Regents Park Road was part of the new London to Finchley turnpike.
In 1826 an act of parliament allowed the construction of a new turnpike road between Marylebone and Finchley. While this new road would be Finchley Road for its southern length, the part in Finchley would be called Regents Park Road.
The new road avoided the punishing hill at Hampstead by skirting its western side. When the road got as far as Finchley it continued on the same route as the old Ballards Lane (known since 1424) which why there is a change in the road name at its junction with Hendon Lane.
The new turnpike was completed in 1829 and this meant that travellers had to pay to use the road - the money raised to be used on the road’s repair.
The new road replaced an old lane called Ducksetters Lane. This lane had connected Finchley and Temple Fortune since 1475. It joined Ballards Lane via Gravel Hill and Hendon Lane. Ducksetters Lane was supposed to be closed off after the turnpike was opened.
Local people continued to use the old lane however, as the tollgate, where people had to buy tickets to use the road, was situated in Ballards Lane at the junction of Nether Street. This meant the people of Finchley had to pay to use their own thoroughfare.
The Finchley vestry had tried to resist the imposition of tolls, at least on existing roads, citing King John’s charter. In 1845 parishioners complained that for nearly 20 years they had been oppressed by tolls which were perhaps the heaviest near London. In 1847 the commissioners for the metropolitan turnpike roads intended taking over the St. Marylebone and Finchley turnpike road. A vestry committee wished to abolish the tolls in 1851 but Highgate and Whetstone turnpike trust was not ended until 1862. Toll-gates survived at Whetstone until 1863 and by the White Lion in East End until 1901.
In 1867 Finchley and Hendon station was opened by the Edgware, Highgate, and London Line (called Finchley Central Station after 1940). The area remained a village until news of a possible tramline between Golders Green and North Finchley encouraged suburban development in the 1890s.
