St James the Great: Friern Barnet

Name:
St James the Great: Friern Barnet
Record Type:
Closed Church
Church code:
623291
Diocese:
London
Archdeaconry:
Hampstead
Parish:
Friern Barnet

Statutory Designation Information

Listed Building?
This is a Grade II Listed Building
View more information about this Listed Building on the National Heritage List for England web site
Scheduled Monument?
There is no Scheduled Monument within the curtilage or precinct

National Park

The church is not in a National Park

Conservation Area

The church is not in a Conservation Area

Heritage At Risk Status

On Heritage At Risk Register?
This church is not on the Heritage at Risk Register
 

Approximate Date

Approximate Date:
Victorian/Pre-WWI

Exterior Image

Exterior image of 623291 St James the Great: Friern Barnet
Caption:
Exterior image of 623291 St James the Great: Friern Barnet
Description:
View of south elevation and churchyard, part of a CBC report issued 16 Feb 2005
Year / Date:
2004
Copyright:
Archbishops' Council
Originator:
Joesph Elders

Summary Description

Old church built probably mid 12th c, certainly no later than 1199. Alterations in early 19th c to tower, vestry, walls mainly flint but chancel rebuilt in brick. At that time it had galleries inside. When the area expanded following the opening of the Great Northern Railway's New Southgate station in 1851 a larger church was needed and the current building of St John the Evangelist was designed by J L Pearson, architect of Truro Cathedral. St James was practically rebuilt probably on the old foundations 1853 by Habershon & Habershon. Apart from monuments, south doorway survives from Norman period, much restored, possibly foundations of south wall. Present Nave, Chancel & Tower are Victorian. Good glass. North extension in 1977, by John Phillips. The land here once belonged to the Abbot of St Albans which was then given to the Bishop of London by William the Conqueror, the Abbot thus deprived of his land joined Hereward the Wake's rebellion. In c1199 the manor was passed to the Order of St John of Jerusalem from where the name Friern comes, meaning belonging to the Brotherhood, but the Order was dissolved when Henry VIII gave his patronage to St Barnet to Sir Walter Raleigh who sold it to the Bacon family. The churchyard was the burial place of Thomas Cavendish, the son of Cardinal Wolsey's servant Charles Cavendish. Pleasant spreading churchyard. The drinking fountain across the road, erected c.1926, is on the site of an old well called Queen Elizabeth's Well and the old pound. It has now been established (May 2010) that the two organ cases of 1887 are by J.L.Pearson and that as a result the instrument has recently been awarded a Historic Organ Certificate (Grade - Certificate of Recognition) for the case (only).

Visiting and Facilities

The church is open for worship.
Closed Church
 

Church Website

Church Website:
Work in progress - can you help?

Sources and Further Information

Joesph Elders (2004) Exterior image of 623291 St James the Great: Friern Barnet [Digital Archive/Graphic material]
Exterior image of 623291 St James the Great: Friern Barnet
Joseph Elders (2001) Interior image of 623291 St James the Great: Friern Barnet [Digital Archive/Graphic material]
Interior image of 623291 St James the Great: Friern Barnet
CWGC (2016) Commonwealth War Graves Commission CWGC Unique File Reference Number: 10560 [Bibliography/Data]
Number of War Graves: 17
ICBS (1817-1989) Incorporated Church Building Society Archive https://images.lambethpalacelibrary.org.uk/luna/servlet/detail/LPLIBLPL~34~34~94664~114667 [Archive/Graphic material]

Groundplan

ICBS File Number - 04524

Coverage - 1852-1854

Created by ?HABERSHON (WILLIAM GILBEE & EDWARD)

ICBS (1817-1989) Incorporated Church Building Society Archive https://images.lambethpalacelibrary.org.uk/luna/servlet/detail/LPLIBLPL~34~34~94673~114668 [Archive/Graphic material]

Groundplan

ICBS File Number - 04524

Coverage - 1852

Created by HABERSHON (WILLIAM GILBEE & EDWARD)

Church Buildings Council (2019) Church Bells 1 Bell [Archive/Index]
1 Bell