Inventory Site Record

The north part of the parish of Enfield remained rural into the C20th. Keen to ensure that some areas remained public open space, in 1907 Enfield UDC purchased land known as Tucker's Field, which had been used as the home ground for Enfield Spartans football club from 1896-1900. It was laid out and opened as North Enfield Recreation Ground. Later a grant was received from the King George's Fields Foundation, established in 1936 to encourage provision of playing fields as a memorial to George V.

Previous / Other name:

Tucker's Field

Site location:

Clay Hill/Hawthorn Grove

Postcode:

EN2 0DS

What 3 Words:

keen.clots.slate

Type of site:

Public Park

Borough:

Enfield

Open to public?

Yes

Opening times:

8am Mon-Sat / 8.30am Sundays to dusk (refer to Council website for seasonal details)

Special conditions:

Facilities:

Playground, toilets, football pitches, tennis courts

Events:

Public transport:

Rail: Gordon Hill then bus. Bus: 610, W10

Citymapper    
Google Map    
streetmap.co.uk

Research updated:

01/04/2011

Last minor changes:

19/07/2023

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

The north part of the parish of Enfield remained rural into the C20th, with suburban development taking place particularly after Gordon Hill and Crews Hill stations opened in 1910. By the 1860s there were a number of houses along the roadway of Baker Street, which led from Enfield Town in the south to Forty Hill where there was a post office and a cluster of houses, including large mansions such as Gough Park and Adelaide House. By the late 1890s, streets to the west of the field that later became the recreation ground were being laid out and Hawthorn, Violet, Myrtle and Woodbine Groves are shown as partly developed on the OS map of 1896. In 1907, keen to ensure that some areas remained public open space, Enfield UDC purchased land to the south of Clay Hill that was known as Tucker's Field, which was laid out as a public park and opened as North Enfield Recreation Ground.

From 1896 to 1900 Tucker's Field had been the home ground for Enfield Spartans Football Club, which had been founded in August 1893. The club in its initial season played friendlies and entered the Tottenham & District Junior Alliance for the 1894-95 season, playing at Baileys Field. It was when the club joined the North Middlesex League in 1896 that it moved to the larger Tucker's Field. In 1900 the club changed its name to Enfield Football Club and it was also decided that a larger ground was necessary and a ground was found at Cherry Orchard Lane.

By 1913, the area to the west and south of North Enfield Recreation Ground was largely covered by new streets, their names also evoking the earlier landscape, Rosemary Avenue, Primrose Avenue, Lavender and Acadia Roads. Land to the north remained unbuilt on and later was added to the recreation ground. On adjoining land to the east there were allotment gardens until the 1960s, with a long established footpath running north /south along the recreation ground's eastern edge. By 1938, the recreation ground extended north as far as Clay Hill and tennis grounds were provided in the west of the original ground. A grant was received from the King George's Fields Foundation, which had been established in 1936 as a memorial to George V who had died in 1935, specifically to provide funds for playing fields. By 1969 the allotments to the east are marked as playing fields, north of Chace Girls School. Friends of Tucker's Field have undertaken tree planting and hedge replacement in the park in recent years, often assisted by Enfield Conservation Volunteers.

Sources consulted:

Enfield FC website; LB Enfield Local History Sheets: 'Forty Hall a history' (nd)

Grid ref:

TQ330982 (532970,198210)

Size in hectares:

1.59

Site ownership:

LB Enfield

Site management:

Place Shaping and Enterprise, Parks Business Unit. Friends of Tucker's Field

Date(s):

1907

Designer(s):

Listed structures:

None

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:

No

Tree Preservation Order:

No

Nature Conservation Area:

No

Green Belt:

No

Metropolitan Open Land:

No

Special Policy Area:

No

Other LA designation:

Public Open Space