Our Archives

Archives in Avenue House at Stephens House and Gardens: The Society has an Archive of old photographs (including more than 1,500 postcards), maps, press cuttings, old letters and artefacts in the basement of Avenue House that have been given to the Society over the years. Unfortunately, it is no longer possible for people to visit the Archive in person.

The Archive is interested in any suitable Finchley and Friern Barnet related material and objects that residents may possess for which they are seeking a new home and would like to donate. Please contact the Archive using the details below.

Catalogues: You can view and download catalogues of the material held in the Archives here.

You will find lists of images, books, maps, artefacts and subject files on these pages. The archive also has a list of buildings and monuments in the area.

Cataloguing is a continuous operation: materials are gradually being digitised to allow easier access for all. We have therefore joined forces with the extensive Friern Barnet and District Local History Society Photo Archive website, which can be found here.

This website already has a vast collection of images of Friern Barnet and North Finchley and beyond, as well as thousands of highly valuable comments from members of the public. Therefore, we have added sections for the remaining parts of Finchley and will be adding images from the Finchley Society Archive as time allows.

If you are looking for any particular images, please search the Friern Barnet Photo Archive first and then check our image spreadsheet available via the catalogues link above. If you would like to be sent a scanned copy of an image from the Finchley Society Archive which is not yet on the Photo Archive website, please email or write to the Archives, using the contact details below, giving the image description, the Unique Reference Number (URN) listed on the images spreadsheet, and your reason for requesting the image.

Enquiries: For enquiries about Finchley and Friern Barnet see the enquiries page. Please include the reason for your enquiry in any email request; it helps us to provide you with the right response. If you are a member of the Finchley Society, please let us know. The archive is run entirely by volunteers on a part-time basis. So although we are very happy to help members and past and present residents of Finchley and Friern Barnet with their enquiries, we do not have the resources to enable us to carry out research into, for example, personal family histories.

You can contact the Archives Manager via email at archives@finchleysociety.org.uk or by post at Finchley Society Archives, Stephens House, 17 East End Road, Finchley, London N3 3QE