Friern Barnet

16 FRIERN BARNET (D.b.)

(O.S. 6 in. VI, S.E.)

Friern Barnet is a parish touching the N. border of the county and adjoining Finchley on the E. The church and Campe Almshouses have features of interest.

Ecclesiastical

(1) Parish Church of St. James stands near the middle of the parish. The old church would appear to have been built about the middle of the 12th century and occupied the position of the present S. aisle. It was practically re-built, probably on the old foundations, in 1853, perhaps with the use of some old materials; the present nave, chancel and tower are modern.

Architectural Description—The only surviving part of the old building is the 12th-century S. doorway, which has been much restored. The jambs are of two orders, the inner plain and the outer with an attached shaft with moulded base, scalloped capital and cheveron fluting on the surface of the shaft; the arch is of two orders with cheveron-ornament, the inner enclosing a diapered tympanum supported on a plain segmental arch.

Fittings—Chest: In nave—of oak with panelled front, enriched rails, styles and panels and plain panelled ends, 17th-century. Monuments and Floor-slabs. Monuments: In S. aisle—on S. wall, (1) to Thomas Jeve, 1699, and Alice, his second wife, 1698, oval white marble tablet with enriched border and cartouche-of-arms. In churchyard—on E. wall of S. aisle, (2) to Edmund Duncon, rector, 1673, head-stone; on W. wall of S. aisle, (3) to Sarah, wife of . . . Rose, 1688, and her brother, 1638–9, plain tablet. Floor-slabs: In S. aisle—(1) to Sarah, wife of John Nicoll, 1703, with shield-of-arms. In churchyard—E. of church, (2) to Thomas Bretton, 1714, and others later, with achievement-of-arms. Plate (Plate 23): includes cup and stand-paten of 1691, a flagon of 1655 (?) given by Mary Cropley, 1709, early 18th-century cup given by John Nicoll, 1709, and two 18th-century pewter plates. Seating: in S. aisle—two small stools with turned legs, probably 17th-century. Table: In nave—with twisted legs and ogee-shaped stretchers meeting at a square centre-piece, probably early 18th-century.

Condition—Good, practically re-built.

Secular

(2) Campe Almshouses (Plate 66), on the N.E. side of the road 650 yards N.W. of the parish church, are of two storeys with attics; the walls are of brick with stone dressings and the roofs are tiled. Modern inscriptions on the front record the erection of the almshouses by Laurence Campe in 1612 and the restoration and altera tion of the building in 1843 and 1897. The almshouses form a long rectangular building originally consisting of six tenements with an added tenement on the S.E. The S.W. front has a moulded brick band between the storeys; the original doorways have stop-moulded stone jambs and four-centred heads; the windows, of three lights on the ground-floor and of two lights in the upper floor, have moulded stone jambs and mullions; the doors are each of two moulded panels. On the front are five old stone panels—(a) a cartouche of the arms of the city of London; (b) an achievement of the arms of Campe with the date 1612; the same date appears also on separate stones; (c) a cartouche of the arms of the Drapers' company; (d) defaced inscription; (e) two texts, 1st Timothy VI, 17 and Proverbs XIX, 17. In the N.W. end are two old windows with moulded oak frames. The back has a square-headed doorway, windows with chamfered brick reveals and oak frames and mullions. Inside the building, two rooms on the ground floor have been turned into one to form a Prayer Room. The ceilings have exposed beams and there is an original door of moulded battens.

Condition—Good.