Forty Hall
Directions
Take the first right (Riverside Gardens), at the end of which you turn right into Chase Side Avenue. Follow this road round the bend to the left and then turn right into Parsonage Lane. After the signal-controlled junction with Baker Street, take the next turning left into Churchbury Lane and follow it for about 700 metres. After passing Chace Community School on the left, take the second right (Canonbury Road). Follow the road round the bend to the left into Inverness Avenue. At the busy Myddelton Avenue, turn left and right into Hallside Road. Since the entrance to this road has been blocked, you may wish to walk across to it, using the refuge. Cross Russell Road into Old Forge Road, following the signpost for Forty Hall. At the end, turn half right into Forty Hill. The entrance to Forty Hall is on the left after about 350 metres. After entering the grounds of Forty Hall, follow the drive in an anticlockwise direction, passing a car park on the right and enjoying a view of the Hall on the left across the lake. Refreshments and toilets are available in front of the Hall.
Description
In 1624 Sir Nicholas Rainton, a wealthy haberdasher and later Lord Mayor of London, purchased land in the area. Between 1629 and 1636, he built Forty Hall at the top of the hill, south of the medieval Elsyng Palace, which was demolished later in the 17th century. The name apparently derives from Sir Hugh Fortee, the owner prior to Sir Nicholas.
In 1951 the estate was purchased from Derek Parker Bowles by Enfield Urban District Council, who subsequently opened the grounds to the public and in 1962 began restoring the house and outbuildings. In 1966 Forty Hall was opened as a museum containing items of local historical interest. The house is surrounded by four hectares of ornamental grounds, the fragmentary remains of the 17th-century garden overlaid with 18th-century and later developments.
Further information on LGT Inventory
