| Country: | England |
| Region: | London |
| Official Name: | Monken Hadley |
| Coordinates: | 51.6624°N -0.199°W |
| Constituency Westminster: | Chipping Barnet |
| Post Town: | BARNET |
| Postcode Area: | EN |
| Postcode District: | EN5 |
| London Borough: | Barnet |
| Dial Code: | 020 |
| Os Grid Reference: | TQ245975 |
| Static Image Name: | Houses Monken Hadley 2.JPG |
| Static Image Caption: | Cottages in Monken Hadley |
Monken Hadley is a place in the London Borough of Barnet. An ancient country village north of Barnet, it is now a suburban development on the very edge of Greater London 11miles north north-west of Charing Cross, while retaining much of its rural character.
The old English place name "Hadley" means "heathery", a woodland clearing which is covered in heather. The prefix "Monken" refers to the fact that the parish was a possession of the monks of Walden Abbey.[1] The main site of the Battle of Barnet in 1471, one of the two principal engagements of the Wars of the Roses, was in the parish of Monken Hadley. Yorkist troops advanced through the village, although the action took place north (Hadley Wood) and west (Hadley Green) of the settlement. Although the retreat of the forces of Lord William Hastings (at the hands of the Earl of Oxford) took place in the parish of Barnet, all of the other key engagements were within Monken Hadley parish, including the historically significant death of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, believed to be at the place where a monument now stands on the Great North Road.
When corrupt lawyer George Booth died in 1726 Hester Pinney had been living with him for three years. She was his only executor. He left her the manor of Monken Hadley twelve miles outside London. Hester died on 19 February 1740 in Holborn.[2]
The 4 August 1827 edition of The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction, provides the following short history of the area:
Historically Monken Hadley was a civil parish of Middlesex forming part of a small protrusion into Hertfordshire. In 1889, under the Local Government Act 1888, the civil parish was transferred to Hertfordshire. Under the Local Government Act 1894 the parish was split with a Hadley parish becoming part of the Barnet Urban District, while the remaining part of the parish became part of the East Barnet Urban District of Hertfordshire. In 1965, under the London Government Act 1963, its area was transferred to Greater London and combined with that of other districts formerly in Hertfordshire and Middlesex to form the present-day London Borough of Barnet.[3]
See main article: St Mary the Virgin, Monken Hadley. The parish church of St Mary the Virgin was built in its present form in 1494 (the date being carved in stone over the west door) although a church is believed to have stood on the site for more than 800 years. The present building is in the perpendicular style, and includes two side chapels (in transepts) dedicated to St Anne and St Catherine. The building was heavily renovated in Victorian times, and contains large quantities of Victorian woodwork furniture. The parish and church were heavily influenced by tractarianism and the Oxford Movement,[4] and it remains a focus of eucharistic worship within the surrounding district.
Monken Hadley has a Non-League football team Hadley F.C. who play at their Brickfield Lane ground in nearby Arkley.
Monken Hadley has a King George's Fields open space in memorial to King George V. It is popular for tobogganing when there has been a good fall of snow The field descends into the Hadley Woods, which make their way into the Tudor Sports Ground area. Hadley Green is a Local Nature Reserve which is a Site of Metropolitan Importance, and traditionally considered the main site of the Battle of Barnet.
Hadley Common has a cricket field, home to a well-known cricket club, Monken Hadley CC, which is mentioned in one of the works of Anthony Trollope, who lived in Monken Hadley.
Monken Hadley and Hadley Green are not well-served by bus routes, with most services terminating further south in Barnet. The two Transport for London routes which run nearby are:
Both fairly nearby are:
Two tube stations are relatively nearby: