Wood Street conservation area
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Location
The Wood Street Conservation Area runs east to west from the junction with the Great North Road at the top of Barnet Hill (marked by St John the Baptist Church) along the ridge towards Arkley.
The Conservation Area was designated in 1969, and subsequently extended in 1979.
It includes the historic shops coming up Barnet Hill and surrounding St. John’s Church, Union Street to the north, the villas facing Ravenscroft Park, and Wood Street itself westward as far as The Whalebones, with its lands and the detached houses opposite.
The historic county boundaries are a notable aspect of this part of the Borough with Wood Street forming a peninsula of Hertfordshire cutting eastward into Middlesex.
Description
The High Street around St John’s Church is part of the commercial town centre of Chipping Barnet, with a variety of town centre uses, of which shopping is the most dominant.
The main retail character is that of small independents, although a few nationals commonly functioning in minor town centres such as Greggs Bakers, Clarks Shoes, Boots, Robert Dyas, WH Smith, a range of banks, building societies and Opticians also have a presence.
Other uses such as restaurants, cafes, bars and public houses all make a significant contribution to the vitality and viability of the area along with churches, Barnet College, banks and driving schools.
The retail uses are generally confined to the ground floor, but have a rundown feel with a proliferation of poorly designed advertisements and shopfronts. Some buildings, together with shopfront and advertisements, are in need of maintenance (particularly at the eastern end of the conservation area).
Upper floors are generally used in association with ground floor retail uses, as offices or residential accommodation. Some are vacant.
The main pockets of town centre residential uses are in the side streets of Tapster Street, Moxon Street and Victors Way, mostly accommodated in modern purpose built apartments or flats such as Beauchamp Court on Vickers Way and Chris Court in Tapster Street.
Tapster Street and Moxon Street are dominated by a range of commercial uses such as car washing, car maintenance and a builder’s merchants, with traditional town centre uses more prevalent closer to High Street. Traffic dominates this part of the Conservation Area. Cars, heavy lorries and buses create a busy and noisy atmosphere particularly at the junction of Wood Street with High Street.
At the eastern end of Wood Street, from St John the Baptist Church to Manor Road, business uses (offices) can be found in adapted domestic buildings along with some surviving residential accommodation. These uses are interspersed with institutions such as St Martha’s Convent and Barnet Museum. Traffic whilst still a significant issue, does not dominate to the same extent.
From Manor Road progressing west along Wood Street, the use is almost exclusively residential interspersed with retail shops, such as the local parade beyond Bells Hill. Public houses also serve the local population. Movement is much gentler, slower and quiet, particularly as the area opens out at its western end, taking in the Whalebones Park. Almshouses, such as Eleanor Palmer’s Cottages, Garretts Almshouses, Ravenscroft Cottages and Leathersellers Almshouses, are a particular feature in this part of the conservation area, all being of architectural and historic interest in themselves and of significant townscape value.
Union Street has a mix of uses being predominantly residential interspersed with two pubs, two churches, the rear entrance to St Martha’s Convent and some light industrial and office uses. Convenience retail uses are at either end. The area is well served by public transport. It is on a bus route and within a short walk to the south is High Barnet Station, which is on the Northern Line into Central London.
Of particular note are the public open spaces within the Conservation Area, namely Ravenscroft Park and the Courthouse Recreation Gardens at the extreme eastern end. They function as local parks and are formally laid out and well maintained. They are predominantly used by school children and college students and other people living or working in the area. The parks are busiest in the summer around midday, when office workers join local residents to enjoy the sunshine.