Edmonton is one of three parliamentary constituencies in the Borough of Enfield in London, England. The other two are Enfield-North and Enfield-Southgate.

Edmonton is located in the eastern part of the Borough of Enfield, which is itself London's northernmost borough (12 miles north of the City) and stretches from just south of the North Circular Road in the South to the M25 in the north and from Hadley Wood in the west to Edmonton in the east.

Edmonton comprises Upper Edmonton (N.18) to the south and Lower Edmonton (N.9) to the north. The Member of Parliament for Edmonton is Andy Love (Labour).

The main shopping centre in Edmonton is at Edmonton Green.

[Pymmes Park] with its historic walled garden is Upper Edmonton's park. Pymmes Park originated as a private estate. In the late 16th century it was owned by the powerful Cecil family. In 1589 Robert Cecil, later 1st Earl of Salisbury, spent his honeymoon at Pymmes. The estate was eventually acquired by Edmonton Council and opened as a public park in 1906. Pymmes House was destroyed by fire during World War II and the remains were demolished.) Robert Cecil was a protege of Francis Walsingham, Elizabeth the first's chief spymaster and he succeeded him as Secretary of State in 1590.

The historic All Saints Church is situated in Church Street as is Lamb's Cottage, which was home to writers Charles Lamb and Mary Lamb.

The railway arrived in 1840 with the opening of the first section of the Lea Valley Line from Stratford to Broxbourne. A station was provided in Water Lane (Angel Road). As the station was badly sited and the trains were slow and expensive, few people used the railway in the early days, preferring the horse buses. In 1845 there were buses every fifteen minutes along Fore Street, travelling alternately to Bishopsgate and Holborn.

The single track line from a junction just North of Angel Road to Enfield Town was opened on 1st March 1849, with an intermediate, single platform, station at Lower Edmonton, located at the edge of the village green. However, the service was infrequent and often required a change of train at the junction. This, coupled with the train taking the long way round through Stratford to get to the terminus at Bishopsgate, meant that the railway offered little competition to the existing horse coaches and buses.

The direct line from London to Enfield Town was opened in four stages, from Bethnal Green to Stoke Newington on 27th May 1872, then from Stoke Newington through to Lower Edmonton High Level on 22nd July 1872, with stations in Edmonton at Silver Street and a new High Level station at Lower Edmonton, which was renamed to Edmonton Green in 1992. The short section from Lower Edmonton High Level to Edmonton Junction (where the new line met the original Eastern Counties Railway route from Angel Road to Enfield Town via Lower Edmonton Low Level) on 1st August 1872, with the Suburban platforms on the West side of Liverpool Street station finally opening on 2nd February 1874.

The stations were well sited and moreover, offered exceptionally cheap workmen's fares of just 2d on trains arriving into Liverpool Street prior to 07:00, 3d on those arriving between 07:00 and 07:30, and half-price returns on those arriving between 07:30 and 08:00. A horse tramway along Fore Street opened in 1881. The tramway was re-constructed and electrified during 1905, lasting until 1938 when trolleybuses took over.

The old highway Ermine Street passed through what is today Edmonton. Ermine Street was the main Roman Road from London through Lincoln and on to York. Edmonton appears in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it is recorded as Adelmentone.

The River Lea adjoins the east of Edmonton and runs from the Chiltern Hills through Hertfordshire and the Lea Valley down to the Thames.

References

• "The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland" (1868) at Genuki, UK and Ireland Genealogy. (A brief description and history of Edmonton from the 1868 Gazetteer)

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• A brief history of Lower Edmonton on the Enfield Council Website. (A succinct account starting early 1800's)

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• A brief history of Upper Edmonton on the Enfield Council Website. (A succinct account starting early 1800's)

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• Edmonton: Economic History fom British history Online. (This is detailed and starts in 1086)

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Nearest places

• Tottenham N17 (to the south)
• Palmers Green N13(to the west)
• Walthamstow E17(to the east)
• Ponders End (to the north)
• Winchmore Hill (to the north)

Railway stations

• Angel Road railway station
• Edmonton Green railway station
• Silver Street railway station

Famous residents

• Charles Lamb
• Mary Lamb
• Bruce Forsyth
• Robert Cecil
• Gladys Aylward
• David Jason