These ”village gates” are something of a mystery. According to Alan Dumayne in his “Once upon a time in Palmers Green”, they were erected in 1953 by Southgate Council as a token after the original gates to Broomfield Park were inexplicably demolished.
However, the Enfield Local Studies unit has this photo dated as about 1949 which shows through the Broomfield Park gates what looks suspiciously like these “village gates” on the north side of Aldermans Hill. where they now are! Even if the date is incorrect and if it is later than 1949, the gates and the wooden structure surely shouldn’t co-exist.
This stone and wrought iron gateway is threaded through local history. Again according to Alan Dumayne, in 1832 the Old Park estate north of Aldermans Hill then owned by Alderman Sir William Curtis was sold to John Donnithorne Taylor to add to his Grovelands estate. The Old Park mansion, Cullands Grove, was demolished and its gateway (see below) which was near to the Aldermans Hill/Old Park Road junction, became the entrance to the carriage drive to Grovelands House. Aldermans Hill is of course named after the same Alderman of the City of London and later Mayor, Sir William Curtis.
When the Grovelands estate was in turn broken up for sale in 1902 the gates were bought by a Councillor Cork and presented to the Council and used to erect the Broomfield Park Village Gates entrance. “Village” and “Gates” were inscribed on the left and right hand pillars respectively.
1908 postcard shows to the keen eye that the central and side gates were used in new pillars, which may also have used other material from the earlier entrance.
The large central gates were taken for salvage in World War Two, though the smaller side gates are shown in the 1949 image. What happened to these in 1953, isn’t known.
These photos come from the website “Enfield’s Past in Photos”
Local volunteer Darius Hazelwood Horner, a member of the Southgate Green Association, has restored the Southgate Village Gates to their former glory.
