Enfield Lock

Enfield Lock is an area in the London Borough of Enfield, north London. It is approximately located east of the Hertford Road between Turkey Street and the Holmesdale Tunnel overpass, and extends to the River Lee Navigation, including the Enfield Island Village.[2] The locality gains its name from the lock on the River Lee Navigation. Today's Enfield Lock was rebuilt in 1922.[3] The area forms part of the Lee Valley Park and the Enfield Lock Conservation Area.[4] On its eastern boundary Enfield Lock has marshland formerly used as a testing site between the Royal Small Arms Factory and the Gunpowder Mills, beyond this is the village of Sewardstone and the Epping forest boundary. To the south is Brimsdown, the north Waltham Cross and to the west Bullsmoor and Freezywater. Enfield Lock forms part of the London boundary.

Enfield Lock
Enfield Lock
Location within Greater London
Population16,469 (2011 Census. Ward)[1]
OS grid referenceTQ365985
London borough
Ceremonial countyGreater London
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townENFIELD
Postcode districtEN3
Dialling code01992 / 020
PoliceMetropolitan
FireLondon
AmbulanceLondon
UK Parliament
London Assembly

Etymology

Enfield Lock is recorded thus in 1710, earlier as Norhtlok (1355), The Locke (1657), i.e. 'the (northern) lock or river barrier (near Enfield)', from Middle English lok.[5]

History
Government Row former Royal Small Arms Factory RSAF workers' cottages (August 1997)
Royal Small Arms Factory

The area was first developed from about 1812 when a government-owned rifle factory, which was later known as the Royal Small Arms Factory (RSAF), Enfield, was built. The factory was built towards the end of the Napoleonic War on the instructions of the Board of Ordnance on marshland at Enfield Lock on the banks of both the River Lea and the River Lee Navigation. The RSAF was closed in the late 1980s, shortly after privatisation, and the majority of the former site has now been redeveloped into a large housing development: Enfield Island Village. The original machine shop frontage and the older part of the rear structure has been retained and was converted into workshops and retail units by the Enfield Enterprise Agency. Until the construction of the M25 in the 1980s, the Enfield island Village which began to house many families from local councils such as Harringey and Hackney, and the later building of the A1055, the area was much like a village with only a small population and consisting of only a few roads in the locality. Roads such as Ordnance Road, Salisbury Road and Medcalf Road are still populated by families who have lived in the Enfield Lock area for several generations.

2011 riots

After rioting had spread from neighbouring Tottenham on 8 August 2011, the Sony DADC/PIAS distribution centre on the Innova Business Park was looted and destroyed by fire.[6] The Home Secretary, Theresa May, was shown the destroyed distribution centre by chief police officers and firefighters on 12 August 2011.[7] In September 2012, the Prime Minister, David Cameron, opened the rebuilt warehouse.[8]

River Lee Navigation above Enfield Lock. The River Lea proper can be seen in the background

Demography

The Enfield Lock ward, which also covers Enfield Island Village, is 54% white (38% British, 15% Other, 1% Irish) as of the 2011 census. 23% of the population is black (15% African, 8% Caribbean, 4% Other).[9]

Locale

Nearest places

Transport

Rail

Enfield Lock and Turkey Street are in London Travelcard Zone 6. Brimsdown is in Travelcard Zone 5. Oyster Cards are valid at all three stations for travel southbound, and northbound as far as Broxbourne, or on some services, Hertford East. Enfield Lock is not on the London Underground network.[10]

Road

The A1010 (Hertford Road) passes north–south to the west of Enfield Lock, linking the area to Edmonton and Tottenham to the south, and Waltham Cross, Waltham Abbey and Cheshunt to the north. The A1055 (Mollison Avenue) links Enfield Lock to the A10 (Great Cambridge Road) towards Hertford. Southbound, the road passes through Brimsdown, Ponder's End and Tottenham Hale.

The M25 London Orbital Motorway forms the northern border of Enfield Lock. From Enfield Lock, the road can be accessed via the A10 at junction 25, to the north of Bulls Cross. The M25 carries traffic around London, giving Enfield Lock a direct link to Heathrow Airport, the M11 (for Stansted Airport) and the M1 (for Luton Airport), along with several other arterial routes across both East Anglia and South East England. The M25 passes through the Holmesdale Tunnel, just to the north of Enfield Lock.

Canal

The River Lee Navigation passes north–south through Enfield Lock. The lock after which the area is named is numbered "13" along the River Lee.

The navigable river links boats northbound to Hertford and the River Stort. The River Stort is navigable for canal traffic to Harlow and Bishop's Stortford.

Southbound, the River Lee passes through Ponders End, Tottenham Hale and Stratford in the East End. From Stratford, the Hertford Union Canal carries canal traffic westbound towards the Regent's Canal, which eventually leads to Camden Lock and Paddington.[11]

Cycling

Cycling infrastructure in Enfield Lock is primarily maintained by the London Borough of Enfield. Enfield Lock is well connected to National and International cycle networks:

Schools

Recreation

Section 18 of the London LOOP, a long distance footpath, can be accessed at Enfield Lock railway station. The path connects with the Lea Valley Walk above Enfield Lock at Ordnance Road.

Angling is allowed on the River Lee Navigation upstream and downstream of Enfield Lock. Information from the River Lea Anglers Club.[16]

National Cycle Route 1 follows the River Lea towpath to Gunpowder Park.

Gunpowder Park, which lies to the east of Enfield Lock, is a large open space consisting mostly of marshland and lakes. The land is owned and managed by the Lee Valley Regional Park and is open to the public.[17]

References
  1. "Enfield Ward population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  2. http://www.enfield.gov.uk/362/Enfield%20Lock.pdf%5B%5D Local Government Boundaries map
  3. Enfield Lock - a history Retrieved 26 August 2010
  4. Enfield Lock Conservation Area Archived 9 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 20 November 2013
  5. Mills. A. D. Oxford Dictionary of London Place Names (2001) p76 ISBN 0-19-860957-4 Retrieved 21 October 2008
  6. News report
  7. News report Retrieved 14 August 2011
  8. Sony Innova Way Retrieved 25 September 2012
  9. .http://www.ukcensusdata.com/enfield-lock-e05000199
  10. "London's Rail and Tube services" (PDF). Transport for London. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 April 2019.
  11. "Canal Map UK". Canal & River Trust. Archived from the original on 6 April 2019.
  12. "Route 1". Sustrans. Archived from the original on 14 April 2019.
  13. "Route 12". Sustrans. Archived from the original on 23 April 2019.
  14. "Cycling". Canal & River Trust. Archived from the original on 7 April 2019.
  15. "EuroVelo 2". EuroVelo.
  16. River Lea Anglers Club Retrieved 2 December 2014
  17. Lee Valley Park-Gunpowder Park Retrieved 3 August 2015
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