Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin

St Mary the Virgin stands in the quiet village of Monken Hadley, part of the London Borough of Barnet. The church is built in the Perpendicular style, with a square flint tower at the west end and a copper signal beacon at the top. The beacon once guided travellers across Enfield Chase and still forms a local symbol. Inside, the church keeps a strong choral tradition and regularly rings its eight bells for change ringing. The tower also holds a ninth bell used as a sanctus bell during services. The church has stood on this site for more than eight centuries. It was rebuilt in 1494 after damage during the battle of Barnet in 1471. The chancel shows marks of great age, while the body was rebuilt with bricks. A well-preserved monument by Nicholas Stone honours Sir Roger Wilbraham, Solicitor-General for Ireland, and his family. The church’s east window and stained glass were destroyed in the Blitz, but the side chapel of St Catherine was restored in 1958. Visitors find a late 15th-century font with a modern cover and many brasses and monuments from the 15th to the 19th centuries. The Gooders family left a rebus of a partridge with an ear of wheat on a window and a pillar capital. The church was renovated in 1848 by G. E. Street, who removed galleries and replastered the ceiling. The organ sits in the former chapel of St Anne, and new stained glass fills the windows. The south porch was rebuilt in 1855, and a vestry was added north of the chancel in 1888.