Edmonton, London
Edmonton is a town in north London, England within the London Borough of Enfield, a local government district of Greater London. The northern part of the town is known as Lower Edmonton or Edmonton Green, and the southern part as Upper Edmonton. Situated north-northeast of Charing Cross, it borders Enfield to the north, Chingford to the east, and Tottenham to the south, with Palmers Green and Winchmore Hill to the west. The population of Edmonton was 82,472 as of 2011.
The town forms part of the ceremonial county of Greater London and until 1965 was in the ancient county of Middlesex. Historically a parish in the Edmonton Hundred of Middlesex, Edmonton became an urban district in 1894, and a municipal borough in 1937. Local government took place at the now-demolished Edmonton Town Hall in Fore Street between 1855 and 1965. In 1965, following reform of local government in London, the municipal borough and former parish of Edmonton was abolished, merging with that of Enfield and Southgate to form the new local government district of Enfield, a borough of Greater London.
Once a rural village, the opening of the railway and tramway in the 19th century, especially the opening of the high-level station at Lower Edmonton, caused the area to expand rapidly, forming part of the metropolitan and urban area of London, similar to much of the county of Middlesex. The late 19th century saw the establishment of industry on former marshland and movement of a working-class population to the area, encouraging much of this development. By the 1930s, the area had become a popular north London shopping destination, and in the 1960s and 1970s, the area underwent major redevelopment, with the construction of an indoor market and shopping centre, as well as mass construction of council housing, including tower blocks. In recent years, as a result of increased levels of immigration, the town has been transformed from a predominantly white area into one of the most ethnically diverse areas in England, with the majority of the population now belonging to an ethnic minority background, as first recorded in the 2011 census.
In 1795, Fort Edmonton in Canada was named after the town in London. The fort evolved into the city of Edmonton, the capital city of Alberta, Canada.
Geography and location
Edmonton is north-northeast of Charing Cross and stretches from just south of the North Circular Road, where it borders Tottenham, to its boundary with Ponders End to the north. Bush Hill Park, Winchmore Hill and Palmers Green adjoin the western boundary along the Great Cambridge Road, while the River Lee Diversion forms Edmonton's eastern boundary with Chingford. The northern part of Edmonton, known as Lower Edmonton, corresponds to the N9 postcode area. Upper Edmonton, the southern part of the town, corresponds to the N18 postcode area. Edmonton lies about above sea level. The largest public parks are Pymmes Park and Jubilee Park.History
The main Roman road, Ermine Street passed through what is today Edmonton. It ran from London to Lincoln and on to York.Edmonton appears in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it is recorded as Adelmetone—'a farmstead or estate of a man called Ēadhelm' from an Old English personal name and tūn.
Edmonton Hundred was a division of the historic county of Middlesex from Saxon times, an area of some stretching up the west bank of the Lea from Tottenham to the county boundary south of Waltham Cross, and west into what is now Hertfordshire as far as South Mimms. Local government in the modern sense began in 1837 with the Edmonton Union, set up under the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834. This also covered a wide district of, including the modern boroughs of Haringey and Enfield, plus Cheshunt, Waltham Abbey and Waltham Cross. The town hall was built in 1884 and extended in 1903. The crenelated perpendicular Edmonton Town Hall was built in 1884 to the designs of George Eedes Eachus. The building was enlarged in 1902–3 by W. Gilbee Scott, who added public swimming baths. The baths were replaced by the Edmonton Green Swimming Pool in 1970. The Town Hall was demolished in 1989.
The population of this area grew rapidly, reaching 445,875 by 1911 and would today be about 615,000. As the population mushroomed, smaller areas within Middlesex were used for local government, with a local board being formed for the parish of Edmonton in 1850, which eventually achieved the status of municipal borough in 1937. At the 1961 census the borough had a population of 91,956. This was absorbed into the London Borough of Enfield in 1965, and the former town hall and civic buildings were controversially demolished by Enfield Council in 1989.
Pymmes Park with its historic walled garden is Upper Edmonton's park. Pymmes Park originated as a private estate. In the late 16th century it was owned by the powerful Cecil family. In 1589 Robert Cecil, later 1st Earl of Salisbury, spent his honeymoon at Pymmes. Cecil was a protege of Francis Walsingham, Elizabeth I's chief spymaster and he succeeded him as Secretary of State in 1590. The estate was eventually acquired by Edmonton Council and opened as a public park in 1906. Pymmes House was destroyed by fire during the Second World War and the remains were demolished.
