North Finchley

An urban district of Finchley, part of the then county of Middlesex (since abolished) was created in 1894. In 1932 the Municipal Borough of Finchley was created, but in 1965 the municipal borough was abolished and its area became part of the London Borough of Barnet. Margaret Thatcher was elected as MP for Finchley in 1959; she served until her retirement from the House of Commons in 1992.

It is primarily a residential and shopping area, with several supermarkets and many restaurants. The artsdepot, a local community arts centre including a gallery, a studio and a theatre, was opened on 23 October 2004 in an attempt to revitalise the area, and in order to fill a gap created by the demolition of the Gaumont cinema and what had become an open-air market. The area has mainly 19th-century housing, ranging from Victorian cottages to substantially larger Victorian double-fronted houses. There is also a dominant Edwardian style toward Woodside Park and Nether Street, but with some modern houses—probably built between the 1930s and 1960s—towards Friern Barnet. There are some…