Crews Hill is an elevated and green-buffered former hamlet grown into a small village-size community on the northern outskirts of

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

centred north of

Charing Cross Charing Cross ( ) is a junction in Westminster, London, England, where six routes meet. Clockwise from north these are: the east side of Trafalgar Square leading to St Martin's Place and then Charing Cross Road; the Strand leading to the City; ...

. It forms part of the

London Borough of Enfield The London Borough of Enfield () is a London boroughs, London borough in North London. It borders the London boroughs of London Borough of Barnet, Barnet to the west, London Borough of Haringey, Haringey to the south, and London Borough of Walt ...

and economically has many garden centres and plant nurseries. It is the northernmost settlement in the entire county of

Greater London Greater may refer to: *Greatness, the state of being great *Greater than, in inequality (mathematics), inequality *Greater (film), ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film *Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record *Greater (song), "Greate ...

bordering the M25 and the

Welwyn Hatfield The Borough of Welwyn Hatfield is a local government district in southern Hertfordshire, England, governed by Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council. It covers the two towns of Welwyn Garden City and Hatfield, along with numerous smaller settlements ...

district of

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

to the north; it was

historically History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

part of the county of

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

Etymology

Named from its association with the ''Crew'' family, mentioned in local records of the mid-18th century.

Transport

Crews Hill is served by

Crews Hill railway station Crews Hill railway station serves Crews Hill in the London Borough of Enfield, north London. It is down the line from on the Hertford Loop Line, in Travelcard Zone 6. The station, and all trains serving it, are operated by Great Northern. Th ...

with trains to Hertford North,

Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a large town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevena ...

, in the north, and

Moorgate Moorgate was one of the City of London's northern gates in its defensive wall, the last to be built. The gate took its name from the Moorfields, an area of marshy land that lay immediately north of the wall. The gate was demolished in 1762, b ...

the south. Starting in 2021, bus route 456 connects Crews Hill to the

North Middlesex Hospital North Middlesex University Hospital, known locally as North Mid, is a district general hospital in Edmonton in the London Borough of Enfield. The hospital is managed by North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust. History The hospital was e ...

via

Enfield Chase Enfield Chase is an area of Enfield that is named for a former royal hunting ground. Much of the former area of the Chase has been developed, but a large part survives between Cockfosters in the west and Enfield in the east as Trent Country ...

and

Winchmore Hill Winchmore Hill is a suburb and electoral ward in the Borough of Enfield, North London, in the N21 postal district. With the Winchmore Hill conservation area as a focal point, the district is bounded on the east by Green Lanes (the A105 road ...

Demography

Crews Hill is part of the large Chase ward, which also covers

Botany Bay Botany Bay (Dharawal: ''Kamay''), an open oceanic embayment, is located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, south of the Sydney central business district. Its source is the confluence of the Georges River at Taren Point and the Cook ...

, Clay Hill and

Bulls Cross Bulls Cross is a road and hamlet in Enfield, England, on the outskirts of north London, forming part of the Metropolitan Green Belt. Although it now lies within the ceremonial county of Greater London, prior to 1965 it was in the historic count ...

. The 2011 census showed that 77% of the ward's population was white (64% British, 11% Other, 2% Irish). 5% was Black African and 3% Black Caribbean.

Places of interest

Nearby, there is Crews Hill Golf Course, which dates from 1916. John White, the

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

and

Scotland national football team The Scotland national football team gd, Sgioba Ball-coise Nàiseanta na h-Alba sco, Scotland National Fitbaa Team represents Scotland in men's international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. It competes in the t ...

player, was killed by lightning while sheltering under a tree at the golf course on 21 July 1964. On Whitewebbs Lane there is the Whitewebbs Museum of Transport. Further up the road is Whitewebbs Park. This is a country park and includes the Enfield Municipal Golf Course. Crews Hill originally had a large area of glasshouse production, to serve the nearby London market with cut flowers, pot plants and vegetables. As this became less economic, these sites transformed into a number of

garden centre A garden centre (Commonwealth English spelling; U.S. nursery or garden center) is a retail operation that sells plants and related products for the domestic garden as its primary business. It is a development from the concept of the retail plant n ...

s and retail nurseries. Describing the horticultural output of Crews Hill, journalist

Ian Jack Ian Grant Jack (7 February 1945 – 28 October 2022) was a British reporter, writer and editor. He edited the ''Independent on Sunday'', the literary magazine ''Granta'' and wrote regularly for ''The Guardian''. Early life Jack was born in Fa ...

wrote: "The greenhouses at Crews Hill ('Britain's horticultural mile') used to supply London with flowers and salads. Then came garden centres. Now there are warehouses filled with flowers, chilled at a permanent 7C, the same temperature that has kept them fresh in the six-hour lorry and rail journey through the tunnel from the auctions in Holland."

Turkey Brook Turkey Brook is a river in the northern outskirts of London. It rises in Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, and flows broadly eastwards to merge with the River Lea Navigation near Enfield Lock. Etymology The brook is named from the hamlet Turkey S ...

flows through Crews Hill.

References

Note

External links

Crews Hill Residents Association

Crews Hill Golf Club from 1916

Crews Hill Guide

Whitewebbs Museum of Transport

Transport in the South East
{{authority control Places in Enfield, London Villages in London Areas of London Districts of the London Borough of Enfield Places formerly in Middlesex