About the Parish
The Ecclesiastical Parish of St James with St Barnabas, Enfield—as we are officially called—comprises the localities of Enfield Highway and Brimsdown, in EN3, the north-east portion of the Borough of Enfield. The boundaries correspond roughly with the new local wards of Carterhatch and Brimsdown (from May 2022).
A chapel of ease was built in 1831, and elevated to a parish church a year later, the Parish of St James was the first parish carved out of the ancient parish of Enfield due to the expansion of the population eastward from what is now Enfield Town.
The population of the Parish of St James stands at 26,900 (and continues to grow) making it the most populous parish in Enfield, and one of the largest single-church parishes in the Church of England.
Brimsdown is the older of the two localities, recorded as early as 1420 (as Grymesdown, getting the present spelling—with a B—by the late eighteenth century). These days the western half of Brimsdown is residential, while the portion lying between the mainline railway and the right bank of the River Lea (which is the also eastern boundary of the parish, the Diocese of London and the historical county of Middlesex) is part of the largest business corridor in North London, with factories, warehouses, distribution centres and several retail outlets.
To the west of Brimsdown lies what is now called Enfield Highway, named in the eighteenth century for a settlement in Enfield from the ‘kings highe way leading to London’, i.e. what is now the Hertford Road (A1010). Earlier there had been a hamlet by the name of Cocksmiths End, recorded in 1572. The eastern half of Enfield Highway is largely residential, with a lively shopping parade along the Hertford Road; the western half, near the parish border of the Great Cambridge Road (A10), comprises largely of extensive Retail Park. The southwestern corner of the parish (with Southbury Road) is slated to undergo a transformative redevelopment as a mixed residential/retail complex.
About the Building
St James’s Church was built as a chapel of ease in 1831 to the designs of William Lochner on ground south of Green Street given by Woodham Connop (Lord of Durants and Suffolks Manors).
The church is a plain-aisled building of stock brick, in Commissioners’ Gothic, with a western tower and battlemented exterior. A chancel in the Early English style was added in 1864. There were galleries round three sides of the nave by the end of the century.
The north and south galleries had been removed by 1967, when a fire seriously damaged the east end of the church. It was restored in 1969 by J Barrington-Baker & Partners. At the rebuilding the chancel arch was removed and a new sanctuary was built in continuation of the nave. The inside of St James’s Church is light, open and modern.
Links to Other Organisations
St James’s has close links with St James’s Primary School in Frederick Crescent, about 200 metres from the church. Founded in 1834 as the National School, it is the oldest school within the parish, as well as in Eastern Enfield.
There are also growing links with Bishop Stopford’s School, a Church of England Secondary School, also within the parish, and the only Anglican secondary school in the Borough of Enfield. One of the best achieving schools in Enfield Borough, it’s also known for the exemplary behaviour of its students and the growing renown of its Gospel Choir!
Together with a number of churches throughout the London Borough of Enfield, St James’s has played an integral part in establishing the Enfield Churches Debt Centre in partnership with Christians Against Poverty, a nationally recognised charity that works tirelessly and lovingly, as part of loving our neighbour in Christian witness, to help bring individuals and families relief from crippling debt.
Archive of Church Records
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Baptisms (christenings): 1834 to October 1951
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Marriages: 1845 to March 1955
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Burials: May 1834 to May 1957
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Baptisms at the Royal Small Arms Factory Chapel: October 1886 to 1986
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Baptisms at St George’s Mission Church: September 1886 to September 1900
All records are kept at the London Metropolitan Archives Library:
40 Northampton Road
LONDON
EC1R 0HB
020 7332 3820
For subsequent records, please contact the Parish Administrator via email or via our contact page.
St James’s is a parish in the Edmonton Episcopal Area of the Diocese of London
in the Church of England, part of the worldwide Anglican Communion.
