Monkenhurst is a house in the

Victorian Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

style at 15 The Crescent on the north edge of

New Barnet New Barnet is a neighbourhood on the north east side of the London Borough of Barnet. It is a largely residential North London suburb located east of Chipping Barnet, west of Cockfosters, south of the village of Monken Hadley and north of Oaklei ...

in London, England. It overlooks

Monken Hadley Common Monken Hadley Common lies within the Monken Hadley Conservation Area, and is listed as a “Site of Nature Conservation Interest, Site of Borough Importance for Nature Conservation, Grade I,” by the London Borough of Barnet. It is registered c ...

. The house was built in 1880 to a design by Peter Dollar and was once the home of the comedian

Spike Milligan Terence Alan "Spike" Milligan (16 April 1918 – 27 February 2002) was an Irish comedian, writer, musician, poet, playwright and actor. The son of an English mother and Irish father, he was born in British Raj, British India, where he spent his ...

History

Monkenhurst was built in 1880 to a Victorian Gothic design by Peter DollarMonken Hadley: Introduction.
British History Online. Retrieved 27 May 2017. and enlarged in 1915. It is of red brick with three storeys and a pyramid-capped tower.

Stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

windows, acquired from

Northumberland House Northumberland House (also known as Suffolk House when owned by the Earls of Suffolk) was a large Jacobean architecture, Jacobean Townhouse (Great Britain), townhouse in London, so-called because it was, for most of its history, the London re ...

(demolished 1874), show the crests of participants in the

Wars of the Roses The Wars of the Roses, known at the time and in following centuries as the Civil Wars, were a series of armed confrontations, machinations, battles and campaigns fought over control of the English throne from 1455 to 1487. The conflict was fo ...

Taylor, Pamela, & Joanna Corden (1994) ''Barnet, Edgware, Hadley and Totteridge: A Pictorial History''. Chichester: Phillimore. Photograph No. 86. in reference to the

Battle of Barnet The Battle of Barnet was a decisive engagement in the Wars of the Roses, a War of succession, dynastic conflict of England in the Middle Ages, 15th-century England. The military action, along with the subsequent Battle of Tewkesbury, secured t ...

, a key battle in the conflict that took place nearby."Barnet: My part in its rise and downfall", Anne Spackman, ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', 4 October 2002, p. 8. In the 1920s the house was the home of the mining engineer and metallurgist Savannah Johnson Speak (1868–1929) and in the 1950s it was the residence of the radiologist

Steven Carstairs Lindsay Steven Carstairs FRCR (1919–1998) was a Scottish radiologist. Born in Glasgow, he served in the Royal Army Medical Corps during the Second World War and was present at the D-Day landings. He was associated with the Royal Northern Hospit ...

(1919–1998). In 1973, the house along with other property totalling about two acres, was acquired by Highshore Properties, who, it was reported in ''

Estates Gazette ''Estates Gazette'' (formerly ''EG)'' is a provider of data, news and analytics for the UK commercial property market. It was first published in 1858, celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2008. History Reed International acquired ''Estates Gaz ...

'', intended to sell Monkenhurst and build houses and bungalows on the rest of the site. In 1974 Monkenhurst was acquired by the comedian

who spent £10,000 restoring it. He also paid to have the pound (an historic livestock enclosure) on Monken Hadley Common repaired. Visitors to the house during Milligan's ownership included

Prince Charles Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...

, and fellow

Goon Show ''The Goon Show'' is a British radio comedy programme, originally produced and broadcast by the BBC Home Service from 1951 to 1960, with occasional repeats on the BBC Light Programme. The first series, broadcast from 28 May to 20 September ...

cast-member

Peter Sellers Peter Sellers (born Richard Henry Sellers; 8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980) was an English actor and comedian. He first came to prominence performing in the BBC Radio comedy series ''The Goon Show''. Sellers featured on a number of hit comi ...

, who arrived naked as a practical joke, and was sent away again still naked. The house was later purchased by the property developer Stephen Friel who spent £250,000 refurbishing it after acquiring it in a poor condition. It was offered for sale in 2002 for £1.75 millionSpike's home for sale.
''Chortle'', 9 October 2002. Retrieved 27 May 2017. Monkenhurst is locally listed by 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 ...

.''Monken Hadley Conservation Area Character Appraisal Statement''

, Barnet, 2007, p. 38.

Gallery

File:Monkenhurst 21 July 2015 01.JPG, Window detail File:Monkenhurst 21 July 2015 06.JPG, North side, view from The Crescent File:Monkenhurst 25 July 2015.JPG, View from the west

References

External links

{{Coord, 51, 39, 28.07, N, 0, 11, 6.38, W, scale:1563_region:GB, display=title Houses in the London Borough of Barnet Houses completed in 1880 New Barnet Gothic Revival architecture in London Chipping Barnet Monken Hadley