Enfield’s industrial past, present and future

The Festival of Industry, funded by the Arts Council’s Place Partnership initiative, officially opens on 21 July, and will comprise of ‘Industrial Evolution’ – an exhibition celebrating Enfield’s past innovations, live music, interactive theatre performance, food and an opportunity to learn more about the dynamic programme of events scheduled between July 2023 and March 2024.Enfield Council’s Cabinet Member, Cllr Chinelo Anyanwu, said:

“Enfield is known for its industrial past, notably in manufacturing and electrical engineering. We are keen to celebrate this heritage but to also explore our future industries which includes our creative sector and how this can shape neighbourhoods and provide jobs, skills and training.”

The Festival will offer opportunities for everyone to explore the borough’s past and future identity through specialist art commissions, workshops, open studios, exhibitions, skills sharing and public artworks. There will be an immersive museum exhibition and a community theatre project co-produced with local people.

The Festival of Industry will be delivered in collaboration with Enfield’s creative sector and in partnership with Dugdale Arts Centre, the borough’s flagship arts hub.

Enfield has a long history connected with industry, particularly in the fields of mechanical and electrical engineering in Ponders End and Brimsdown.

The New River was an impressive feat of engineering, bringing drinking water from Hertfordshire into the City of London. The River is still in use.

Today, Metaswitch, a cloud communications software developer owned by Microsoft, is based in Enfield Town.

- All details can be found at: https://www.dugdaleartscentre.co.uk/whats-on/festival-of-industry

- Some examples of Enfield’s industrial history:

Ponders End and Brimsdown became an important centre of the electronics industry for much of the 20th century.
The famous Edison Swan United Electric Light Co. took over a former jute mill in Ponders end in the late nineteenth century.
Britain’s first radio valve and television cathode ray tube factories were also based in Ponders End.
Wright’s flour mill is Enfield’s oldest working industrial building, first appearing in the 18th century.
The New River was constructed in the early 17th century, to bring drinking water from Hertfordshire to a reservoir in Islington and then ultimately into the City of London
Are you interested in Enfield’s history? Find out more at the Local Studies and Archive. Visit https://www.enfield.gov.uk/services/libraries/enfield-local-studies-and-archive
The Museum of Enfield is based at Dugdale Arts Centre. Visit https://www.dugdaleartscentre.co.uk/museum for more information.