Enfield Old Park was an ancient game reserve

Game reserve

A game reserve is an area of land set aside for maintenance of wildlife for tourism or hunting purposes. Many game reserves are located in Africa. Most are open to the public, and tourists commonly take sightseeing safaris or hunt wild game....

 located in what is now Enfield

London Borough of Enfield

The London Borough of Enfield is the most northerly London borough and forms part of Outer London. It borders the London Boroughs of Barnet, Haringey and Waltham Forest...

, in north London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

. It is mentioned in the Domesday Book

Domesday Book

Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...

. Today much of the Park is built over as part of the suburb of Grange Park

Grange Park, Enfield

Grange Park is a suburban part of Greater London in the London Borough of Enfield, United Kingdom. It is served by Grange Park railway station. Grange Park is located between Enfield Town to the north Bush Hill to the east, Southgate and World's End to the west, and Winchmore Hill to the south. It...

.

Early history

The Park was situated around the site of an Iron Age

Iron Age

The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...

 hill fort

Hill fort

A hill fort is a type of earthworks used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze and Iron Ages. Some were used in the post-Roman period...

, the remains of which can still be seen in the vicinity of the building of Old Park House (now belonging to the Bush Hill Golf Club). These constitute the largest present-day hill fort remains in the old county of Middlesex

Middlesex

Middlesex is one of the historic counties of England and the second smallest by area. The low-lying county contained the wealthy and politically independent City of London on its southern boundary and was dominated by it from a very early time...

.

The Domesday Book (1086) records the Manor

Manorialism

Manorialism, an essential element of feudal society, was the organizing principle of rural economy that originated in the villa system of the Late Roman Empire, was widely practiced in medieval western and parts of central Europe, and was slowly replaced by the advent of a money-based market...

 of Enfield as being held by Geoffrey de Mandeville

Geoffrey de Mandeville (11th century)

Geoffrey de Mandeville may have been Constable of the Tower of London. His surname comes from the town of Manneville or Magna Villa near Valognes in Manche on the Cotentin Peninsula...

 and mentions 'there is a park

Park

A park is a protected area, in its natural or semi-natural state, or planted, and set aside for human recreation and enjoyment, or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. It may consist of rocks, soil, water, flora and fauna and grass areas. Many parks are legally protected by...

 there'. The word 'park' in this sense refers to a preserve for game

Game (food)

Game is any animal hunted for food or not normally domesticated. Game animals are also hunted for sport.The type and range of animals hunted for food varies in different parts of the world. This will be influenced by climate, animal diversity, local taste and locally accepted view about what can or...

, and the park was reserved for this use until the 18th century. As the manor of Enfield had been held in Anglo-Saxon

History of Anglo-Saxon England

Anglo-Saxon England refers to the period of the history of that part of Britain, that became known as England, lasting from the end of Roman occupation and establishment of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in the 5th century until the Norman conquest of England in 1066 by William the Conqueror...

 times by Asgar, Master of the Stud

Stud (animal)

A stud animal is a registered animal retained for breeding. The terms for the male of a given animal species usually imply that the animal is entire—that is, not castrated—and therefore capable of siring offspring...

 to Edward the Confessor

Edward the Confessor

Edward the Confessor also known as St. Edward the Confessor , son of Æthelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy, was one of the last Anglo-Saxon kings of England and is usually regarded as the last king of the House of Wessex, ruling from 1042 to 1066....

, it is very possible that the area was already a game-park before the Norman Conquest. John Norden

John Norden

John Norden was an English cartographer, chorographer and antiquary. He planned a series of county maps and accompanying county histories of England, the Speculum Britanniae...

's map of Middlesex (c. 1593) clearly shows the fenced-in Old Park, with Salmons Brook

Salmons Brook

Salmons Brook is located in the London Borough of Enfield and is a minor tributary of the River Lea. - Etymology :Salmons Brook is marked thus on Rocque's map of 1754, probably named from the family of John Salemon of Edmonton mentioned in 1274...

 flowing through it.

Royal property

In the mediaeval era the Park was recorded in documents as 'Parcus Intrinsicus' (Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

, 'the Inner Park') to distinguish it from the much larger, and unenclosed, Enfield Chase

Enfield Chase

Enfield Chase is an area in the London Borough of Enfield, North London. It was once covered by woodland and used as a royal deer park. While it is no longer officially a 'place', the Church of England Parish of St Mary Magdalene, Enfield Chase, officially holds that title, which was effectively...

. The name 'Old Park' seems to have been applied from the 15th century. Around this time, the Park, together with the Manor of Enfield, became royal property as part of the Duchy of Lancaster

Duchy of Lancaster

The Duchy of Lancaster is one of the two royal duchies in England, the other being the Duchy of Cornwall. It is held in trust for the Sovereign, and is used to provide income for the use of the British monarch...

.

