History of Golders Green and Temple Fortune
Golders Green
Until the 1900s Golders Green was a hamlet in the parish of Hendon Middlesex. Much of Golders Green was originally in a sub-manor called Hodford (c1200s). The meaning of the name Golders Green is obscure. It may derive from a name which first appears in the 15th century in the form of Goldherd’s mill (located further south). Or it may derive from the local family called Godyere. The green itself probably developed during the 16th century, and was recorded as Golders Green by 1612. Described as a waste, the green extended either side of Golders Green Road in the 18th century roughly between Hoop Lane (named after the 18th century Hoop Inn), and the river Brent where it converged to meet the bridge, at which time the Manor of Hendon allowed a number of houses to be built and the first hamlet of 16 houses had appeared by the 1750s. Brick making was carried out in Golders Green in same period. By 1814 the area was described in Brewer’s Beauties of England and Wales as having “many ornamental villas and cottages surrounded with plantations”. By 1830 the new Finchley Road turnpike cut through the district. By 1828 this ribbon development had encroached on most of the green, in March of 1872 the streets received their first five gas lamps, and by 1878 the manorial waste was finally enclosed. A horse bus ran regularly along the Finchley Road by the 1880s. Robert Suckling, a blacksmith, is mentioned in the census of 1821; their last blacksmith “Alf” Wheeler died in 1940.
With the opening of the new tube station (1907), and the establishment of trams, and motorbuses, the area began to develop into a suburb of semi-detached houses, a process which continued into the 1930s. By 1911 the population had grown to 4,465, and by 1931 it had reached 17,837. The Hippodrome Theatre was opened on boxing day 1913. By 1940 the area had developed into a centre in its own right, separate from Hendon, with a theatre (Hippodrome 1913), a library (1935), cinemas (the Ionic 1913 now closed). The Refectory, now a pub, was opened February 1916, and is thought to by some to be the first ever public restaurant supplied by electricity. The shopping district (called “Cheapside”), was well established by 1914. In June of 1918 a Handley Page bomber crashed near to houses in Golders Green. And in December 1920 a Handley Page passenger aircraft crashed into houses in Basing Hill. The War Memorial was unveiled in April 1923. The area has had many famous residents, who are too numerous to list but they include, Marie Lloyd, Desmond Tutu (curate at St Alban's church in the early 1960s), and Oliver Postgate, the children’s programme maker, who was at school here.
Since 1907 Golders Green has been a very cosmopolitan place, and regarded by many as an extension of Hampstead. It is for its Jewish community that Golders Green is mostly famous. There were Jewish businesses and homes in Golders Green even by 1910, and by 1915 there were thought to be about 300 Jewish families living in Golders Green. By 1959 around a quarter of the population of the Borough of Hendon (which included Golders Green) was Jewish. In 1913 the first public service was held in West Heath Drive and in 1915 a meeting was held in the Ionic Cinema to establish a congregation, which had grown by September to 90 families. Dunstan Road synagogue, Golders Green, opened in 1922. Its most famous Rabbi has been Rabbi Sacks, the current Chief Rabbi of England.
According to legend a house called Golders Lodge, situated where Golders Gardens is today, was haunted. “The story attached to it was that it was left by will to a certain person as long as a testator of the relative “remained above ground”. The relative died and to save his estate, the conditional tenant kept the body “above ground”, for a considerable period.” It has been said that the body was left in its coffin in the attic, and that the place has been haunted by the unburied spirit ever since.
Temple Fortune
It has been a place in the parish and manor of Hendon since around 13th century. The earliest references to the name "Temple Fortune" is on a map (c1754). However this name reveals a much earlier history. It is likely that the name refers to the Knight of St John, who had land here (c1240). Fortune may be derived from a small settlement (tun) on the route from Hampstead to Hendon arrived at before arriving at Hendon. Here a lane from Finchley, called Ducksetters lane (c1475), intersected. It is likely that the settlement was originally the Bleccanham estate (c900s). By the end of the 18th century Temple Fortune Farm was established on the northern side of Farm Close.
The building of the Finchley Road (c1827), replaced Ducksetters lane as a route to Finchley, and resulted in the development of a small hamlet. Hendon Park Row (c1860s) is of this period, and consisted of around thirty small dwellings built by a George Stevens, which were, with two exceptions, demolished (c1956). A small dame school and prayer house run by Anglican Deaconesses existed in the 1890s and 1900s, which developed to become St Barnabas (1915). Along the Finchley Road was a number of villas (c1830s), joined by the Royal Oak public house (c1850s). By the end of the 19th century there were around 300 people living in the area, which included a laundry, a small hospital for children with skin diseases. The principle industry was brick making.
In 1895 a Jewish Cemetery was established adjacent of Hoop Lane, with the first burial in 1897. Golders Green Crematorium was opened in 1902 (although much of it was built after 1905). The significant moment in Temple Fortune's development into a suburban area occurred in 1907. The establishment of the Hampstead Garden Suburb brought major changes to the area east of the Finchley Road. Temple Fortune Farm was demolished, and along the front of the road, the building of Arcade, and Gateway House (c1911) established the Hampstead Garden Suburbs retail district. Also significant in that year was the opening of Golders Green tube station (see elsewhere). Although the area had been served by horse drawn omnibuses (since at least the 1880s) and later motor buses (from 1907), it was the tram line of 1910, connecting Church End Finchley with Golders Green Station, which led to the development of the area west of the Finchley road. The Carmelite Monastery was established in Bridge Lane in 1908.
Golders Green Police Station was opened in 1913. St Edward the Confessor, a Roman Catholic church, was built in 1916. The now demolished Orpheum Theatre (1930), was intended to rival the Hippodrome in Golders Green. Famous people connected with the area are on whole connected to the Aida Foster School of Drama (1929 - 1969) Finchley Road. Former students include Barbara Windsor, Elizabeth Taylor, [Jean Simmons].
Further Research
- Barnet Archives and Local Studies
- HADAS Archived Newsletters(The Hendon & District Archaeological Society)
- Victoria County History Golders Green is within the Hendon Chapter
- Cary’s 15 Miles Around London 1786
