Monken Hadley, Hertfordshire

Description
Hadley or Monken Hadley, a village and a parish in Middlesex. The village stands on high ground, near En-field Chase, the G.N.R., and the boundary with Herts, 1 mile NNE from Bamet, is a pretty rural place, and has a post and money order office under Barnet; telegraph office, Barnet. The parish includes also part of the High Street of Barnet. Acreage, 649; population, 1302. The manor was given by Geoffrey de Mandeville to Walden Abbey, and by Henry VIII. to Lord Audley. The high land around the village once formed a part of Enfield Chase. The battle between the Yorkists and the Lancastrians in 1471 was fought partly within the parish, and is commemorated by an obelisk erected in 1740. The living is a donative in the diocese of London; gross value, £190 with residence. The church is ancient and cruciform, has a western square tower built of flint with stone quoins and bearing the date 1494, was thoroughly restored in 1848, and contains several interesting monuments. An iron beacon is on the top of the tower, supposed to have been used for a signal light to guide those traversing the neighbouring forest, and was last illuminated on the occasion of the jubilee of Queen Victoria. There are alms-houses for twelve inmates and some small charities. Hadley Common, which consists of about 250 acres of woodland, belongs to the freeholders of this parish. A portion of it known as Hadley Wood is much resorted to by excursionists.