Finchley Road

Finchley Road is a designated 4.5 mi arterial road in north-west London, England. The Finchley Road starts in St John's Wood near central London as part of the A41; its southern half is a major dual carriageway with high traffic levels often frequented by lorries and long-distance coaches as it connects central London, via the A41 Hendon Way, to the M1 motorway at Brent Cross and other roads at that interchange.

Its northern half, which dissects away from the A41 and is designated as the A598, runs through suburban areas via the centre of Golders Green to Henlys Corner, where the road north of it leads to Finchley, from which Finchley Road gets its name.

Its southern half, in which it gives its name to the centre-west part of Hampstead, has two current railway stations including the name Finchley Road. London Buses route 13 runs through the entire road, while the route 113 runs only in its southern half.

History
Originally named Finchley New Road, it was built as a turnpike to provide an alternative to the hillier route north from London, which ran further east through the village of Hampstead.

The original route, now the A502, ran from Camden Town along what is now Chalk Farm Road, Haverstock Hill, Rosslyn Hill, Heath Street and North End Road to Golders Green where it joins Finchley Road. It had two steep hills either side of Hampstead Village, and was difficult for horses with carriages to negotiate when muddy. The Finchley Road Act was passed in 1826 and the new turnpike road was completed in 1835.

The new route (now the A41) started from what was then called the 'New Road' (the first London bypass) and is now Marylebone Road, and ran north, first along what are now Park Road and Wellington Road, and becomes Finchley Road at St John's Wood tube station. It goes north through Swiss Cottage, then turns slightly north west, forming an unofficial boundary between Hampstead and West Hampstead, and then turns north again at Child's Hill. The A41 diverges westward and Finchley Road becomes the A598. It continues past Golders Green Underground station (where it meets the old route), through Temple Fortune to the North Circular Road, crossing it at Henlys Corner, where it becomes Regents Park Road (perhaps after the southern end of the route). This continues as Ballards Lane through Finchley Central to North Finchley. There it joins the former Great North Road (now the A1000).

Tolls were collected at a tollgate at Childs Hill.

After the road was built, many grand houses were built along its length, especially near Fortune Green, Childs Hill and Golders Green.

Finchley Road remains a heavily used route in and out of London. The most commercial part of the road is between Swiss Cottage Underground station and the O2 Centre.

In 1856 as many as ten stagecoaches a day ran along Finchley Road, serving Swiss Cottage, where the Atlas Line, a business of these, had started about six years before.
 * Stagecoaches, first omnibuses and shelved tramway proposal

Omnibuses reached the area north of Swiss Cottage by way of Finchley Road as far as Finchley Road station before 1880. Later omnibuses were extended along Finchley Road to meet others from Edgware Road along West End Lane, continuing north to Childs Hill and Hendon. Motorbuses had replaced horse omnibuses by 1911.

Plans for an extensive network of tramways, along Adelaide and Finchley Roads, were dropped after opposition from the council, ground landlords, and residents.

On 2 October 1993 five people were injured and damage caused when three bombs planted by the Provisional IRA exploded.

Today
Hampstead is served by Finchley Road Underground station and Finchley Road & Frognal railway station, 435 metres apart on the North London Line (London Overground). The road has as such become the colloquial name for the part of Hampstead between West Hampstead and Hampstead-on-the-Hill which is centred on Hampstead Underground station.

Historically
St John's Wood was served by Finchley Road railway station on the Midland Main Line (1868–1927).

Memorials
In 1906 a stone plaque was affixed at 139, Finchley Road by Charles Wells, to commemorate the site of residence of 19th century German operatic signer Thérèse Tietjens.