Edmonton, United Kingdom

The population of this area grew rapidly, reaching 445,875 by 1911 and would today be about 615,000. As the population mushroomed, smaller areas within Middlesex were used for local government, with a local board being formed for the 3,894 acres (15.76 km2) parish of Edmonton in 1850, which eventually achieved the status of municipal borough as the Municipal Borough of Edmonton in 1937. At the 1961 census the borough had a population of 91,956. This was absorbed into the London Borough of Enfield in 1965, and the former town hall and civic buildings were controversially demolished by Enfield Council in 1989.

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. Cecil was a protege of Francis Walsingham, Elizabeth I's chief spymaster and he succeeded him as Secretary of State in 1590. The estate was eventually acquired by Edmonton Council and opened as a public park in 1906. Pymmes House was destroyed by fire during the Second World War and the remains were demolished.

In the 17th century the then rural Edmonton had a reputation for supernatural activities. In approximately 1600, a play entitled The Merry Devil of Edmonton was performed in London about a wizard who lived there. In 1621 the villagers accused an old woman, Elizabeth Sawyer, of witchcraft and she was subsequently executed at Tyburn; her story was told in a pamphlet by Henry Goodcole, and in a 1621 play entitled The Witch of Edmonton.

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

John Keats, the poet, was apprenticed to surgeon Dr. Hammond in Church Street between 1810 and 1816. The house was demolished in 1931 to be replaced by Keats Parade. An extant shop carries a blue plaque in commemoration.

Edmonton was the home town of Sir James Winter Lake, director of the Hudson's Bay Company. The company's trading outpost named after Edmonton is now the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta.

In his 1782 poem, The Diverting History of John Gilpin, William Cowper relates the comic tale of John Gilpin a linen draper of Cheapside London, who was probably based on a Mr Beyer, a linen draper of the Cheapside corner of Paternoster Row.

Gilpin's spouse decides she and her husband should spend their twentieth wedding anniversary at The Bell Inn, Fore Street, Edmonton. The journey is beset with misfortune from start to finish. Gilpin loses control of his horse which carries him on to the town of Ware ten miles (16 km) distant. On the return journey, Gilpin is still unable to handle his steed, as he once again he fails to stop at The Bell. The horse gallops back to Cheapside much to the dismay of his concerned spouse.

Gilpin is remembered in Edmonton by the statue at Fore Street, the ex-Wetherspoons outlet the Gilpin's Bell public house opposite the site of the original inn and the 1950s council housing Gilpin House in Upper Fore Street.

Edmonton was home to many industries which included manufacturing of gas appliances, electrical components and furniture. Most of this was lost in the latter part of the twentieth century. Household names that produced goods here included MK electric, Ever Ready batteries, British Oxygen, Glover and Main gas appliances.

Eley Industrial Estate was named after Eley Brothers the firearms cartridge manufacturer. Its shot tower was a distinctive landmark on the skyline until being demolished the late twentieth century. Due to its close proximity to the River Lee Navigation, timber was transported by barge from the London Docks and stored in riverside wharves. As a result, many furniture makers including Nathans, Beautility and Homeworthy established factories. Today, Parker-Knoll products are manufactured at the former B&I Nathan factory on the Eley Industrial Estate. As of 2013, the area is dominated by the 100 metre Edmonton Incinerator chimney which was built in 1971. Other major employers include Coca-Cola.

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 15 minutes along Fore Street, travelling alternately to Bishopsgate and Holborn.