It was succeeded by the London Borough of Barnet in 1965 as one of the smaller of its contributory predecessor districts.

[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] Friern Barnet parish (and later this District) stretched 3 miles (4.8 km) north north-west from the boundary with Hornsey parish (specifically its Muswell Hill part) and was half as wide as long.

In the north its land was the gentle, broad east escarpment above the head of the Dollis Brook rather than others which are higher and have several limbs around Barnet.

[8] Until the mid 19th century the ancient parish of Friern Barnet, a depopulated medieval village — the manor house, manor barn, farm and church of which survived, had two tiny developed clusters: Whetstone in the far north and Colney Hatch in the south.

[8] In common with most outer London areas, the vast bulk of housing was built after the coming of the railways and in this case mainly between the 1851 construction of New Southgate railway station near Colney Hatch (just within the south-east border) and the outbreak of World War II.