Coldfall Wood - History

History

The London Borough of Haringey contains four ancient woods: Highgate Wood, Queen's Wood, Coldfall Wood, and Bluebell Wood. All are shown on John Rocque's 1754 Map of Middlesex.

Until the early 20th century Coldfall Wood was more than twice its current size, reaching south to the properties bordering Fortis Green. The southern section was felled and partially excavated for gravel, before being used for residential development and the sites of Tollington and William Grimshaw schools (later Fortismere School). Tollington first rented and felled part of the wood for a sports field in the 1920s and subsequently moved to a new building on the site. William Grimshaw was built later to the north.

Coldfall Wood was purchased in 1930 by Hornsey Council and the remaining section is now owned and managed by its successor, the London Borough of Haringey. It is bounded to the north by the St. Pancras and Islington Cemetery and the Muswell Hill Sports Ground (formerly Finchley Common). Its western boundary is the boundary line between the London Boroughs of Barnet and Haringey. This western boundary and its northern boundaries are demarcated by the remains of an ancient woodbank with a ditch on the outer side. This would have prevented grazing animals from the surrounding Finchley Common and Horseshoe Farm (as they then were) from entering the wood and destroying the young coppice.

Coldfall Wood has been examined in some detail by Silvertown (1978), who used historical sources to show that the woodlands are likely to be of primary origin (i.e. continuously present since prehistoric times).

In March 2011, the Friends of Coldfall Wood launched an online interactive map that included historical maps of the area overlaid on a modern streetmap, showing how the wood has dwindled in size since 1864.