Arnos Grove was, until the
dissolution of the monasteries by
Henry VIII, owned by the
Nuns of
Clerkenwell. It was known as Armholt Wood in the 14th century, and later as Arnolds. A
Tudor manor house was erected on the site, but was demolished in 1719 – presumably by
James Colebrook, who bought the estate in the same year and built a mansion called Arnolds in Cannon Hill,
Southgate. Locals called the estate Arno's and the next owner, Sir
William Mayne (later Lord Newhaven), renamed the house and estate
Arnos Grove, which is now pronounced as though it never had an apostrophe. On 19 September 1932
Arnos Grove Underground station was opened, as part of the extension of the
London Underground Piccadilly line to
Cockfosters. In the years that followed Arnos Grove changed from a rural area to being fully developed – the part of the estate to the north of Arnos Park was, for example, built up by 1939. The library and swimming pool, along with Arnos Park, the extensive facilities at Arnos Grove station (such as Ash House, the seven sidings, and three tracks through the station with four platforms) and the proximity of Arnos Grove to the
North Circular, which had been built in 1929, made Arnos Grove a desirable area to live in.The southward expansion of Arnos Grove, which was initiated by the bias of facilities to the south of the original estate, was aided by the destruction of parts of New Southgate during
World War II. There is now an almost continuous line of shops between Arnos Grove and New Southgate, via Betstyle Circus, making the areas closely linked.
Parent districts and administrative areas Until the building of its tube station Arnos Grove was largely undeveloped and rural. As its name suggests it was not a manor, parish or district in its own right.
Edmonton which included all parts of Southgate was one of five parishes of
Edmonton Hundred, one of five hundreds in
Middlesex. The heart of the hundred became the
London Borough of Enfield. As new parishes arose, the area became, in turn, a westerly part of
Southgate upgraded from a late medieval chapelry in the mid 19th century, and closely associated with
New Southgate later in that century, which is south of Arnos Grove and overlaps. The tube terminus station,
Arnos Grove tube station, has cemented its own district status in the popular naming of UK urban places which is rarely rigorously defined. The relatively recent creation of the local
Anglican parishes, civil parishes and later changes in early local government body name and electoral wards in this area means Arnos Grove is rarely mentioned with reference to any of its parent areas. In political representation – for electoral purposes – the area has generally been in national and local areas including the rest of Southgate and mentioning the name Southgate. ==Arnos Park==