Cat Hill and Cockfosters
Bottom of Cat Hill, 1900s
The name Cat Hill, may have come from an inn which stood at the bottom of the Hill in the Village of East Barnet, which itself took its name from a bridge called Katebrygge by the 15th century. It was also known as Doggets Hill, after a local land owner. Where Heddon Court Avenue is today was once a house called Belmont. It was known as Mount Pleasant by the 17th century, and only later, by the 1890s was it called Heddon Court. By World War One it was a private school, which hosted a camp where scout masters were trained during the Summer in the 1920s. Bohun Lodge, and Little Grove House were also established after the reformation in the 16th century. the Ambassador of Turkey, Musurus Pasha, used Bohun as a retreat during Ramadan in the 1880s. Bohun Lodge was bought by East Barnet Council and used to house families displaced during World War Two.
In 1932 the Piccadilly Line on the London Underground was extended out to Cockfosters. Oakwood Station was originally going to be called East Barnet Station, but as the station was in Southgate UD it was not considered suitable. Littlegrove House was pulled down in the same year and much of the estate developed into suburban housing. In 1937 East Barnet Grammar School was opened on the site of Grove House. The Cat Hill wing of Middlesex University was originally built by the London Borough of Enfield in 1969, and was used by the Hornsey School of Art. It is now also the home of the The Museum of Domestic Design and Architecture which opened in 2000.
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Email this pageLast modified by: Richard Nurse on 29/06/2007