Finchley Road, an inner city main road which runs for about 7 kilometres (4.3 miles), is one of the major thoroughfares of north London, England. Originally named Finchley New Road, it was built as a turnpike road in the late 1820s/early 1830s to provide a by-pass to the existing route north from London through Hampstead. The Hampstead route (now the route Haverstock Hill, Rosslyn Hill and North End Road) contained two steep hills either side of Hampstead Village and was difficult for horses with carriages to negotiate when muddy.