Finchley Road
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Finchley Road is a designated 4.5-mile (7-kilometre) arterial road in north-west London, England. The Finchley Road starts in St John's Wood near central London as part of the A41; its southern half is a major dual carriageway with high traffic levels[1] often frequented by lorries and long-distance coaches[2] as it connects central London, via the A41 Hendon Way, to the M1 motorway at Brent Cross and other roads at that interchange.
Its northern half, which dissects away from the A41 and is designated as the A598, runs through suburban areas via the centre of Golders Green to Henlys Corner, where the road north of it leads to Finchley, from which Finchley Road gets its name.
Its southern half, in which it gives its name to the centre-west part of Hampstead, has two current railway stations including the name Finchley Road. London Buses route 13 runs through the entire road, while the route 113 runs only in its southern half.
History
Originally named Finchley New Road,[3] it was built as a turnpike to provide an alternative to the hillier route north from London, which ran further east through the village of Hampstead.
The original route, now the A502, ran from Camden Town along what is now Chalk Farm Road,
The new route (now the
Tolls were collected at a
After the road was built, many grand houses were built along its length, especially near Fortune Green, Childs Hill and Golders Green.
Finchley Road remains a heavily used route in and out of London. The most commercial part of the road is between Swiss Cottage Underground station and the O2 Centre.
- Stagecoaches, first omnibuses and shelved tramway proposal
In 1856 as many as ten stagecoaches a day ran along Finchley Road, serving Swiss Cottage, where the Atlas Line, a business of these, had started about six years before.[4]
Omnibuses reached the area north of Swiss Cottage by way of Finchley Road as far as Finchley Road station before 1880. Later omnibuses were extended along Finchley Road to meet others from Edgware Road along West End Lane, continuing north to Childs Hill and Hendon.[4] Motorbuses had replaced horse omnibuses by 1911.[4]
Plans for an extensive network of tramways, along Adelaide and Finchley Roads, were dropped after opposition from the council, ground landlords, and residents.[4]
On 2 October 1993 five people were injured and damage caused when
Local railway stations
Today
Hampstead is served by
Historically
St John's Wood was served by Finchley Road railway station on the Midland Main Line (1868–1927).
Memorials
In 1906 a stone plaque was affixed at 139, Finchley Road by Charles Wells, to commemorate the site of residence of 19th century German operatic signer Thérèse Tietjens.[7]
References
- .
- ^ Anonymous (8 June 2015). "Finchley Road - Cycle Superhighway 11". Mayor's Question Time. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
- ISBN 978-1-4050-4924-5.
- ^ a b c d e Baker, T F T; K Bolton, Diane; E C Croot, Patricia (1989). Elrington, C R (ed.). 'Hampstead: Communications', in A History of the County of Middlesex. Vol. 9 (Hampstead, Paddington ed.). London. pp. 3–8.
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: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ "Terrorist Incidents (Hansard, 4 March 1996)". api.parliament.uk.
- ^ "Police find sixth unexploded device in north London: 'Sinister change". The Independent. 5 October 1993.
- ^ Charles Samuel Cooper. Outdoor Monuments of London: Statues, Memorial Buildings, Tablets and War Memorials. Homeland Association, 1928. p. 197