- Southgate was originally the South Gate of Enfield Chase, the King’s hunting grounds. This is reflected in the street names Chase Road (which leads due north from the station to Oakwood, and was formerly the avenue into the Chase) and Chase Side.
- Arnos Grove was owned by the Nuns Of Clerkenwell, until the suppression of the monasteries by Henry VIII in the 16th Century.
- Part of the Palmers Green stretch of Green Lanes is featured in the popular “Knight Bus” scene in the film Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
- Southgate station opened on 13 March 1933 with Oakwood on the second phase of the northern extension of the Piccadilly line from Finsbury Park to Cockfosters. Enfield West and Cockfosters also opened in 1933, and Arnos Grove in 1932. All three stations were designed by acclaimed architect Charles Holden.
- Much of New Southgate was once the hamlet of Betstile, a name that was resurrected in the early 20th century with Betstyle Road and later Betstyle Circus.
- The more southerly part of New Southgate was known as Colney Hatch Park, but the name Colney Hatch was removed from the borough of Southgate as local residents began objecting to being associated with the famous Colney Hatch Lunatic Asylum, which lay just inside the neighbouring parish of Friern Barnet. So, the name New Southgate was adopted.
- New Southgate was home to Jerome K Jerome, writer of “Three Men in a Boat”. There have been various adaptations of the book including, most recently, a TV series starring Griff Rhys Jones, Dara Ó Briain, and Rory McGrath. Jerome is commemorated in Southgate with a statue of a boat and a mosaic of a dog on the New Southgate Millennium Green on Station Road.
- Southgate has connections with many people in the arts and showbusiness. The Turner Prize-winning artist Rachel Whiteread, music legend Amy Winehouse, S Club 7 star Rachel Stevens, actor Ron Moody (Fagin in the original Oliver) and Radio presenter Simon Mayo are all linked to the area.
For more information on local history, visit the heritage section on the main Enfield Council website.
