Walking in North west Londons parks, open spaces, footpaths with Barnets walks
Edgware is one of the earlier areas to have settlements, with the name being possibly derived from ‘Ecgi’s weir fishing pool' (Edgware Brook) & Bury Farm.
The Edgware road has been used since it was created in the Roman times with being a route from London to St Albans. The road wasn’t in the best of conditions in its early years & was impassable at certain times of the year due to wet & boggy conditions.
It was becoming a little more populated (around 120 inhabitants) by the late 1500’s & also having the Anglican church of St Margaret’s at the southern end of what is now Station road, Edgware.
With the greater use of the main Edgware road, (Watling Street) over the next few decades, a better quality road surface was needed, & in 1711 the Edgware-Kilburn turnpike was introduced to pay for repairs to the road. There used to be toll gate near the junction of Deansbrook road & the main Edgware road.
It was also around this time that James Brydges, the 1st Duke of Chandos was building a very large home called Cannons, i am assuming this was named after he had married Mary Lake, daughter of Sir Thomas Lake (of Cannons, Middlesex). Vast amounts of money was spent on the mansion house & grounds with the money he alleged to have made when he was appointed as the paymaster General for the government. (Not much changes there) Even George Frederic Handel (composer)
The Edgware road has been used since it was created in the Roman times with being a route from London to St Albans. The road wasn’t in the best of conditions in its early years & was impassable at certain times of the year due to wet & boggy conditions.
It was becoming a little more populated (around 120 inhabitants) by the late 1500’s & also having the Anglican church of St Margaret’s at the southern end of what is now Station road, Edgware.
With the greater use of the main Edgware road, (Watling Street) over the next few decades, a better quality road surface was needed, & in 1711 the Edgware-Kilburn turnpike was introduced to pay for repairs to the road. There used to be toll gate near the junction of Deansbrook road & the main Edgware road.
It was also around this time that James Brydges, the 1st Duke of Chandos was building a very large home called Cannons, i am assuming this was named after he had married Mary Lake, daughter of Sir Thomas Lake (of Cannons, Middlesex). Vast amounts of money was spent on the mansion house & grounds with the money he alleged to have made when he was appointed as the paymaster General for the government. (Not much changes there) Even George Frederic Handel (composer)
stayed at the house for around a year (1717) & folk law was thought he had composed The Harmonious Blacksmith, (written for the harpsichord) when sheltering from a storm in the estates blacksmiths. But Handel had already written the piece, at Arlington Hall in Cheshire, before he lived at Cannons.
After the duke died his heir was not able to keep up with the costs of the house and the contents of the house were sold off for around £11,000 and the palace demolished in 1747. But It was not quite clear why the magnificent house was actually demolished. Most of the land was sold off in plots to different people with some being built on & park areas being made of a few of the plots. The
North London Collegiate School stands on part of the old estate with local roads like Cannons drive & Handle close.
It was at this time that the areas population dropped for the 1st time & didn’t really recover until the early 1920’s when the London transport tube service reached Edgware & much more development took place.
After the duke died his heir was not able to keep up with the costs of the house and the contents of the house were sold off for around £11,000 and the palace demolished in 1747. But It was not quite clear why the magnificent house was actually demolished. Most of the land was sold off in plots to different people with some being built on & park areas being made of a few of the plots. The
North London Collegiate School stands on part of the old estate with local roads like Cannons drive & Handle close.
It was at this time that the areas population dropped for the 1st time & didn’t really recover until the early 1920’s when the London transport tube service reached Edgware & much more development took place.
Edgware High Street memorial