Right in the heart of the Tottenham community, even incorporating White Hart Lane stadium, this neighbourhood falls mainly into the ward of Northumberland Park. It is the most deprived ward in London and in the top 5 most deprived in the country, with unusually high levels of unemployment and crime. This predominantly residential area is made up of mainly post-war and more modern council housing, alongside a number of typically suburban Edwardian semi-detached houses towards the south, and to the east lies the Tottenham Marshes and barren industrial roads. At 7 miles from Liverpool Street, Northumberland Park can feel rather isolated from the rest of the city, and travel can be quite limited with Northumberland Park Station operating just Lea Valley line trains. Despite this, the area is considered by the council to possess a strong community sense, and White Hart Lane, the home of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, brings the local population together around the team. It has also been singled out as a site of priority regeneration, with the local government paying special attention to providing much-needed youth facilities, improvements to schools, and affordable housing.

Originally the area that Northumberland Park now occupies was almost entirely rural, with few houses apart from the ominously named Black House, a medieval mansion owned by the dukes of Northumberland, who subsequently gave the area its name. Northumberland Park station was opened in 1842 as Marsh Lane, and operated on the Northern and Eastern railway network, named after the Tottenham Marshes which once acted as a flood plain for the River Lea. An arcing road on the former grounds of the Black House was laid in the 1850s and named Northumberland Park, and was quickly occupied by upper-middle-class city workers who wanted a retreat from busy city life. White Hart Lane was opened in 1899 and kickstarted the area’s long footballing heritage and rivalries with nearby Arsenal and Chelsea. Factories began to be established in the area and Northumberland Park became an important industrial zone for the Second World War, which continued to be so for a long while after, until industry was cut back and factories replaced by blocks of flats that remain today.

Walter Tull (1888-1918), one of the most esteemed and important English footballers to play in the Football League, lived at 77 Northumberland Park from at least 1910. He was scouted by Tottenham Hotspur whilst playing at amateur club Clapton FC, and signed for Spurs in 1909, making him the third person of mixed heritage ever to play in the top division of English football. He was also the first mixed heritage player to play in Latin America after Tottenham Hotspur went on a tour of Argentina and Uruguay. He later signed for Northampton Town under the famous manager Herbert Chapman, before becoming reportedly the first “coloured” infantry officer in the British Army and being recommended for the Military Cross before his death on the battlefield in 1918.

The regeneration of White Hart Lane stadium will see it become the largest capacity club stadium in London with a capacity of 61,559, and will include a huge 17,500 capacity single tier seating bowl, the first of its kind in the country.

Northumberland Park was responsible for the highest ‘Remain’ vote in London during the Brexit referendum with a staggering 85%. Its substantial multicultural population could have been a factor in making it the 3rd highest ‘Remain’ vote in the country.

While it may initially seem difficult to provide much good in London’s most deprived ward, with high crime rates and ongoing gang-related murder cases, local residents seem hopeful about the future of Northumberland Park. New youth facilities and better schooling, some of which will be funded by Tottenham Hotspur itself will seek to curtail much of Northumberland Park’s poor reputation.

One of the factors hampering Northumberland Park’s process of regeneration is its poor transport links. However, the introduction of the controversial Crossrail 2, which is set to pass through Northumberland Park station, could be the answer the area is looking for. Nonetheless, despite £1.8 billion being invested in the project in 2020 it is unclear when the project will materialise as plans have been underconsideration in different forms since the 1970s. The new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium has also provided a huge boost to the area, replacing the old White Hart Lane ground with one of the most advanced stadiums in the world. Development has therefore begun to spread northwords from the fashionable Tottenham Hale. The ambitious Heart of Hale scheme on Watermead Way is actually much closer to Northumberland Park than the name suggests, promising over 1,000 new homes in the area upon completion in 2024.