Description
In the C19th the land was owned by the Rumball family and leased for pasture, a brewery and stables, and two houses. In 1912 the brewery site was purchased by Barnet UDC, who later purchased the freehold of the Old Court House Estate in 1923. The recreation ground on the south side of the gardens opened in 1924 and Barnet Bowls Club was founded here in 1926. The park was formally laid out with an ornamental pond, rockery, shrub and flower beds, and a fine variety of specimen trees.
Practical Information
| Previously known as | Court House Estate |
|---|---|
| Site location | Manor Close off Wood Street/Orchard Road/Mays Lane, Chipping Barnet |
| Postcode | EN5 4BP |
| What3Words | ///neat.useful.thin |
| Type of Site | Public Park |
| Borough | Barnet |
| Open to Public | Yes |
| Opening Times | 8am to dusk |
| Facilities | Café, car park, tennis courts, bowling greens, under 14s playground, toilets. Tree Trail |
| Public Transport | Tube: High Barnet (Northern) then bus. Bus: 34, 84, 107, 184, 234, 263, 307, 326, 384, 389 |
| Research Updated | 9 May 2009 |
| Last Updated | 18 October 2026 |
Full description
At one time Barnet was part of Middlesex Forest. Throughout the C19th, the land that is now the Recreation Ground and the houses fronting onto Wood Street were owned by the Rumball family. When Sampson Rumball died in 1827 ownership passed to his son Samson Augustus Rumball who leased the plots for pasture, two houses, a brewery and stables. The Barnet Brewery Company traded here intermittently from the C18th until its closure in 1909, and in 1911 the brewery site was offered to Barnet Urban District Council for council offices, who in 1912 purchased the site for £1,000. The Council then purchased the freehold of the old Court House Estate in 1923 and opened the recreation ground on the south side of the gardens in 1924; Barnet Bowls Club was founded here in 1926.
The building on Wood Street, which has been Barnet Museum since 1938, was also one of the Rumball properties; for a time it was a private school, Barnet College for Girls, which had closed by 1911.
The park has a pond, shrub and flower beds and a fine variety of trees which are marked as a tree trail including black mulberry, honey locust, Persian ironwood, dawn redwood, paper-bark maple, Brewer's weeping spruce, false acacia, Monterey pine, Scots pine, English and red oak, willow-leaved pear.
The building on Wood Street, which has been Barnet Museum since 1938, was also one of the Rumball properties; for a time it was a private school, Barnet College for Girls, which had closed by 1911.
The park has a pond, shrub and flower beds and a fine variety of trees which are marked as a tree trail including black mulberry, honey locust, Persian ironwood, dawn redwood, paper-bark maple, Brewer's weeping spruce, false acacia, Monterey pine, Scots pine, English and red oak, willow-leaved pear.
Further Information
| Grid Reference | TQ244963 |
|---|---|
| Size in hectares | 3.11 |
| Site Ownership | LB Barnet |
| Site Management | Leisure and Youth Services, Green Spaces Division/Friends of Old Court House |
| Dates | C19th; 1923/4 |
| On National Heritage List for England (NHLE), Parks & Gardens | No |
| Registered common or village green on Commons Registration Act 1965 | No |
| Protected under London Squares Preservation Act 1931 | No |
| Local Authority | Barnet |
| In Conservation Area | No |
| Conservation Area Name | abuts Wood Street CA |
| Tree Preservation Order | Not known |
| Nature Conservation Area | No |
| Green Belt | No |
| Metropolitan Open Land | No |
| Special Policy Area | Yes - Area of Special Archaeological Significance |
| Other LA Designation | Premier Park |
Gallery
Please note the Inventory and its content are provided for your general information only and are subject to change. It is your responsibility to check the accuracy.
Nearby parks and gardens
St John's Church was in the centre of the medieval village of Chipping Barnet, which developed to the west of the village of East Barnet where the main parish church was. Until the 1830s the area was largely woods, commonland and fields. In 1420 an earlier church at Chipping Barnet was rebuilt by the Abbot of St Albans; it became a parish in its own right in 1866. In 1870-75 a larger church was built although many of the old monuments were preserved and include the tomb of Thomas Ravenscroft (d.1630). The churchyard has been made into a garden and has grass, mature trees and seating. Barnet War Memorial, originally located in front of the church, was unveiled in 1921.
James Ravenscroft, an important benefactor of Barnet like his father Thomas, founded Jesus Hospital almshouses for 6 poor widowed women in 1679, so-called because Ravenscroft was a graduate of Jesus College Cambridge. The almshouses have a pleasant front garden with a central path from the gates, which are flanked by gate piers with inset stone plaques with initials surmounted by a lion and the foundation date, a replica commemorating the 300th anniversary with the date '1979'.
Leathersellers' Close contains the Leathersellers' Almshouses and related grounds. The two wings of almshouses and the central Chapel block were built between 1838 and 1866 in the Gothic style and then rebuilt and remodelled in 1964-1966. The small Victorian lodge dates from 1859.To the south of the central path are large ornamental iron gates and, just inside the gates, a pair of decorative Victorian lampposts. The extensive grounds are mostly laid to grass and contain many fine mature trees, including several beech and holly, a tulip tree and a Monterey cypress, together with mixed shrub borders and eight standard bay trees at the sides of the central path.
