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Could you help review the local heritage list?

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page from enfield local list published in 2018

A page from the 2018 local heritage list

The Enfield Society is looking for volunteers to help it and Enfield Council update the borough's local heritage list.

The current local heritage list was published in 2018. It too was based on input from volunteers, who received training needed to carry out surveys. It contains details of 263 buildings, structures and other sites identified as heritage assets that make up distinctive elements of the local historic environment. These "locally listed" assets are ones that, while they don't enjoy the levels of protection provided to the better known nationally classified Grades I and II statutory listings, do qualify as "material considerations" when decisions are made about planning applications (see this note issued by the council and more detailed advice provided by Historic England).

Locally listed assets in Palmers Green include the railway station, the former Midland Bank and historic signpost at the Triangle, Arts & Crafts-style buildings (Palmers Green Baptist Church, Hazelwood School and a "Voyseyish" house in New River Crescent), the oldest house on Aldermans Hill, the Woodman pub on Bourne Hill, the United Reformed Church in Fox Lane, Tatem Park in Hedge Lane, an Edwardian shopfront on the corner of Green Lanes and Bowes Road, the former Intimate Theatre (whose inclusion will not prevent its demolition) and a "New Elizabethan" shopping parade which incorporates the shop that for many decades was occupied by the haberdashers Grouts,

If you're interested in helping update the list, see the information below, taken from the Enfield Society's website.

enfield society logo wide

Volunteers wanted to update the Local Heritage List

We’re very proud of the Local Heritage List which we helped the council to produce in 2018. There are currently 263 entries on the Local List of special local interest including buildings, structures and sites. The List was created using data created by volunteers across the borough and is consistent with Historic England best practice. The Local List is a material consideration for planning applications.It is also a fantastic showcase for Enfield—with all its local quirks and distinctiveness.

We are now working with the council on an update of the Local List and are looking for volunteers to review specific areas of the borough, identify what might have been missed from the last review, make sure information is consistent and do research to support inclusions. The review will be looking particularly at: industrial heritage, the heritage of communities who have settled in the borough since 1900, war-time heritage, Post-War heritage and public art and sculpture. The council’s heritage team will offer training on how to identify why a structure, landscape or site should be included in the updated Local List and how to present the information. There will be an online training session from 17:00-19:00 on Thursday 23rd June. The council will also offer a training session on how to use the Local Studies Collection and Archive.

If you’re interested in heritage then this is a fantastic chance to learn some new skills and see parts of Enfield that you may not have visited before. Or you may have been involved in the Stories of Enfield projects and have new information to share. There will be a lot of working alone but the Society and the council heritage team will offer support. Unfortunately it is not able to offer any kind of payment.

You don’t need to have done anything like this before. We’d just love to hear from you if you’re interested. Please email the Society at

We look forward to hearing from you!

Source: enfieldsociety.org.uk/2022/06/11/volunteers-for-local-list

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