, Edmonton, at dusk. Edmonton gasworks on horizon. (February 2006) 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 (main article
Municipal Borough of Edmonton) 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 (Angel Road). 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 (where the new line met the original
Eastern Counties Railway route from Angel Road to Enfield Town via Lower Edmonton Low Level) 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.
Contemporary Edmonton By the 1930s, the area had become a major shopping destination drawing visitors from a wide catchment area. The early post war years saw much of the area in a run down state. There was also an acute housing shortage. Comprehensive redevelopment of the area was agreed in 1960, to a plan by
Frederick Gibberd & Partners for a radically transformed urban centre with a pedestrian shopping area, car parking for 3000, 750 flats including three 25 story
tower blocks (Grampian House, Mendip House and Pennine House) and new civic and amenity buildings to replace the old
town hall and
baths. When Edmonton was incorporated within the new
London Borough of Enfield (1965) plans for the civic buildings were abandoned. Only the leisure centre (demolished 2007) set in a car park was completed. Building began on the redevelopment in 1965 and completed in 1974. At the 2001 census, 66.1% of the population of the
Edmonton constituency was white, whereas at the 2011 census, between 36 and 38 per cent of the town's three electoral wards was white. The Edmonton Green area is currently being redeveloped by
St. Modwen Properties. The £100 million project will include new housing, bus station, clinic and refurbishment of the shopping centre. In addition, a 73-room
Travelodge hotel will be opened on the development. Edmonton Green area is currently being regenerated by
St. Modwen Properties, who bought the property from the London Borough of Enfield in 1999. Phase 1 was completed in 2007 and includes a
Primary health care centre, 176 affordable residential units, bus station, hotel, leisure centre, new retail outlets and the refurbishment of the existing
multi-storey car park. Demolition of the original 1970's leisure centre has been completed, that enabled construction to commence of a new
Asda supermarket which opened in November 2008. The then
Mayor of London,
Boris Johnson, visited Edmonton in November 2008 to release his Time For Action plan. He claimed his proposals would help stop young people becoming repeat offenders. Edmonton currently has some of the highest levels of unemployment in Britain, with the
recession of the late 2000s pushing unemployment to nearly 14% by 2009. On 18 June 2011 over 400 people marched through Edmonton to make a stand against
gun and
knife crime. As part of the
2012 Summer Olympics preparations, the
Olympic torch relay passed through Edmonton on 25 July 2012 at Fore Street
en route to
Haringey. Up to 5000 new homes and 3000 new jobs will be created by the £1.5 billion
Meridian Water redevelopment on former industrial land by 2026. ==Demography==