- published: 04 Feb 2015
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Coordinates: 51°38′40″N 0°11′59″W / 51.6444°N 0.1997°W / 51.6444; -0.1997
High Barnet or Chipping Barnet is a place in the London Borough of Barnet, North London, England. It is a suburban development built around a twelfth-century settlement and is located 10 miles (16 km) north north-west of Charing Cross. Its name is often abbreviated to Barnet, which is also the name of the London borough of which it forms a part. Chipping Barnet is the name of the Parliamentary constituency covering the local area - the word "Chipping" denotes the presence of a market (one was established here in the thirteenth century and persists to this day).
The town's name derives from an ancient settlement, recorded as Barneto c.1070, Barnet 1197, La Barnette 1248, that is 'the land cleared by burning', from Old English bærnet, referring to the clearing of this once densely forested area in early times.
This was the site of the Battle of Barnet in 1471 (more accurately, Hadley), where Yorkist troops led by King Edward IV killed the rebellious "Kingmaker" Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick and Warwick's brother, John Neville, 1st Marquess of Montagu. Barnet Hill is said to be the hill mentioned in the nursery rhyme "The Grand Old Duke of York".
James Johnstone Barnet (1827 in Almericlose, Arbroath, Scotland – 16 December 1904 in Forest Lodge, Sydney, New South Wales) was the Colonial Architect for Colonial New South Wales, serving from 1862 to 1890.
The list of Barnet’s work includes 169 post and telegraph offices, 130 courthouses, 155 police stations, 110 lock-ups and 20 lighthouses. His major works include the General Post Office building in Sydney, Callan Park Lunatic Asylum, the Australian Museum, the Colonial Secretary's building, Lands Department building, and the Anderson Building at Sydney University.
Born the son of a builder, Barnet was educated at the local high school. In 1843, at the age of sixteen, Barnet moved to London, where he became a builder’s apprentice, studying drawing under William Dyce RA and architecture with CJ Richardson FRIBA. He then became of clerk of works with the Worshipful Company of Fishmongers. In 1854 he married and sailed for Sydney, Australia, with his new wife, Rosa. In Sydney, he worked first as a builder for Edmund Blacket, then became Clerk of Works at the University of Sydney.