The Archer
Prominent from the platforms at East Finchley London Underground Station and dominating the main entrance elevation, almost like a ship's figurehead, is a 3m-high statue by Eric Aumonier of a kneeling archer captured as if having just released an arrow along the railway line towards central London. (The Archer, a local community newspaper, is named after this landmark). The archer is intended to commemorate Finchley's ancient association with hunting in the nearby Royal Forest of Enfield. There is also a pun, in that it faces towards Archway. The underground part of the line starts just south of the Archer. This 27.8 km long tunnel was for many years the longest in the world (and is still the longest on the London Underground network). There was originally an arrow at Morden Station to match the archer at East Finchley, but this was stolen not long after that station was opened.
East Finchley station was originally built by the Edgware, Highgate and London Railway (EH&LR) and was opened as East End, Finchley on 22 August 1867 by the Great Northern Railway (GNR) (which had taken over the EH&LR) in what was then rural Middlesex. The station was on a line that ran from Finsbury Park to Edgware via Highgate. The station was given its current name in 1886. After the 1921 Railways Act created the Big Four railway companies, the line was, from 1923, part of the London & North Eastern Railway (LNER). The section of the High Barnet branch north of East Finchley was incorporated into the London Underground network through the "Northern Heights" project begun in the late 1930s.
For the introduction of London Underground services, the Victorian station was completely demolished and was rebuilt to an Art Deco/Streamline Moderne design by Charles Holden. As part of the rebuild, the station was provided with two additional platforms, giving four in total. This was necessary as the original intention of the "Northern Heights" project was that trains would be able to run south from East Finchley via two routes, over the existing tracks to LNER's Highgate station and onwards to Finsbury Park and also through newly-constructed tunnels running under Highgate station (where a new deep station was built) and onwards to Archway, Camden Town and central London.
The Archer
Prominent from the platforms at East Finchley London Underground Station and dominating the main entrance elevation, almost like a ship's figurehead, is a 3m-high statue by Eric Aumonier of a kneeling archer captured as if having just released an arrow along the railway line towards central London. (The Archer, a local community newspaper, is named after this landmark). The archer is intended to commemorate Finchley's ancient association with hunting in the nearby Royal Forest of Enfield. There is also a pun, in that it faces towards Archway. The underground part of the line starts just south of the Archer. This 27.8 km long tunnel was for many years the longest in the world (and is still the longest on the London Underground network). There was originally an arrow at Morden Station to match the archer at East Finchley, but this was stolen not long after that station was opened.
East Finchley station was originally built by the Edgware, Highgate and London Railway (EH&LR) and was opened as East End, Finchley on 22 August 1867 by the Great Northern Railway (GNR) (which had taken over the EH&LR) in what was then rural Middlesex. The station was on a line that ran from Finsbury Park to Edgware via Highgate. The station was given its current name in 1886. After the 1921 Railways Act created the Big Four railway companies, the line was, from 1923, part of the London & North Eastern Railway (LNER). The section of the High Barnet branch north of East Finchley was incorporated into the London Underground network through the "Northern Heights" project begun in the late 1930s.
For the introduction of London Underground services, the Victorian station was completely demolished and was rebuilt to an Art Deco/Streamline Moderne design by Charles Holden. As part of the rebuild, the station was provided with two additional platforms, giving four in total. This was necessary as the original intention of the "Northern Heights" project was that trains would be able to run south from East Finchley via two routes, over the existing tracks to LNER's Highgate station and onwards to Finsbury Park and also through newly-constructed tunnels running under Highgate station (where a new deep station was built) and onwards to Archway, Camden Town and central London.