North London Coroner's Court

The North London Coroner's Court is a municipal building located at 29 Wood Street, Chipping Barnet, London. It is a Grade II listed building.[1]

North London Coroner's Court
North London Coroner's Court in 2015
LocationChipping Barnet
Coordinates51.652893°N 0.20201°W / 51.652893; -0.20201
Built1915
ArchitectWilliam Bartlett Chancellor
Architectural style(s)English Baroque style
Listed Building – Grade II
Designated12 September 2006
Reference no.1391752
Shown in Barnet

History

In the early 20th century Barnet Urban District Council was based at council offices at No. 40 High Street in Chipping Barnet.[2][3] After the existing council offices were deemed inadequate for their needs (the building was a narrow terraced building in a row of commercial properties), civic leaders decided to procure purpose-built council offices: the site selected had previously been occupied by the Old Barnet Brewery Company for which liquidation proceedings started in 1909[4] and were completed in 1912.[5]

The new building, which was designed by William Bartlett Chancellor in the English Baroque style, was completed in 1915.[6] The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with five bays facing onto Wood Street; the central section featured a doorway with a stone surround flanked by Ionic order columns and an arched pediment bearing the town's coat of arms above; there was a window with projecting flagpole on the first floor and semi-circular pediment bearing an oculus above; a turret was erected on the roof.[1] The building was subsequently extended at the rear.[1]

The building continued to be the headquarters of Barnet Urban District Council for much of the 20th century but ceased to be the local seat of government when the London Borough of Barnet was formed in 1965.[1] The building was then used for a variety of purposes including as a location for the television drama series Midsomer Murders broadcast in June 2002.[7] It also served as the home of the Barnet register office until it moved to Burnt Oak in Edgware in around 2008.[8]

After a major programme of refurbishment works costing £275,000, the north London Coroner' Court, which had previously been based at Myddelton Road in Hornsey, moved into the building in October 2009.[9][10]

The court

The court covers the London boroughs of Barnet, Brent, Enfield, Haringey and Harrow.[11] Notable cases included a hearing in May 2015, when the coroner, Andrew Walker, ruled that the death of Jeremiah Duggan, who had been attending a "youth cadre school" organised by the LaRouche movement was not suicide,[12] and a hearing in September 2015, when relatives of Anni Dewani appeared at the court to request that an inquest be heard in England into her death in South Africa.[13]

References
  1. Historic England. "Registry Office (1391752)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
  2. "No. 27699". The London Gazette (Supplement). 26 July 1904. p. 4834.
  3. "Kelly's Directory 1914". Retrieved 10 September 2015.
  4. "No. 28234". The London Gazette. 19 March 1909. p. 2145.
  5. "No. 28585". The London Gazette. 27 February 1912. p. 1459.
  6. Cherry, Bridget; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2002). London 4: North, The Buildings Of England. Yale University Press. p. 170. ISBN 978-0300096538.
  7. "Midsomer Murders Locations - High Barnet". midsomermurders.org. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
  8. "Couples can marry at Hendon town hall in the Burroughs as Barnet register office relocates". Hendon & Finchley, Barnet & Potters Bar, Edgeware & Mill Hill Times. 3 February 2017. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  9. "Register office reopens as coroner's court in Barnet". Hendon & Finchley, Barnet & Potters Bar, Edgware & Mill Hill Times. 4 October 2009. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
  10. "Coroners and mortuaries". London Borough of Barnet. Retrieved 10 September 2015.
  11. "Coroners". Haringey Council. Retrieved 10 September 2015.
  12. "Student Jeremiah Duggan's death not suicide, coroner rules". BBC News. 21 May 2015. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
  13. "Anni Dewani death: coroner questions need for UK inquest". The Guardian. 9 September 2015. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
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