![]() ![]() It was not until 1912 that Cherry Tree Wood was seriously considered. The need of a recreational space in East Finchley was first considered as early as the 1880s, when Fuel Lands, now allotments, was suggested as an excellent space. But with the development of Launton Road and Woodside Avenue c1910 the wood was given a new southern boundary, the one we see today. ![]() Dirt house Wood in the 1900s still stretched as far south as Hilde ridge Wood close to the foot of Highgate Hill. ![]() This water proved useful to one entrepreneur who used it to grow watercress. The railway also blocked the flow of the brook and the area became boggy and were named locally as "the Quag" or "Watery Woods", but remained officially Dirt house Wood. In 1863 the wood was reduced with the building of the Edgware, Highgate and London Line. Mutton brook rises in the woods and flowed west to join Dollis brook at Bell Lane in Hendon. ![]() The wood had long been known as Dirt house Wood because the night soil and horse manure cleaned from London's streets was brought as fertiliser for the hay meadows to the Dirt house, now the White Lion public house next to the station. It also afforded excellent hunting to their manorial lord the Bishop of London who built a hunting lodge nearby which is now Highgate Golf Club. Part of the manor provided an income from harvested fuel wood and pigs. Cherry Tree Wood is a remnant of the Finchley Wood, which stretched from Highgate to Whetstone in the medieval period. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |