The Road to Bruce Castle

Bruce Grove, once an idyllic tree-lined walkway from the station, has developed radically over the centuries. However, its destination - Bruce Castle, has been steadfast for over 500 years.

Why the name?

Bruce Grove gets its name from the 16th century Bruce Castle, which stands proudly at the end of this stretch of road. The same name was later given to the surrounding neighbourhood and eventually to the station, which was opened in 1872. 

But why did Bruce Castle get its name? Bruce Castle was originally called Lordship House, until one of its more colourful residents, the 2nd Lord Coleraine, changed its name in the late 1600s. In researching a history of local landownership, he discovered that the manor of Tottenham once belonged to Robert The Bruce, who became King of Scotland in 1306. As a result the Bruce family had all of their English estates seized. You can see original manorial court rolls bearing the De Brus family name on display at Bruce Castle Museum and Archive.

According to local historian Fred Fisk when he was writing in 1913 ‘Bruce Grove, once one of the loveliest spots in North London, was at one time called the George and Vulture Walk. The inn opposite [Bruce Grove] in the High Road was some years ago a favourite rendezvous of Londoners and parties who frequented the “walk” for picnics, etc {What a change!} The approach to many mansions through this country in earlier times was through a grove of trees, and there is no doubt that the main approach to Bruce Castle for a long period was along this grove. As the mansion obtained its name from a member of the Brus or Bruce family, the approach was called Bruce Grove. 

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(The approach to the manor house of Bruce Castle along a tree-lined lane or grove in 1793. In the 19th century it became known as Bruce Grove. From the collections and © Bruce Castle Museum and Archive)

Fisk continues:
‘Bruce Grove was formed along a part of this walk [the George and Vulture Walk] – from the High Road to the present Hartham Road – the remaining narrow portion was called Crows’ Walk. The early houses were erected on one side only of the Grove, and numbered sixteen, nearly all being occupied by “Friends”.’

As Fisk describes, these fine late Georgian houses form a terrace from the end of Bruce Grove nearest to the station today. They were built by prominent local Quakers, with a small number still living there well into the 20th century. Amongst these was the Howard family, with members living in a few houses. This included number 7 Bruce Grove, where Luke Howard (1772 – 1864), the Namer of Clouds, died. An English Heritage Blue Plaque marks his former home.

Another marked feature of Bruce Grove was the fact that it was lined with elm trees. Fisk describes the old elms at Bruce Grove as a famous North London bit of scenery. Equally famous were the many hundreds of rooks, or crows (apparently it was never settled which) which formed a rookery here. You can read a lot more about the fascinating story of the trees and what became known as the Last Elms of Bruce Grove, with maps and photographs from the collections of Bruce Castle Museum and Archive.


A Secret House and a Station Master 

Hidden from view, tucked just in Moorefield Road is a house behind a high wall. With the coming of the railways in the late 1800s, there were station masters allocated to keep operations at the station safe and sound. Bruce Grove Station’s Station Master was based at Holly Cottage. There is a little painting of the Station Master c.1880 walking along Crows' Walk in Bruce Grove. as painted by Edith Hibbert (one of the seven sisters who had planted one of the sets of seven trees at Seven Sisters). 

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(This line of the railway in Tottenham arrived in 1872. This OS Map of 1894 is some 20 years later, showing how it had impacted on the area. Moorefield Road was known as Bruce Grove Road well into the 20th century).

In 1911, William Hopkin was the Station Master and he lived at Holly Cottage with his wife Blanche and their young daughters Edith and Gladys. They had a boarder also living with them - Caroline Ridler (who worked as a Mission Clerk in a Refuge for Girls) - as well as their 14-year-old domestic servant, Eliza Kezia Kemp.

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(This image seems to depict the local Women’s temperance Group serving coffee under the iconic bridge at Bruce Grove Station. The two gentlemen in the lower right corner are G.D Barnes (on the left) and H.S Couchman (on the right). Although it's not clear who Barnes is, Couchman was a surveyor and letting agent who took a number of photographs of the area. Image from c.1912. From the collections and © Bruce Castle Museum and Archive)

 

Location

location
Address

The Road to Bruce Castle
Holly Cottage, Moorfield Road
Tottenham
N17 6PY
United Kingdom