Early History
The Park was situated around the site of an Iron Age hill fort, the remains of which can still be seen in the vicinity of the building of Old Park House (now belonging to the Bush Hill Golf Club). These constitute the largest present-day hill fort remains in the old county of Middlesex.
The Domesday Book (1086) records the Manor of Enfield as being held by Geoffrey de Mandeville and mentions 'there is a park there'. The word 'park' in this sense refers to a preserve for game, and the park was reserved for this use until the 18th century. As the manor of Enfield had been held in Anglo-Saxon times by Asgar, Master of the Stud to Edward the Confessor, it is very possible that the area was already a game-park before the Norman Conquest. John Norden's map of Middlesex (c. 1593) clearly shows the fenced-in Old Park, with Salmons Brook flowing through it.
Read more about this topic: Enfield Old Park
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