Temple Fortune
Coordinates: 51°34′55″N 0°11′53″W / 51.582°N 0.198°W
Picture credit: Martin Addison.
Temple Fortune is a place in the London Borough of Barnet to the north of Golders Green. It is principally a shopping district used by residents of the Hampstead Garden Suburb. Between here and Golders Green, at Hoop Lane are two important cemeteries – Golders Green Jewish Cemetery and Golders Green Crematorium. There is a Police Station. To the west is a small Carmelite Monastery. Religious buildings include the Catholic Church of St Edward the Confessor, the Anglican Church of St Barnabas, and North Western Reform Synagogue (also known as Alyth Shul).
History
'Temple' derives from the Knights Templar, a medieval Christian military order which held a sub-manor in the area, while 'Fortune' may come from foran tun, a settlement in front of the main one.[1] Here a lane from Finchley, called Ducksetters Lane (c.1475), intersected. It is likely that the settlement was originally the Bleccanham estate (c.900s). By the end of the 18th century Temple Fortune Farm was established on the northern side of Farm Close.
The building of the Finchley Road (c.1827), replaced Ducksetters Lane as a route to Finchley, and resulted in the development of a small hamlet. Hendon Park Row (c.1860s) is of this period, and consisted of around thirty small dwellings built by a George Stevens, which were, with two exceptions, demolished (c.1956). A small dame school and prayer house run by Anglican Deaconesses existed in the 1890s and 1900s, which developed to become St Barnabas (1915). Along the Finchley Road was a number of villas (c1830s), joined by the Royal Oak public house (c.1850s). By the end of the 19th century there were around 300 people living in the area, which included a laundry, a small hospital for children with skin diseases. The principle industry was brick making.
In 1895 a Jewish Cemetery was established adjacent of Hoop Lane, with the first burial in 1897. Golders Green Crematorium opened in 1902 (although much of it was built after 1905). The significant moment in Temple Fortune's development into a suburban area occurred in 1907. The establishment of the Hampstead Garden Suburb brought major changes to the area east of the Finchley Road. Temple Fortune Farm was demolished, and along the front of the road, the building of Arcade, and Gateway House (c.1911) established the Hampstead Garden Suburbs retail district. Also significant in that year was the opening of Golders Green tube station. Although the area had been served by horse-drawn omnibuses (since at least the 1880s) and later motor buses (from 1907), it was the tram line of 1910, connecting Church End with Golders Green Station, which led to the development of the area west of the Finchley road. The Carmelite Monastery was established in Bridge Lane in 1908.
St Edward the Confessor, a Roman Catholic church, was built in 1916.
The now demolished Orpheum Theatre (1930), was intended to rival the Hippodrome in Golders Green. It was for a long time a huge Odeon cinema, seating over 1,800 people, but a sheltered-accommodation building (Birnbeck Court) now stands on the site at 850, Finchley Road.
Geography
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Mill Hill | Church End | East Finchley | |
| Hendon |  |
Hampstead Garden Suburb | ||
| ||||
 | ||||
| Brent Cross | Golders Green | Hampstead Heath |
Recreation
The Temple Fortune Club is a private sports club established in 1922, offering bowls, squash and tennis and is located at 122 Bridge Lane in Temple Fortune. It is for members only and does not have 'pay and play' facilities in any section.
Temple Fortune Football Club (www.tffc.co.uk) were formed in December 1968 at Princes Park in Temple Fortune NW11 by a group of local youngsters who originally held kick-abouts and small-sided games in the park since the mid-1960s. After a few years of playing friendlies, the club ventured into Sunday league football in 1976 by joining the Maccabi (Southern) Football League and were founder members of the Maccabi Masters Football League (veterans) in 1999. Over the course of its history, the club has run a First team, Second team and an Old Boys team, three teams being its maximum in any single season. TFFC has played home matches at various locations in the London Borough of Barnet, namely Bethune Park, Childs Hill Park, Hampstead Heath and West Hendon Playing Fields. In more recent times, the club has had home venues at Hatch End and Whitchurch Playing Fields under the London Borough of Harrow, before moving to the Roger Bannister Sports Centre on the Uxbridge Road, Pinner. The traditional colours of Temple Fortune FC since 1985 have been yellow shirts and red shorts, although in 2006 the club reverted to its original league colours of green and white to mark 30 years of league participation. In 2008 TFFC celebrated its 40th anniversary by holding a commemorative tournament back at its birthplace, namely Princes Park. And the Club returned to its roots again by staging another small-sided competition in December 2013, which marked TFFC's 45th anniversary. Season 2015/16 marks the Club's 40th campaign of competing in the Maccabi (Southern) Football League. The Club's website, which was founded in 2001, passed 30,000 hits during the 2014/15 season and a Twitter page is also run under the tag name of YellowsAndReds.
