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The Old Bull and Bush was open in the 1720s. By 1762 North End had 17 houses, 3 cottages, as well as 2 inns.  Prime Minister William Pitt the elder (c1766) lived at Pitt House (demolished 1952). Hope Cottage was the home of a painter called John Linnell (1820s) where he was visited by Blake and Morland. The house was the childhood home of Wilkie Collins, the novelist.

Much of the area we now call the Watling Estate had been Goldbeaters farm. In 1924 the London County Council decided to establish a number of housing estates in the areas around London, as part of the 'Homes fit for Heroes campaigns. The fourth largest of these areas was the Watling estate.

Barnet Town formed around the junction of Wood Street. St John the Baptist, in High Barnet, is situated at this junction and is the third church building on the site. The first church was built in the 11th century, the second was built in the middle of the 15th century with money left by John Beauchamp.

This is the oldest part of Barnet. There may have been a small hamlet before the church was built. The Church of St Mary's is a medieval building. The church originally belonged to the Abbey at St Albans and was possibly built in the 1140s.