The North London Coroner's Court is a municipal building located at 29 Wood Street,

Chipping Barnet Chipping Barnet or High Barnet is a suburban market town in north London, forming part of the London Borough of Barnet, England. It is a suburban development built around a 12th-century settlement, and is located north-northwest of Charing C ...

, London. The building, which served as Barnet Town Hall, is a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

History

In the early 20th century Barnet Urban District Council was based at council offices at No. 40 High Street in Chipping Barnet. After the existing council offices were deemed inadequate for their needs (the building was a narrow terraced building in a row of commercial properties), civic leaders decided to procure purpose-built council offices: the site selected had previously been occupied by the Old Barnet Brewery Company for which liquidation proceedings started in 1909 and were completed in 1912. The new building, which was designed by William Bartlett Chancellor in the English Baroque style, was completed in 1915. The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with five bays facing onto Wood Street; the central section featured a doorway with a stone surround flanked by

Ionic order The Ionic order is one of the three canonic classical order, orders of classical architecture, the other two being the Doric order, Doric and the Corinthian order, Corinthian. There are two lesser orders: the Tuscan order, Tuscan (a plainer Doric) ...

columns and an arched pediment bearing the town's

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

above; there was a window with projecting flagpole on the first floor and semi-circular pediment bearing an oculus above; a

turret Turret may refer to: * Turret (architecture), a small tower that projects above the wall of a building * Gun turret, a mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon * Optical microscope#Objective turret (revolver or revolving nose piece), Objective turre ...

was erected on the roof. The building was subsequently extended at the rear. The building continued to be the headquarters of Barnet Urban District Council for much of the 20th century but ceased to be the local seat of government when 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 ...

was formed in 1965. The building was then used for a variety of purposes including as a location for the television drama series ''

Midsomer Murders ''Midsomer Murders'' is a British Mystery fiction, mystery television series, adapted by Anthony Horowitz and Douglas Watkinson from the novels in the ''Chief Inspector Barnaby'' book series created by Caroline Graham (writer), Caroline Graham. ...

'' broadcast in June 2002. It also served as the home of the Barnet register office until it moved to

Burnt Oak Burnt Oak is a suburb of London, England, located northwest of Charing Cross. It lies to the west of the M1 motorway between Edgware and Colindale, located predominantly in the London Borough of Barnet, with parts in the London Boroughs of Br ...

Edgware Edgware () is a suburban town in northwest London. It was an ancient parish in the county of Middlesex east of the ancient Watling Street in what is now the London Borough of Barnet but it is now informally considered to cover a wider area, inc ...

in around 2008. After a major programme of refurbishment works costing £275,000, the north London Coroner' Court, which had previously been based at Myddelton Road in

Hornsey Hornsey () is a district of north London, England, in the London Borough of Haringey. It is an inner-suburban, for the most part residential, area centred north of Charing Cross. It adjoins green spaces Queen's Wood to the west and Alexand ...

, moved into the building in October 2009.

The court

The court covers the London boroughs of Barnet, Brent, Enfield, Haringey and Harrow. Notable cases included a hearing in May 2015, when the coroner, Andrew Walker, ruled that the

death of Jeremiah Duggan Jeremiah Joseph Duggan (10 November 1980 – 27 March 2003) was a British student in Paris who died during a visit to Wiesbaden, Hesse, Germany, after being struck by several motorists on a dual carriageway. The circumstances of Duggan's death b ...

, who had been attending a "youth cadre school" organised by the

LaRouche movement The LaRouche movement is a political and cultural network promoting the late Lyndon LaRouche and his ideas. It has included many organizations and companies around the world, which campaign, gather information and publish books and periodicals. ...

was not suicide, and a hearing in September 2015, when relatives of

Anni Dewani Anni may refer to: People * The popular name of Mohamed Nasheed (born 1967), third president of the second republic of the Maldives * Anni Anwander, former West German slalom canoeist * Anni Daulter, American cookbook writer * Anni Dewani (1982� ...

appeared at the court to request that an inquest be heard in England into her death in South Africa.

References

{{Reflist Grade II listed buildings in the London Borough of Barnet Coroner's courts in London Wood Street, Chipping Barnet City and town halls in London Government buildings completed in 1915