trent Park, now a country park. Christ Church, Cockfosters, an

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

church, was founded in 1839. Christ the King, Cockfosters (Vita et Pax), a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

church, was founded in 1930. The Piccadilly line of the

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or as the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The Undergro ...

reached Cockfosters in 1933. The Cock Inn (formerly the Cock), off Cockfosters Road on Chalk Lane, opened in 1798.

Geography

Education

Southgate School is located on Sussex Way. Trent C of E Primary School is located on Chalk Lane.

Theatre and the arts

The Chickenshed Theatre Company, founded in 1975 in a chicken shed before relocating to its current site, originated the concept of inclusive theatre.

Sport and leisure

Cockfosters has a non-League football club, Cockfosters F.C., which plays at the Cockfosters Sports Ground. The

Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century History of Germany, German woodcut depicting Saracens ''Saracen'' ( ) was a term used both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings between the 5th and 15th centuries to ...

used to play at Chase Side (also known as Clocktower Park); however, they are now based in

Hendon Hendon is an urban area in the London Borough of Barnet, northwest London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient Manorialism, manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has ...

. The ground is still used for Enfield F.C. training and for the Saracens' 'B' team, Saracens Storm. It is also used as Saracens Amateurs' training ground. Cockfosters Cricket Club and Southgate Compton Cricket Club play at Chalk Lane on fields adjacent to Christ Church, either side of Cockfosters Bowling Club. Trent Country Park covers approximately and features treetop adventure park Go Ape.

Demographics

Cockfosters has its own electoral ward in the Enfield borough. The 2011 census of Cockfosters ward counted a population of 16,137. The ethnic composition was 73.7%

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

(51.7%

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

, 19.7% Other, 2.2% Irish), 13.5% Asian (6.5% Indian), and 8%

black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

(2.9% African). The most spoken foreign languages were Turkish and Greek. Fifty per cent of the population were

Christians A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...

, with

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

s and

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

s forming 10% and 9% respectively. Of the 5,215 households, 3,219 resided in a whole house or

bungalow A bungalow is a small house or cottage that is typically single or one and a half storey, if a smaller upper storey exists it is frequently set in the roof and Roof window, windows that come out from the roof, and may be surrounded by wide ve ...

; 68.8% of home tenures were owned, with minorities of privately rented and socially rented homes. Of economically active people, 4.2% were unemployed. The median age was forty years. The part within the borough of Barnet is covered by the East Barnet ward.

Culture

''Cockfosters'' is the name of a 2015 short-story collection by Helen Simpson. One of the short stories features a visit to " lost property" at Cockfosters Underground station. The poet John Betjeman, who taught at Heddon Court School in 1929–30, wrote "The Cricket Master" about his experiences there.

People

The Member of Parliament (MP) for Enfield Southgate from 2005 to 2017, David Burrowes, was born in Cockfosters. George Baillie Duncan ministered at Christ Church, Cockfosters, and the cricketer Andrew Wingfield Digby was a

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' () of souls of a parish. In this sense, ''curate'' means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy who are as ...

there. Cameron McVey grew up in Cockfosters. Other transient residents have included the footballers

Tommy Docherty Thomas Henderson Docherty (24 April 1928 – 31 December 2020), commonly known as The Doc, was a Scottish football player and manager. Docherty played for several clubs, most notably Preston North End, and represented Scotland 25 times bet ...

and George Eastham and Dave Davies of the Kinks. Professors John Stollery and Ian Jacobs also grew up in Cockfosters.

Transport

Two tube stations are located within Cockfosters: * Cockfosters Station is the terminus of the Piccadilly line. * Oakwood Station is the station before Cockfosters.

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 298, 299, 307,

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 ...

, 692, 699, N91 serve Cockfosters.

References

External links

{{Authority control Areas of London