From Elms to Almshouses

Almshouses

Edmanson’s Close (just across from Bruce Castle) is a beautiful group of houses at the top of Bruce Grove. Set up like an open-sided quadrangle with its stunning historic cottages on three sides, enclosed by a hedge on the fourth side by the road and its central Grade II-listed chapel looking over the well-kept lawn, these were built as almshouses in 1869. They have survived into the 21st century thanks to the interventions of local people during the 1970s when it was suggested for demolition.

Built on the site of a former large house called ‘Elmslea’, most of the almshouses were set up by the Edmanson’s Trust operated by the Drapers’ Company. The new residents had been moved out from Bow by the charity. Many of the occupants were former seamen and sailmakers of the East End– and so these little dwellings became known as the Sailmakers almshouses.

Henrietta Barnard (1897-1992) of a Tottenham family recalled regularly visiting one of the almshouse residents by the name of ‘Parker’, who was a great character. Her oral history of the area was collected in 1991 (the full interview is held in the collections at Bruce Castle Museum and Archive):

‘He was a sailmaker and all round the kitchen were big bills of the different lines he had made sails for. […]Parker was always in a blue jersey and a sailor hat. I never saw him without a sailor hat. A peaked cap. Whether or not he was bald we never knew because we never saw his head. And he liked a drop of rum.’

The Last Elm…

Bruce Grove was a popular scenic destination in North London for visitors to see the many old elm trees that once formed a natural canopy along the lane to Bruce Castle. This beautiful tree lined walkway captured the imagination of local photographers and artists, both amateur and professional.

After the opening of Bruce Grove railway station in 1872, the Bruce Grove elms gradually had to make way for Tottenham’s transformation into an urban landscape.

Bruce Grove’s Winged Residents

Did you know that a large colony of crows used to live on Bruce Grove? (or rooks - it was never settled which!)

Along with the long line of elms that helped make Bruce Grove a particularly well-frequented beauty spot for visitors, it was not just the sights that made this area well known, but the sounds as well. Nesting amongst the leaves and branches of the trees of the elms and also along the aptly named Crows' Walk were hundreds of corvidae going about their lives, caw cawing very loudly whilst they did so. In her 'Reminiscences of Tottenham', 1909, Mrs Couchman recalled the familiar sounds of Bruce Grove and Crows' Walk:

'The only sound to be heard was the caw, caw of the rooks, who always seemed as if they had something important to discuss, and they left off reluctantly when their bedtime came.