Folly Brook is a long brook 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 a tributary of Dollis Brook, which is a tributary 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 London Borough of Barnet, Borough of Barnet and flows in a generally south-west direction before joining the Tid ...

, which is a tributary of the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...

. Folly Brook is lined for most of its length by narrow strips of woodland and scrub, with a good variety of trees and shrubs. It is one of the best streams in Barnet for small aquatic invertebrates, including several species of caddis fly and a stonefly, which are only found in unpolluted waters. Dollis Brook Folly Brook

The upper brook

Folly Brook rises near the bottom of Highwood Hill,

Mill Hill Mill Hill is a suburb in the London Borough of Barnet, England. It is situated around northwest of Charing Cross, close to the Hertfordshire border. It was in the Historic counties of England, historic county of Middlesex until 1965, when it b ...

, and flows east through fields and public open spaces to Woodside Park. From Highwood Hill to Darland's Lake Nature Reserve the brook passes through private land which is not open to public access, apart from a short section next to a footpath through Folly Farm. Darland's Lake was originally ornamental, created by damming the brook, but the lake and surrounding woods are now a nature reserve.

The lower brook

The lower part of the brook from Darland's Lake through Folly Brook Valley to the junction with Dollis Brook is public open space. A footpath alongside the brook starts close to the Darland's noticeboard east of the lake, and goes through woods to grassland between Burtonhole Lane and Pasture and

Woodridge Nature Reserve Woodridge Nature Reserve or Woodridge School Nature Reserve is a Site of Nature Conservation Interest, Site of Local Importance for Nature Conservation in Woodside Park (Barnet, London), Woodside Park, London, owned and managed by the London Boro ...

, where it is joined by its tributary, Burtonhole Brook. Folly Brook then goes under Southover to meet Dollis Brook not far from Woodside Park Underground station, connecting it with the Dollis Valley Greenwalk. Folly Brook and Darland's Lake Nature Reserve are a Site of Borough Importance for Nature Conservation, Grade I.

Boundary

Until 1965 the brook marked the boundary between the boroughs of

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 ...

to the south and

Totteridge Totteridge is a residential area and former village in the London Borough of Barnet, England. It is a mixture of suburban development and open land (including some farmland) situated 8 miles (13 km) north north-west of Charing Cross. It ...

to the north. Hendon was in

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 Totteridge in

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

, and the brook was thus also the boundary between the two counties.

Notes

{{authority control Rivers of London Nature reserves in the London Borough of Barnet 2Folly

The upper brook

The lower brook

Boundary

See also

Notes