Description
There were Quakers in Winchmore Hill from the 1650s, soon after the formation of the movement, and meetings are known to have taken place here from 1662. The current Friends Meeting House was built in 1790 to replace the original meeting house on the site, which dated from 1688. The burial ground to the west of the Meeting House is on the site of the property's 300 year-old walled garden. The main burial area is behind the building, with simple headstones set in the grass.
Practical Information
| Previously known as | Winchmore Hill Friends Meeting House |
|---|---|
| Site location | 59 Church Hill, Winchmore Hill |
| Postcode | N21 1LE |
| What3Words | ///simply.decent.flip |
| Type of Site | Cemetery |
| Borough | Enfield |
| Open to Public | Yes |
| Opening Times | notice welcoming people to enter garden if gate is open |
| Facilities | swing |
| Events | Various workshops, including garden/nature related activities |
| Public Transport | Rail: Winchmore Hill. Bus: W9 |
| Research Updated | 1 April 2011 |
| Last Updated | 18 October 2026 |
Full description
The Friends Meeting House here was one of the oldest and most famous in the country, built in 1790 to replace the original house on the site, which dated from 1688. It was built as a single rectangular room furnished with simple benches, with a schoolroom and lobby added in 1796, a kitchen in 1809. Some remodelling to the building was carried out in 1986/87. There were Quakers in this area from the early days of the movement and meetings took place here from 1662 and George Fox was a frequent preacher; it was a popular location given its proximity to London, although Winchmore Hill was a remote hamlet with Winchmore Hill Green (q.v.) as its centre, until the railway arrived in 1872 and housing began to encroach on the rural area.
The burial ground to the west of the Meeting House is on the site of the property's 300 year-old walled garden. There are some gravestones in the grass immediately to the side, but the main burial area is behind the building, with simple headstones set in the grass. Among those buried here are members of the Barclay family of banking fame, and in an unmarked grave near the swing is the pharmacist and amateur meteorologist Luke Howard, who became famous for his Latin system of classifying cloud formations (such as cumulus, stratus, cirrus, nimbus etc), which he proposed in a lecture to his local scientific society in 1803. There are also two members of the original Committee to Abolish the Slave Trade are buried here, Joseph Woods and the banker Samuel Hoare, who was responsible for the financial side of the campaign, which was instigated by Quakers in 1783. There are some mature trees, including two cedars, with yew and various shrubs and some flower beds near the Meeting House. Wooden fencing above brick wall separates the burial ground from Church Hill, with brick walls on the other boundaries.
The burial ground to the west of the Meeting House is on the site of the property's 300 year-old walled garden. There are some gravestones in the grass immediately to the side, but the main burial area is behind the building, with simple headstones set in the grass. Among those buried here are members of the Barclay family of banking fame, and in an unmarked grave near the swing is the pharmacist and amateur meteorologist Luke Howard, who became famous for his Latin system of classifying cloud formations (such as cumulus, stratus, cirrus, nimbus etc), which he proposed in a lecture to his local scientific society in 1803. There are also two members of the original Committee to Abolish the Slave Trade are buried here, Joseph Woods and the banker Samuel Hoare, who was responsible for the financial side of the campaign, which was instigated by Quakers in 1783. There are some mature trees, including two cedars, with yew and various shrubs and some flower beds near the Meeting House. Wooden fencing above brick wall separates the burial ground from Church Hill, with brick walls on the other boundaries.
Further Information
| Grid Reference | TQ313946 |
|---|---|
| Site Ownership | Winchmore Hill Quakers |
| Site Management | Winchmore Hill Quakers |
| Dates | 1790 |
| Listed Structures | LBII: Friends Meeting House; Walls around Graveyard LBII: Friends Meeting House; Walls around graveyard |
| 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 | Enfield |
| In Conservation Area | Yes |
| Conservation Area Name | Winchmore Hill Green |
| Tree Preservation Order | Not known |
| Nature Conservation Area | No |
| Green Belt | No |
| Metropolitan Open Land | No |
| Special Policy Area | No |
Gallery
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Nearby parks and gardens
St Paul's Church was built in 1827/28 on a site donated by Walker Gray, the owner of Southgate Grove, later named Grovelands, whose remaining grounds are now a public park. It was originally a chapel of ease to All Saints Edmonton, and became a separate parish of Winchmore Hill from 1851. The small Garden of Rest alongside the church was set up in memory of George William Lewis by his family and the Hayward Memorial Garden was provided by the family of Roland Hayward who died in 1987.
Winchmore Hill Green is the remains of the old village green, once twice the size before encroachment by the 5 roads that converge here. The Edmonton enclosure map of 1801 shows a well-established settlement, many inhabitants engaged in work associated with the surrounding coppiced woodland. It remained rural into the 1920s and despite suburban development it retains a village atmosphere. Around the Green are a number of C18th and C19th buildings including the former village bakery at the south east corner. The village pond was filled in in 1908, although it was replaced by an artificial one. Today the Green consists of two open areas of grass with some trees and seats, and a cattle trough at one end.
* on The National Heritage List for England, Parks & Gardens
Grovelands Park was a late C18th landscape park. In the C18th the estate was owned by the 3rd Duke of Chandos, whose son-in-law sold it in c.1796 to Walker Gray. Gray had a new house built, Southgate Grove, and was advised by landscape gardener Humphry Repton on the layout of the grounds, whose designs included the lake and probably the ha-ha. Gray's nephew, John Donnithorne Taylor, inherited the property and retired here, renamed the house and proceeded to expand and improve the estate. His son later put up the estate for sale and the southern extension was sold in 1902 but the Lot containing the house and 314 acres of land failed to reach the reserve price. In 1911 26 hectares of grounds were purchased by Southgate UDC, opening as a public park in 1913. Grovelands House was purchased for a hospital in 1921 and is now a private psychiatric hospital.
Grovelands Park was a late C18th landscape park. In the C18th the estate was owned by the 3rd Duke of Chandos, whose son-in-law sold it in c.1796 to Walker Gray. Gray had a new house built, Southgate Grove, and was advised by landscape gardener Humphry Repton on the layout of the grounds, whose designs included the lake and probably the ha-ha. Gray's nephew, John Donnithorne Taylor, inherited the property and retired here, renamed the house and proceeded to expand and improve the estate. His son later put up the estate for sale and the southern extension was sold in 1902 but the Lot containing the house and 314 acres of land failed to reach the reserve price. In 1911 26 hectares of grounds were purchased by Southgate UDC, opening as a public park in 1913. Grovelands House was purchased for a hospital in 1921 and is now a private psychiatric hospital.
