Whetstone

In medieval times the Hospitallers had a settlement nearby in Friern Barnet probably where Friary Park is now and alongside the old road to London. In 1340 the Bishop of London opened a gate into his park (the Highgate) which enabled a straight road across Finchley Common along the ridge there. The Hospitallers' settlement moved further west and became known as West Town, also known variously as "le Weston" (1398), "Wheston" (1417), and "Whetstonestret" (1439). It was the northernmost settlement in the Ossulstone hundred. Until the late 19th century its tiny developed area was one of two main settlements in the ancient parish of Friern Barnet, the other being Colney Hatch. Friern Barnet…

John Heathfield of the Friern Barnet & District Local History Society writes that according to the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England, the stone outside The Griffin public house commonly known as the Whetstone, is a mounting block, and if so "it would have been connected to the toll gate erected by the Whetstone & Highgate Turnpike Trust about 1730." An historic legend regarding the whetstone itself tells that the stone was used by soldiers on their march towards High Barnet (approx. 3.5 miles north of Whetstone) in preparation for the battle of Barnet in 1471. He also states that the earliest evidence for the existence of the stone is a photograph taken in 1861 which…