Moss Hall Crescent conservation area

Location

The Moss Hall Crescent conservation area lies within the West Finchley ward, close to the centre of the borough.

It is located south of Tally Ho Corner in North Finchley, on the western side of Ballards Lane and approximately 1.5 km to the north of Finchley Central.

The crescent is situated behind a small green open space with mature trees which fronts Ballards Lane, between Alexandra Grove to the north and Moss Hall Grove to the south.

Moss Hall Crescent consists of twelve Victorian villas, set back from Ballards Lane by a strip of green open space, with a strong tree line that helps soften the impact of the heavy traffic running along Ballards Lane. The surrounding area is primarily residential, although it is located near the shopping area of North Finchley, which lies approximately 0.5 km north east of the conservation area.

West Finchley is the second smallest of Barnet’s wards, covering an area of 8.2 square kilometres. It is also one of the borough’s least populated wards, with 15,849 residents in 2012. The surrounding area has become popular with London’s Japanese community and Ballards Lane has several suppliers of goods and services serving this market.

Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2023

Description

Ballards Lane was an important medieval thoroughfare, named after a family who were living there in 1263. It was originally called Overstreet, contrasting it with Nether Street, which ran in parallel to the west. The estate of Ballards Reding, later Wimbush Farm, stretched across to Fallow Corner.

By the 15th century large houses set in spacious grounds were appearing along the lane. Many of these properties were rebuilt in the 17th century.

With the construction of Regent’s Park Road the lane became a turnpike in 1826 and was extended to a new junction with the Great North Road, bringing an increase in development. By 1851 the lane had 56 houses and seven under construction, which was large for such a rural outpost of London at this time, and made it the most populous part of Finchley.

In 1867, Moss Hall, a Georgian manor house and its attendant estate, which had been unsuccessfully offered for sale in 1830, was laid out for residential dwellings. The properties on Moss Hall Crescent were originally built as middle class housing, and until the 1970s remained so.

Around this time, many of the 12 properties along the crescent applied for a change of use from single family houses to flatted development or office use. Consequently, few residential dwelling houses now exist on the crescent, with nos. 10 and 11 in use as a nursery school having formerly been the Moss Hall Hotel.

Most of Ballards Lane was redeveloped from the early years of the 20th century onwards, much of it with parades of shops and flats. Moss Hall itself was demolished in 1927 after much of the estate had been built on after the 1860s. The name survives in the names of streets including Moss Hall Grove and Moss Hall Crescent and, until the 1990s, a pub called the Moss Hall Tavern (the pub still exists but has been renamed the Elephant Inn) on the corner of Ballards Lane and Hutton Grove.

Moss Hall School, built in Moss Hall Grove to serve the area between Church End and North Finchley, opened in 1952. It is currently a four form entry school with 360 children across three year groups.

Documents

Moss Hall Crescent conservation area Character Appraisal

Moss Hall Crescent conservation area map