Queen Elizabeth I frequently visited Enfield for hunting and stayed sometimes at the Manor House, known as 'Enfield Palace', which stood at the edge of the Park, and sometimes at Enfield House (Elsyng Palace

Elsyng palace

Elsyng palace was a Tudor palace, on a site in what are now the grounds of Forty Hall in Enfield. Its exact location was lost for many years until excavations were carried out in the 1960s.-Location:...

). In 1596, Robert Carey, 1st Earl of Monmouth

Robert Carey, 1st Earl of Monmouth

Robert Carey, 1st Earl of Monmouth was an English nobleman and courtier. He was the youngest son of Henry Carey, 1st Baron Hunsdon and Anne Morgan, daughter of Sir Thomas Morgan and Anne Whitney.As a young man he accompanied several diplomatic missions abroad and took part in military expeditions...

 recorded that "The Queen came to dinner at Enfield House and had toils [traps] set up in the park to shoot the buck

Deer

Deer are the ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. Species in the Cervidae family include white-tailed deer, elk, moose, red deer, reindeer, fallow deer, roe deer and chital. Male deer of all species and female reindeer grow and shed new antlers each year...

s after dinner".

In the early 17th century the course of the New River

New River (England)

The New River is an artificial waterway in England, opened in 1613 to supply London with fresh drinking water taken from the River Lea and from Amwell Springs , and other springs and wells along its course....

 was laid through part of the Park. In April 1620 a review of the Park's stock gave a total of 207 fallow deer

Fallow Deer

The Fallow Deer is a ruminant mammal belonging to the family Cervidae. This common species is native to western Eurasia, but has been introduced widely elsewhere. It often includes the rarer Persian Fallow Deer as a subspecies , while others treat it as an entirely different species The Fallow...

, of which 73 were "Deare of Anteleir" (i.e. antler

Antler

Antlers are the usually large, branching bony appendages on the heads of most deer species.-Etymology:Antler originally meant the lowest tine, the "brow tine"...

ed males).

During the Commonwealth

Commonwealth of England

The Commonwealth of England was the republic which ruled first England, and then Ireland and Scotland from 1649 to 1660. Between 1653–1659 it was known as the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland...

 period, the Park was sequestered by Oliver Cromwell

Oliver Cromwell

Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....

's Protectorate, and a detailed survey was prepared. This assessed the area of the Park as 553 acres (2.2 km²), and its value as £311/10/- (i.e. £311.50 in present day notation). It also mentions the Park's stock of coneys (rabbits), and "50 sorts of several deer". The Park was given initially to Parliamentary soldiers in lieu of their overdue wages, but was then granted to George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle

George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle

George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle, KG was an English soldier and politician and a key figure in the restoration of Charles II.-Early life and career:...

.

Enclosure and after

At the Restoration

English Restoration

The Restoration of the English monarchy began in 1660 when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II after the Interregnum that followed the Wars of the Three Kingdoms...

 the Park remained in Monck's family, who began to sell parts of it. However the nature of the Park was to change as a consequence of the 1777 Enclosure Act, which divided Enfield Chase amongst several parish

Parish

A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...

es and owners, including the then owner of the Park, Samuel Clayton. This necessitated the establishment of a number of new roads (including the present Green Dragon Lane) and gateways. Over the next century much of the land changed hands and although the area was essentially agricultural, building began in many parts of the Old Park Estate. In 1893/95, two golf clubs (Enfield Golf Club and Bush Hill Golf Club) undertook long leases on parts of the Old Park, and they continue to operate there to the present day.

The advent of the railway to the area (both Grange Park station

Grange Park railway station

Grange Park railway station is situated just off The Grangeway, Grange Park in the London Borough of Enfield North London, in Travelcard Zone 5. It is 15 km north of Moorgate on the Hertford Loop Line...

 and Enfield Chase station

Enfield Chase railway station

Enfield Chase railway station is located in Windmill Hill, Enfield, in the London Borough of Enfield in north London, and is in Travelcard Zone 5. The station, and all trains serving it, is operated by First Capital Connect. It is directly west of Enfield Town centre...

 are situated within the original boundaries of the Old Park) meant that the land became valuable for domestic housing, and between 1910 and 1936 most of the present suburb of Grange Park was constructed.

The Park is still remembered in several road names, notably Old Park Ridings, Old Park Road and Old Park Avenue. Enfield Town Park

Enfield Town Park

Enfield Town Park is a 9.5 hectare park in the Enfield Town area of the London Borough of Enfield, first opened in 1902. The New River passes through it.- See also :* Enfield Old Park...

 is however the only public remnant of the open space that was once Enfield Old Park.

Sources

• Haigh, Douglas, Old Park in the Manor of Enfield, London 1977.
• Pevsner, Nikolaus and Bridget Cherry The Buildings of England: London 4:North, London 1998 ISBN 0140140493
• Victoria Country History: Middlesex, vol.5, London 1976 (also online)
• Weinreb, Ben, The London Encyclopaedia. London, 1983