Totteridge
| Totteridge | |
| Hertfordshire | |
|---|---|
 Totteridge | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | TQ245945 |
| Location: | 51°38’7"N, 0°12’0"W |
| Data | |
| Post town: | London |
| Postcode: | N20 |
| Dialling code: | 020 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Barnet |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Chipping Barnet |
Totteridge is a village in southern Hertfordshire, at the edge of the metropolitan conurbation. The heart of the village is a long, sinuous lane, named variously along its length as Totteridge Common, Totteridge Village and Totteridge Lane, beside which lane stand the mansions of the wealthy and the vast village green.
At its eastern end the village begins to take its character more from the suburbs of the surrounding metropolitan conurbation, which it never quite touches, and the style of housing changes accordingly. Totteridge is thus a mixture of suburban development and open common land and farmland.
The nearest tube station is Totteridge and Whetstone on the Northern Line on Totteridge Lane on the Middlesex side of the bridge.
Lie of the land
The village's natural boundary to the north and east is the Dollis Brook and the boundary to the south is that river's tributary, the Folly Brook. The Folly Brook and part of Dollis Brook also mark the boundary of Hertfordshire with Middlesex.
Totteridge is within the southern hook of Hertfordshire which is almost surrounded by a bulge of Middlesex. The Middlesex boundary crosses Totteridge Common in the west at a house called Boundary House, then follows down to the Folly Brook as it sweeps south around the village until the brook falls into the Dollis Brook in Woodside Park. The Dollis Brook to the north of the village flows through Hertfordshire fields until the Wyatts Farm Open Space when the boundary, having divided Barnet and Whetstone at County Gates, meets it and thereafter the Dollis Brook marks the county boundary down to cross Totteridge Lane in the east, at the bridge linking Totteridge in Hertfordshire with Whetstone in Middlesex. The brook carries the boundary to the Folly Brook.
The main road is the A5109, which runs roughly east-west in sweeping curves. The western part is called Totteridge Common, the next part is called Totteridge Village, the central part by the village green is called Totteridge Green, and the eastern part is called Totteridge Lane; the Lane continues over the bridge into Whetstone in Middlesex.
Saint Andrew's church stands on the site of a chapel known from 1250. The ancient yew tree in the churchyard is between 1,000 and 2,000 years old.[1] The Tithe Barn and the adjacent Pound, now both part of The Pound House estate, date from 17th and 16th centuries accordingly. The West End House barn and Laurel Farm barn were built in the seventeenth century. Timber framed buildings existing from the Tudor era also include Willow House and Rose Cottage.
Totteridge has many spacious detached properties in a green setting that are highly valued; some of them are among the most expensive houses in the region. Thus its past and present residents include the rich and famous. More modest housing, much of it semi-detached, predominates at the eastern end of Totteridge.
Totteridge Manor Association
The Totteridge Manor Association was formed in 1955 as a community body to acquire the rights of the manor of Totteridge. The Association took over ownership of the Manorial and Common Lands and with it responsibility for their upkeep, maintenance and improvement.
Today the Association holds Totteridge Green, Totteridge Common, the verges and woodlands adjacent to Totteridge Lane and four ponds.
History
Called Tatarige in the 13th century, The settlement is probably named after a founder or farmer named Tata.[2] The ridge is the high ground between the valleys of the Dollis Brook and Folly Brook.
Over the centuries the rural qualities of Totteridge have attracted well-to-do families. With the opening of Great Northern Railway station in 1872, late-Victorian and Edwardian mansions were built around the old village. In late 1930s, following the conversion of the railway station into an underground station on the Northern Line, smaller properties were built within walking distance from the station (Totteridge and Whetstone tube station). In 1968 much of Totteridge was designated a Conservation Area, and no major developments have taken place since then.
Sport and leisure
South Hertfordshire Golf Club is situated in Totteridge, to the north of Totteridge Lane.
Totteridge Millhillians Cricket Club, formed by the merger of Totteridge Cricket Club and Old Millhillians Cricket Club over the winter of 2007/2008, forms a central part of the local community. Located just off Totteridge Green, it fields 4 teams in the Saracens Hertfordshire Cricket League, as well as a Ladies team, a Sunday XI and a Colts section for future players, which consists of the U15 Harriers, U13 Warriors and the U11 Sharks.
Nature reserves
The village has a number of Local Nature Reserves: Darland's Lake Nature Reserve, Totteridge Green, Totteridge Common, Totteridge Fields, Dollis Brook, Folly Brook and Totteridge Croft Field (or Dell's Down Acre)[3]
References
- ↑ Church history
- ↑ Weinreb, Ben (2008). The London Encyclopaedia (3rd ed.). pp. 922. ISBN 978-1-4050-4924-5.
- ↑ Totteridge Croft Field (or Dell's Down Acre), London Wildweb