Welcome to Southgate, London, England

Southgate, in the London Borough of Enfield, originated as a tiny hamlet which grew up in the north west corner of Edmonton parish along the southern boundary of Enfield Chase around 12 miles north of the centre of London. The name derived from the south gate of the Enfield Chase. The area was originally very heavily wooded. Much of the area consisted in the 16th century of oak coppice woods which were heavily exploited. The main products were firewood, charcoal and oak bark which was sold for use in tanning. An Act of Parliament of 1777 resulted in the enclosure of Enfield Chase which had previously been a royal hunting ground.

The early 19th century saw the area thinly populated and relatively undeveloped. Southgate lay between two main roads (Green Lanes and the Great North Road). Much of the land formed part of great estates, particularly Grovelands and Arnos. The land owners preferred to keep Southgate rural in order to protect their amenities.

The early railways also gave Southgate a wide berth, mainly because of the hilly nature of the ground which would have required prohibitively expensive tunnels and earthworks. The Cambridge main line (1840) stuck to the Lee Valley, passing through Tottenham, Edmonton and East Enfield. The Great Northern Railway (1850) passed to the west of Southgate but it did provide a station at Colney Hatch (now New Southgate). Southgate had to make do with a horse drawn bus to Colney Hatch station. In 1871 the Great Northern Railway opened a branch from Wood Green to Enfield with stations at Palmers Green and Winchmore Hill. Palmers Green became the railhead for Southgate and the Southgate horse bus now ran to Palmers Green rather than to Colney Hatch.

The first attempt at suburban development in Southgate dates from 1853. A large tract of land bounded by Chase Side, Chase Road and Bramley Road was sold for building. Streets were laid out and some workmen's cottages were erected in Chelmsford Road and Nursery Road. A few larger house went up in Chase Side and parts of Avenue Road and Chase Road. The builders had great difficulty in finding tenants for the houses and work ground to a halt. There were plenty of vacant plots on this estate into the early 1930s. Elsewhere the stubborn refusal of the major land owners (especially the Taylors of Grovelands and the Walkers of Arnos Grove) to sell land for building effectively stifled development.

Even in 1914 the district remained predominantly rural. However development along Fox Lane meant that Southgate was for the first time linked to the London conurbation. Even after World War I relatively little development had taken place. The Southgate House Estate (Meadway etc.) was developed from 1924. By this time the end of rural Southgate was in sight. Luckily, Southgate Council had taken the wise precaution of acquiring land as public open space: Grovelands Park (1913), Arnos Park (1928) and Oakwood Park (1927).

Public transport innovations were largely responsible for the obliteration of rural Southgate. Development remained slow for as long as Southgate was fairly remote from public transport. In 1930 Parliament sanctioned an extension of the Piccadilly Line north of Finsbury Park to Cockfosters. Trains reached Cockfosters in July 1933.

The effect of the new railway line was spectacular. The builders moved in on Southgate. The landowners of the nineteen-thirties were only too happy to sell to the builders. Since the Second World War Southgate has been prevented by the Green Belt policy from expanding further. The main change has been the progressive demolition of older houses to make way for blocks of flats. In the seventies the shopping centres at Southgate and Oakwood began to look more and more dated and business was lost to Wood Green and Enfield Town. Despite the survival of remnants of the old village and evidence of earlier phases of development, the overwhelming impression conveyed by Southgate is of the nineteen-thirties.

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