Inventory Site Record

All Saints' Church was founded here in the C12th; the current building dates mainly from the C15th with later restoration and additions. The churchyard has a number of interesting tombs, including a grave dated 1667 and an C18th memorial with a figure of 'Time'. Charles and Mary Lamb lived nearby in 1833 and were buried here in 1834 and 1847 respectively. On one side of the churchyard is a row of almshouses built in 1679, a gift of one Thomas Styles for 12 poor parishioners, now modernised.

Previous / Other name:

Parish Church of Edmonton; Parish of All Saints with St Michael

Site location:

Church Street, Edmonton

Postcode:

N9 9PE

What 3 Words:

bubble.penny.acute

Type of site:

Churchyard

Borough:

Enfield

Open to public?

Yes

Opening times:

unrestricted

Special conditions:

Facilities:

Garden of Remembrance

Events:

Public transport:

Rail: Edmonton Green

Citymapper    
Google Map    
streetmap.co.uk

Research updated:

01/04/2000

Last minor changes:

19/07/2023

Please check with the site owner or manager for latest news. www.enfield.gov.uk; www.allsaintsedmonton.org.uk

All Saints' Church was founded here c.1136 by Geoffrey de Mandeville. He gave it to the new monastery he founded at Walden Abbey in whose ownership it remained until 1538 after which it was granted to St Paul's Cathedral. The current building dates mainly from the C15th and has been much restored over the years, particularly in 1772 and 1889. C12th fragments from Norman times were found and have been re-set into the south wall of the church, which has a C15th roof and west tower in Kentish ragstone, a C16th north chancel aisle, C18th north aisle and chancel when the church was also re-faced in yellow brick, and in the C19th the south aisle was added.

The churchyard with 'an enjoyable range of headstones' (Pevsner) contains a grave dating from 1667, and an interesting C18th tomb south east of the chancel to Sarah Silverstone with a figure of 'Time'. Charles Lamb (1775-1834) and his sister Mary (d.1847) were buried here and share a simple gravestone inscribed with a poem by Henry Cary, friend of Lamb and translator of Dante. The Lambs lived nearby in the late C17th/early C18th Bay Cottage in Church Street for the last year of Charles's life, having moved from Chase Side, Enfield in 1833. The Charles Lamb Institute across Church Street was built in 1907/08 by J S Alder, a stone-faced Tudor-style building, which is now the Tower Gym.

On one side of the churchyard is a row of low, brick almshouses that were built in 1679, a gift of one Thomas Styles for 12 poor parishioners. They were rebuilt in 1754, then again in 1903 by Henry W Dobb, and modernised in 1960. A low brick wall separates the churchyard from Church Street, with two sets of wooden gates; the other boundary is modern fencing. Paths leading to residential streets cross the churchyard, which is mainly grassed, with some chest tombs and headstones dotted among the grass and a number of trees. A small area is railed off as a Garden of Remembrance, which is partly paved and has tombs and memorials.

Sources consulted:

Arthur Mee, 'The King's England: London North of the Thames except the City and Westminster', (Hodder & Stoughton, 1972); Victoria County History; Bridget Cherry & Nikolaus Pevsner, The Buildings of England: London 4: North (Penguin, 1998); Ben Weinreb & Christopher Hibbert, 'The London Encyclopaedia' (Macmillan, revised ed. 1993); local history leaflet; Church Street Edmonton Conservation Area Character Appraisal 2009

Grid ref:

TQ339936 (533920,193640)

Size in hectares:

1.40

Site ownership:

Church: Diocese of London

Site management:

LB Enfield Place Shaping and Enterprise, Parks Business Unit

Date(s):

Church: C12th

Designer(s):

Listed structures:

LBII*: All Saints' Church

On National Heritage List for England (NHLE), Parks & Gardens:

No

Registered common or village green on Commons Registration Act 1965:

No

Protected under London Squares Preservation Act 1931:

No

Local Authority Data

The information below is taken from the relevant Local Authority's planning legislation, which was correct at the time of research but may have been amended in the interim. Please check with the Local Authority for latest planning information.

On Local List:

No

In Conservation Area:

Yes

Conservation Area name:

Church Street Edmonton

Tree Preservation Order:

Not known

Nature Conservation Area:

No

Green Belt:

No

Metropolitan Open Land:

No

Special Policy Area:

No

Other LA designation:

Urban Green Space