Friary Park

Friary House

Friary Park is a 9-hectare (22-acre) formal Edwardian park in Friern Barnet in the London Borough of Barnet. The park opened to the public in 1910, and the facilities include a cafe, playground and skatepark. It is a Site of Local Importance for Nature Conservation, and contains three redwood trees and a small stream. It is next to North Middlesex Golf Course, which contains the North Middlesex Golf Course Ponds nature reserve; this is not open to the public.

History

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]

Facilities

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][needs update]}

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]

North Middlesex Golf Course Ponds

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]

Gallery

• 
  Statue of Peace
• 
  Formal garden
• 
  Children's playground and cafe
• 
  Bridge over the small stream
• 
  Woods
• 
  Avenue
• 
  Pond on North Middlesex Golf Course

See also

• Barnet parks and open spaces
• Nature reserves in Barnet

Notes

1. "Friary Park, Barnet Online". Archived from the original on 2010-12-26. Retrieved 2011-01-23.
2. "Friary Park Centenary Celebrations, Hendon Central Town Talk". Archived from the original on 2012-03-17. Retrieved 2011-01-23.
3. "Friary Park Skatepark". The Skateparks Project. 21 July 2014. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
4. "Friary Park". Greenspace Information for Greater London. 2006. Archived from the original on 24 December 2012. Retrieved 9 September 2012.
5. "iGiGL – helping you find London's parks and wildlife sites". Greenspace Information for Greater London. 2006. Archived from the original on 2012-10-15.
6. "Partnership policing project well underway, Barnet Council press release 19 July 2010". Archived from the original on 16 March 2012. Retrieved 23 January 2011.
7. "Friends of Friary Park". Friends of Friary Park. Retrieved 2021-08-03.
8. Hewlett, Jan; et al. (1997). Nature Conservation in Barnet. London Ecology Unit. pp. 80–81. ISBN 1-871045-27-4.

External links

• Friary Park, London Gardens Online Archived 2012-03-03 at the Wayback Machine

51.6185°N 0.1624°W / 51.6185; -0.1624