BARNET HILL

   After Samuel Pepys paid one of his regular visits to Barnet Physic Well in 1660, he mentioned that the road thereto was “only one path and torne, plowed, and digged up, owing to the waggoners carrying excessive weights of over one ton, with more than five horses and oxen to a team”.

In 1754 a decision was made to construct a fair turnpike across Finchley Common but people so little understood the advantage of rendering the transit of goods easy that they obstructed the work. However, the responsibility of making good the highway was given to The Highgate and Whetstone Road Trust and by 1810 it was considered that the eight miles from London to Whetstone was one of the best roads in the kingdom.

In 1823 the then Trustees were informed that the improvement of the whole of The Great North Road from London to Holyhead had been put into the hands of Thomas Telford who declared that the mile and a bit between Pricklers Hill and Barnet town was in need of drastic improvement.

This came as a financial shock to the Trustees as they thought the main repairs would only apply to that part of the road passing through North Wales and not locally. They entrusted themselves to their own surveyor, James McAdam, to oversee the works.

The early 19th century road ran comparatively smoothly along the Whetstone ridge until its descent at Pricklers Hill by the county boundary. It sloped unevenly down, rising again at Underhill House [near where Western Parade is today]. Again it dropped to where Mays Lane curved away beyond the Old Red Lion and then it began its long ascent to the town of Barnet, following a line roughly parallel to Vale Drive before meeting the steepness of the escarpment. It joined the High Street at Victoria Lane, known then as Hog Lane, just below The Red Lion Hotel.

Teams of horses would be waiting at Underhill to be attached to coaches and carriers carts. Hauling was big business in those days for Barnet Hill was a challenge especially in poor weather. Many times passengers had to alight and walk the hill if no extra pairs were available.

Work on Pricklers Hill began and an embankment was raised to smooth out the slope towards Underhill. This ridge is very evident from within Greenhill Park and from the houses on the eastern side. The stream which flowed from the Greenhill House lakes into Dollis Brook was diverted through a drain beneath the road.

Meanwhile Telford had plans for Barnet town. He suggested excavating a gorge through the hilltop in order to lower its brow, the spoil from which would be have been used to level out the severity of the escarpment. This would have the effect of leaving houses overlooking and possibly overhanging an ugly chasm. McAdam came up with an alternative suggestion being what we see today.

His plan was to remove a large quantity of earth from the adjoining fields belonging to the Corporation of the Sons of the Clergy, and for taking a portion of their land to raise an embankment a heavy compensation had to be paid by the Trust. In order to meet this expense it became necessary to borrow money by mortgaging the future tolls of the road.

Work began in 1823 and the final cost, including interest, was expected to reach £17,000. It was clear that in order to meet this expense, and cover the upkeep of the road, the tolls were inadequate. They lobbied to obtain an additional Act which would empower them to increase the tolls, and here there was further pressure as the notorious Bill for the London and Birmingham Railway was also being applied for.

However, the Trustees obtained their Act of Parliament and raised the tolls such that a coach would have to pay more than three shillings [15p] to pass the tollgate. The tolls were let by auction at a sum of £7530 per annum (which equated to more than fifty thousand carriages) and the Trustees began to repay their debts. By the 3rd February 1842 the last payment was made.

It has been said that old ploughshares, iron bedsteads and cannons captured in the Napoleonic War were sunk into the soil to hold it all together. Nevertheless, The Birmingham Railway Bill was passed and the rest is history. Coach travel became obsolete as goods and passengers found they could traverse the countryside quicker by rail and the Whetstone tollgate was discarded in 1863.
Richard Selby