Chase Side
Chase Side, Enfield
A charming residential locality situated north-west of Enfield Town, clustered along the road of the same name
This Chase Side should not be confused with a section of the A111 in Southgate, although both are so called because of their former location beside Enfield Chase. The road was in existence by 1572, when it was called Woodside, and a loose collection of dwellings grew up here during the 17th century.
By 1686 the locality was known as Chase Side but the road was not given that name until after 1803. By this time the enclosure of Enfield Chase had encouraged the building of houses and shops, which were later joined by a brewery (which switched to cotton dyeing for a while), a short-lived paper-making factory and some small chapels and schools.
In September 1827 the essayist and poet Charles Lamb and his sister Mary came to live at the Poplars, Chase Side. The following month they moved to the house next door, lodging with the Westwood family for six years, after which they moved to Church Street, Lower Edmonton.
Builders laid out new streets on either side of Chase Side in the second half of the 19th century. The church of St Michael, Gordon Hill and Chase Side, was consecrated in 1874 and Congregationalists began the construction of Christ Church in the same year. In the following year a five-bed cottage hospital opened, which later expanded to become Enfield war memorial hospital. Chase Side board school opened on Trinity Street in 1901.
A village pond used to flank Parsonage Lane but it was filled in to allow for road widening in 1906. The parish had been granted 200 aces of land west of Chase Side after the enclosure and used the rental income to supplement the poor rates. Enfield council progressively sold the land for building during the course of the 20th century. Enfield war memorial hospital closed in 1984 and the site was sold for redevelopment.
The southern half of Chase Side is part of the Enfield Town conservation area.