Strong objections registered to a possible threat to a much cherished and historic setting at Monken Hadley

Residents and conservationists have reacted with alarm at a proposal to include the historic gate at Monken Hadley within an eruv – a symbolic boundary for Orthodox Jews – which would require the installation of two 5.5metre high poles with a crosswire over the road.

If planning permission is granted, an eruv would be created largely within the Borough of Enfield which would take in the United Synagogue in Hadley Wood, but which would also require eruv installations at three boundary points which are within the Borough of Barnet.

The application affecting Monken Hadley – establishing a boundary from Hadley Common – is for permission to install a 5.5metre pole on the footpath outside Rectory Close; another 5.5 metre pole on the other side of the road on the footpath outside Clocktower Cottage; and an overhead a connecting wire.

A series of objections posted on the Barnet Council’s website (closing date 25.6.2026) claim the two poles would be unsightly and an unacceptable intrusion into the most sensitive and significant setting within the Monken Hadley Conservation Area.

The Reverend Francesco Aresco, recently appointed rector of Monken Hadley Parish Church, says that as a nearby resident he objects to the installation because it would result in visual harm to an historic setting and create hazards for pedestrians.

The pavements outside Rectory Close and Clocktower Cottage are both “very narrow”.

They are used regularly by school pupils, requiring pedestrians to step into the road when trying to pass parents pushing prams.

Other objectors include the Hadley Wood Neighbourhood Planning Forum Committee and the Monken Hadley Common Trust.

They argue that the eruv would be of no benefit to the population at large and hope that an alternative option would be to use the tollgate itself as a symbolic boundary – a suggestion which is apparently be considered by the relevant “eruv” authorities.

In its application, the United Synagogue Trust Ltd – of which the Hadley Wood Jewish Community of 471 members is a constituent member – says the proposal would encourage social cohesion within the community.

There would need to be three eruv installations at three locations within the Borough of Barent – two poles and a crosswire at Monken Hadley; a tubular steel arch at Bakers Hill at the Hadley Wood railway bridge; and an installation at the Cromer Road/Lawton Road entrance to the pedestrian tunnel under the main railway line.

These three installations would achieve linkage with an existing New Barnet eruv.

An eruv allows observant Orthodox Jews to carry and push objects – such as housekeys, medication or prams – between private and public domains on the Sabbath.

According to biblical law, carrying anything in a public space is considered a form of work, which is forbidden on the Sabbath. An eruv solves this by symbolically turning a neighbourhood into one large, unified “private domain”.

A comment from a supporter of the application sets out the case: an eruv would enable observant Jewish families to attend synagogue, join community events and maintain normal social connections, especially family visits and celebrations.

Eruv boundaries have been installed across London and the UK during the last 15 years including in nearby areas such as Stanmore, Bushey, and Camden apparently without objections and at no public cost.