Stone worktops in Arkley

Barnet Council's local history notes put Arkley at about 440 feet above sea level, and for much of the 1800s the village was simply called Barnet Common or West Barnet. Its best-known landmark is the windmill: a four-storey tower mill, Grade II* listed, that worked by wind until 1916 and was restored in 1930 and again in 1985. It is privately run and not open to visitors.

St Peter's Church dates from 1840, and the area has a longer industrial past than it looks. Bricks were made near Rowley in the 17th century, and by the end of the 1800s there were at least three brick, tile and pot makers.

Barnet Gate, just west of Arkley, was once known as Grendelgate. The gate that gave it its name has long gone; it either kept cattle off the common or marked the line between Hertfordshire and Middlesex. The Gate pub on the corner of Barnet Road and Hendon Wood Lane still hangs a five-bar gate as its sign, with the rhyme "This gate hangs high, and hinders none; refresh and pay, and travel on."

Barnet Gate Wood lies just to the south-west, between Barnet Road and Hendon Wood Lane. Homes here are part of our area, just as Arkley's are.

Some Arkley houses are reached by narrow lanes or long private drives. That matters on fitting day, because worktops arrive on a van and are carried in by hand. If the van can't get close, or there is a gravel drive, steps or a side gate on the way to the kitchen, tell us when you enquire so we can plan the carry and the size of each piece.

Where a kitchen has room for an island, the island top is often the biggest single piece of stone in the house. If you want it without a join, say so early: it decides which materials and slab sizes will work, and whether it can be carried through the house in one piece. Natural stone such as granite or quartzite makes the most of a big island; quartz keeps a long run of perimeter worktops even in colour.