In the 17th century the then rural Edmonton had a reputation for supernatural activities. In approximately 1600, a play entitled The Merry Devil of Edmonton was performed in London about a wizard who lived there. In 1621 the villagers accused an old woman, Elizabeth Sawyer, of witchcraft and she was subsequently executed at Tyburn; her story was told in a pamphlet by Henry Goodcole, and in a 1621 play entitled The Witch of Edmonton.
The historic All Saints' Church is situated in Church Street as is Lamb's Cottage, which was home to writers Charles Lamb and Mary Lamb.
John Keats, the poet, was apprenticed to surgeon Dr. Hammond in Church Street between 1810 and 1816. The house was demolished in 1931 to be replaced by Keats Parade. An extant shop carries a blue plaque in commemoration.
Edmonton was the home town of Sir James Winter Lake, director of the Hudson's Bay Company. The company's trading outpost named after Edmonton is now the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta.
''The Diverting History of John Gilpin''
In his 1782 poem, The Diverting History of John Gilpin, William Cowper relates the comic tale of John Gilpin a linen draper of Cheapside London, who was probably based on a Mr Beyer, a linen draper of the Cheapside corner of Paternoster Row.Gilpin's spouse decides she and her husband should spend their twentieth wedding anniversary at The Bell Inn, Fore Street, Edmonton. The journey is beset with misfortune from start to finish. Gilpin loses control of his horse which carries him on to the town of Ware distant. On the return journey, Gilpin is still unable to handle his steed, as he once again he fails to stop at The Bell. The horse gallops back to Cheapside much to the dismay of his concerned spouse.
Gilpin is remembered in Edmonton by the statue at Fore Street, the ex-Wetherspoons outlet the Gilpin's Bell public house opposite the site of the original inn and the 1950s council housing Gilpin House in Upper Fore Street.
Industry
Edmonton was home to many industries which included manufacturing of gas appliances, electrical components and furniture. Most of this was lost in the latter part of the twentieth century. Household names that produced goods here included MK electric, Ever Ready batteries, British Oxygen, Glover and Main gas appliances.Eley Industrial Estate was named after Eley Brothers the firearms cartridge manufacturer. Its shot tower was a distinctive landmark on the skyline until being demolished the late twentieth century. Due to its close proximity to the River Lee Navigation, timber was transported by barge from the London Docks and stored in riverside wharves. As a result, many furniture makers including Nathans, Beautility and Homeworthy established factories. Today, Parker-Knoll products are manufactured at the former B&I Nathan factory on the Eley Industrial Estate. As of 2013, the area is dominated by the 100 metre Edmonton Incinerator chimney which was built in 1971. Other major employers include Coca-Cola.
Railway and transport
The railway arrived in 1840 with the opening of the first section of the Lea Valley Line from Stratford to Broxbourne. A station was provided in Water Lane. As the station was badly sited and the trains were slow and expensive, few people used the railway in the early days, preferring the horse buses. In 1845 there were buses every 15 minutes along Fore Street, travelling alternately to Bishopsgate and Holborn.The single-track line from a junction just north of Angel Road to Enfield Town opened on 1 March 1849, with an intermediate single-platform station at Lower Edmonton, located at the edge of the village green. The service was infrequent and often required a change of train at the junction. This, coupled with the train taking the long way round through Stratford to get to the terminus at Bishopsgate, meant that the railway offered little competition to the existing horse coaches and buses.
Edmonton's population grew with the opening of the high level railway at Edmonton Green station in 1872. The traffic produced by the railway and by a tramway opened by the North London Tramways Company in 1881, brought a working class population to Lower Edmonton and encouraged housing development and the development of Edmonton Green's outdoor market. This had always been the major centre for the village, but by the early 20th century its character had changed to a busy, raucous Cockney centre, alive with costermongers barrows and food stalls, the venue for travelling circuses and fairs. On several occasions the local council tried unsuccessfully to close down the market.
The direct line from London to Enfield Town was opened in four stages, from Bethnal Green to Stoke Newington on 27 May 1872; from Stoke Newington through to Lower Edmonton High Level on 22 July 1872, with stations in Edmonton at Silver Street and a new High Level station at Lower Edmonton, which was renamed Edmonton Green in 1992; the short section from Lower Edmonton High Level to Edmonton Junction on 1 August 1872; and the suburban platforms on the west side of Liverpool Street station on 2 February 1874.
The stations were well sited and offered exceptionally cheap workmen's fares of just 2d on trains arriving at Liverpool Street prior to 07:00, 3d on those arriving between 07:00 and 07:30, and half-price returns on those arriving between 07:30 and 08:00. A horse tramway along Fore Street opened in 1881. The tramway was re-constructed and electrified during 1905, lasting until 1938 when trolley buses took over.