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New Barnet is a neighbourhood on the northeast side of the London Borough of Barnet. It is a largely residential North London suburb located east of Chipping Barnet, west of Cockfosters, south of the village of Monken Hadley and north of Oakleigh Park.
Residential properties include a mix of late Victorian villas and terraces, Edwardian detached housing, 1950-60s council housing and the redevelopment of land to low storey flats in the 1980s and 1990s. The north edge of New Barnet borders Monken Hadley Common, a common mostly made up of woods and cut by walking paths.
The main commercial area in New Barnet is east of New Barnet railway station on East Barnet Road. The high street is dominated by a medium-sized Sainsbury's supermarket with parking on top and is surrounded by a cluster of shops and facilities including Fayers, Just Add Water, PureGym, Tesco Express, Majestic Wine, Screwfix, Bikestrobe, Ink n Toner and Bodens Performing Arts. Several independent cafés also exist on the high street.
A number of office blocks were built on Station Road to the west of the station in the 1960s and 70s; however, many have now been converted to flats. In the past, Station Approach in New Barnet was the home of CompShop, which produced the pioneering UK101 kit microcomputer.
Public houses in New Barnet include The Railway Tavern, The Railway Bell (Wetherspoons), The Builders Arms, and The Lord Kitchener.
New Barnet owes its conception to the building of the Great Northern Railway in 1850, when a station serving High Barnet was built, but located about a mile away from the town centre of High Barnet, so that this 'new' area quickly saw development:
In 1876, Handbook to the Environs of London by James Thorne describe New Barnet as one of those new half-finished railway villages that we have come to look on as almost a necessary adjunct of every station within a moderate distance of London.
New Barnet's growth accelerated at the turn of the 19th Century aided by the speculative developer, E. Fergusson Taylor, who became known as the creator of New Barnet.
In 1892 a town hall was built for the local board and from 1894 New Barnet formed part of the East Barnet Urban District of Hertfordshire until 1965 when it was transferred from Hertfordshire to Greater London to become part of the newly created London Borough of Barnet. The War Memorial was built opposite the Town Hall in 1921 to remember the 278 men of East Barnet who died in World War 1.
In 2019, a new leisure centre in New Barnet was completed by Barnet Council, including a 25m pool and gym. The leisure centre is run by the not-for-profit provider Better.
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