Car Hire Enfield - Mini guide to Enfield

Enfield, London's northernmost borough, is also one of its greenest. A third of the borough is comprised of country parks, open spaces and farmland, including remnants the famous Enfield Chase Royal Hunting Grounds. The town itself offers visitors charming old buildings and churches, interesting markets, and fine parks and gardens.

The stately 17th century manor house, Forty Hall, is the highlight of Enfield’s historic homes and gardens. The beautiful Jacobean Hall and Gardens, once the home of Sir Nicolas Rainton, Lord Mayor of London in 1632, is also the site of Henry VIII’s hunting lodge, Elsynge Palace, now an archaeological mystery buried beneath the grass of the front lawn.

Sir Nicolas actually used the bricks from the then ruins of Elsynge Palace to build his home. The hall contains rooms with gorgeous carved plaster ceilings, local history displays about Enfield and art exhibitions.

Enfield has been a bustling market town since 1303 when the market charter was granted. With the cobbled market square, St Andrews Church and the New River winding its way through the centre, Enfield retains the feeling of a traditional country town. Within a short walk of the town centre, you step back in time to the Georgian era at Gentleman's Row, famous for its connections with the essayist and poet Charles Lamb, who stayed at Clarenden Cottage with his sister Mary in 1825 and 1827.

The town has several excellent restaurants, with a variety of local and international cuisines to choose from. Nightlife is centred on some quaint old pubs and charming bars.

Surrounding the town is some of London's oldest countryside. You can wander through the majestic sweep of Trent Park with its rolling grassland and broad avenues of oak and sycamore. Alternatively, you may enjoy the wonderful public gardens of Capel Manor, home to the country's leading horticultural college, Myddelton House, full of exotic plants collected by renowned botanist E A Bowles. Additionally, Beale Arboretum is home to over 800 varieties of trees and shrubs.

Enfield is just 20kms from London and can be reached by taking the A10 and then the A110. The borough is well served by the Piccadilly Line of the London underground system, with the main station being Oakwood. There are rail connections to Liverpool Street, Kings Cross and London Stansted.