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Friary Park is a nine hectare formal Edwardian park in Friern Barnet in the London Borough of Barnet.
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Friary Park is a nine hectare formal Edwardian park in Friern Barnet in the London Borough of Barnet.
The site was home to the Knights Hospitaller in the Middle Ages, and of Friern Barnet Manor House from the sixteenth century. [1] The name Friary Park was adopted in the 1870s and it was opened to the public in 1910. In 2010 the Friends of Friary Park and other local societies organised centenary celebrations. [2]
It is owned and managed by Barnet Council, and has a children's playground, tennis courts, a bowling green, a pitch and putt, a skatepark, [3] outdoor gym equipment and a cafe. It is a Site of Local Importance for Nature Conservation, and has received a Green Flag Award. [4] [1] [5]
The cafe is housed in the nineteenth century Gothic Revival Friary House, which is otherwise mostly unused, although Barnet Council announced in 2010 that work is underway to convert it to a base for the local police Safer Neighbourhood Team. [6]
A prominent feature is a statue, the 'Bringer of Peace', erected by Sydney Simmons and dedicated to the memory of King Edward VII, and erected on 7 May 1910, the day after his death. [1]
Its most interesting features ecologically are ancient oak trees, three giant Redwood trees, and a small stream called Blacketts Brook, a tributary of Pymme's Brook. [4]
There is access from Torrington Park, Friary Road and Friern Barnet Lane.
The park has an active friends group. [7]
The North Middlesex Golf Course is adjacent to the park to the north at Grid Ref TQ269 930 . Blacketts Brook runs through two ponds on the golf course before entering the park. Palmate newts, which are rare in London, breed in the ponds, which are a Site of Borough Importance for Nature Conservation, Grade II. The reserve is not open to the public. [8]
The London Borough of Barnet, located on the northern periphery of London and having much of the area within its boundaries in the Metropolitan Green Belt, has many parks and open spaces. In addition there are large areas taken over by cemeteries and golf courses, and part of Hampstead Heath.
Folly Brook is a 2+1⁄4-mile (3.6 km) long brook in the London Borough of Barnet. It is a tributary of Dollis Brook, which is a tributary of the River Brent, which is a tributary of the River Thames. 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.
Edgwarebury Park is a 22-hectare park in Edgware in the London Borough of Barnet. It was once part of the manor of Earlsbury, which was first mentioned in 1216. In the later Middle Ages it was owned by All Souls College, Oxford, and there is still evidence of the older landscape of fields and woodland. Hendon Rural District and Middlesex County Council bought the land in two parts in 1929 and 1932, and the park opened in the latter year. It is now owned and managed by Barnet Council.
Golders Hill Park is a formal park in Golders Green, London. It is managed by the City of London Corporation as part of the parkland and commons in and near Hampstead Heath, and is part of the Hampstead Heath Site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation. Unlike the rest of the Heath, Golders Hill Park is closed at night.
Queen's Wood is a 52-acre area of ancient woodland in the London Borough of Haringey, abutting Highgate Wood and lying between East Finchley, Highgate, Muswell Hill and Crouch End. It was originally part of the ancient Forest of Middlesex which covered much of London, Hertfordshire and Essex and was mentioned in the Domesday Book. It is now one of three Local Nature Reserves in the London Borough of Haringey. It is situated a few minutes' walk from Highgate tube station.
Sunny Hill Park is a park in Hendon, in the London Borough of Barnet, England. It is a large hilly park, 22 hectares, mainly grassed, which has extensive views to the north and the west. Together with the neighbouring Hendon Churchyard, it is a Site of Local Importance for Nature Conservation.
Hendon Park is a 12 hectare London suburban park situated 7 miles (11 km) north west of Charing Cross. It borders the Northern line, and Hendon Park and Northern line Railway Cutting are a Site of Local Importance for Nature Conservation.
Cherry Tree Wood is a 5.3-hectare park in East Finchley in the London Borough of Barnet. It is a Site of Local Importance for Nature Conservation. Located opposite East Finchley Underground station, it contains woodland and grassland, a playground, tennis courts, a cafe and toilets.
The Silk Stream is a brook just over 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) long in the London Borough of Barnet. It is one of the major components of the Blue Ribbon Network.
Darland's Lake Nature Reserve is a nature reserve south of Totteridge Village in Barnet, England. It is owned by the London Borough of Barnet and was managed from 1971 by the Hertfordshire and Middlesex Wildlife Trust, and more recently by the borough council. In 2007 the council spent £215,000 on repairing the dam and other works, and then proposed leasing the reserve to the Wildlife Trust. The transfer did not take place and in September 2017 a trust was set up by the London Wildlife Trust and local residents associations which took over the management of Darland's Lake. In 2020 Darlands Conservation Trust launched an appeal to raise £450,000 for excavation to prevent the lake drying up.
Scratchwood is an extensive, mainly wooded, country park in Mill Hill in the London Borough of Barnet. The 57-hectare site is a Site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation and together with the neighbouring Moat Mount Open Space. It is a Local Nature Reserve.
Coppetts Wood and Scrublands is a 14.5-hectare (36-acre) Site of Borough Importance for Nature Conservation, Grade I, between Muswell Hill and Friern Barnet in the London Borough of Barnet. It is part of the Coppetts Wood and Glebelands Local Nature Reserve.
Deans Brook is a two-kilometre-long stream which runs between Mill Hill and Edgware in the London Borough of Barnet. It is a tributary of the Silk Stream, which is a tributary of the River Brent, which is a tributary of the River Thames.
Mutton Brook is a stream which runs between East Finchley and Hendon in the London Borough of Barnet. It is a tributary of the River Brent, which is itself a tributary of the River Thames.
Clitterhouse Recreation Ground or Clitterhouse Playing Fields is a park and Site of Local Importance for Nature Conservation in Brent Cross in the London Borough of Barnet. It is a large area of mown grass with a children's playground, bordered by thick hedges. Clitterhouse Stream, a tributary of the River Brent, runs along its eastern border.
Brent Park is a small public park of 2.24 hectares in Hendon in the London Borough of Barnet. It is part of the 'Lower Dollis Brook' Site of Borough Importance for Nature Conservation, Grade II.
Burnt Oak Brook is a one-mile-long stream between Mill Hill and Burnt Oak in the London Borough of Barnet. It is a tributary of the Silk Stream, which is a tributary of the River Brent, which is a tributary of the River Thames.
Barfield Allotments Nature Park is a small Site of Local Importance for Nature Conservation in Whetstone in the London Borough of Barnet. It was formerly used as allotments, and when these were abandoned there were plans to turn it into a formal play area, but this met with local opposition when slow worms and common lizards were found, showing its value for wildlife. A small playground was installed in the north-east corner, while the remainder became a wildlife site.
Broomfield Park is a 21 hectare public park in Palmers Green in the London Borough of Enfield. It is a Site of Local Importance for Nature Conservation and is registered by English Heritage in the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens for its special historic interest