Colindale | |
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Colindale shown within Greater London | |
Population | 17,098 (2011 Census. Ward) |
OS grid reference | TQ213897 |
London borough | |
Ceremonial county | Greater London |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | LONDON |
Postcode district | NW9 |
Dialling code | 020 |
Police | Metropolitan |
Fire | London |
Ambulance | London |
EU Parliament | London |
UK Parliament | |
London Assembly | |
Colindale is an area which lies mainly within the London Borough of Barnet, although the western side of Colindale's main shopping street is within the London Borough of Brent. Colindale is an area of suburban character. It is situated about eight miles (12.9 km) north west of Charing Cross.
Formerly in the borough and ancient parish of Hendon, the area was essentially the dale between Mill Hill and The Burroughs. By the middle of the 20th century, it had come to include that part of the Edgware Road between The Hyde and Burnt Oak.
The area is named after a 16th-century family of the same name. Until the 20th century, Colindale was without any buildings save for a large house called Colindale Lodge, Colindale Farm and a few cottages (a spelling with two Ls has been used, as on this ordnance survey map printed in 1873). All of these properties were on Colindeep Lane which had in the medieval period been an alternative route out of London (via Hampstead, Golders Green and Hendon) to the Edgware Road. By the end of the 16th century it was not often used as a main road and by the middle part of the 19th century was called Ancient Street.
By the end of the 19th century, cheap land prices made Colindale attractive to developers. Colindale Hospital was opened in 1898 as an asylum for the long-term sick of central London, and in 1907 The Government Lymph Establishment for making vaccines was built. By 1996 the majority of the hospital was closed, and in 2009 lies mostly derelict.
In 1902, the British Library built a new depository and kept the newspaper library there in 1934.
Garston’s Ltd established a trunk factory in 1901, as well as a row of cottages called Leatherville. As such it is the first manufacturer 'in the Colindale'. By 1914 there was already housing between Colindale Avenue and Annesley Avenue, mostly to house the workers of such endeavours.