Enfield Museum
Small but story-dense local-history displays that link the borough to innovations used worldwide—from water engineering and armaments to retail technology. Expect object-led glimpses of everyday life in Enfield alongside milestone inventions made or first used here.
Opening Hours
What's not to miss inside?
Royal Small Arms Factory & the Lee–Enfield
Explains how the Enfield Lock factory (founded 1816) shaped British service weapons, notably the Lee–Enfield rifle used across two world wars.Look for factory marks and training pieces that show how interchangeable parts made rapid wartime production possible.
📍 Industry & innovation section
New River & London’s Thirst
Models, maps and artefacts tell how the 1613 ‘New River’ channel crossed Enfield to supply clean water to a growing London.Trace the artificial river’s course on a period map, then match it to modern place-names you might recognise.
📍 Early-modern Enfield case
Lightbulbs at Ponders End
Material from the Ediswan works at Ponders End links Enfield to early British electric-lamp manufacture and lighting design.Compare carbon-filament to later tungsten examples—tiny filament changes, big differences in brightness and life.
📍 Manufacture in the borough
First Cash Machine
Ephemera and imagery mark Enfield Town as the site of the world’s first automatic cash dispenser (1967).Spot period adverts explaining how to use an ATM—then cutting-edge public technology.
📍 Modern Enfield showcase
Inspire your Friends
- The ‘Enfield’ in Lee–Enfield isn’t just a name: trialling, tooling and proofing for the rifle family were centred on the Royal Small Arms Factory at Enfield Lock.
- The New River—completed in 1613—still flows through the borough on a partly open course; historic valves and measuring plates in displays show how its output was managed.
- At Ponders End, the Ediswan plant helped Britain move from carbon to tungsten filaments—examples in cases illustrate the step-change in efficiency.
- Barclays Bank in Enfield Town launched the first automated cash machine in 1967—museum graphics tie the global ATM story back to a single high-street branch.
