The village, which has many garden centres and plant nurseries, is centred 12.3 miles (20km) north of Charing Cross, is just south of the M25 motorway. In 2025 the government proposed a large new town at Crews Hill.
It is named from its association with the Crew family, mentioned in local records of the mid-18th century.[2]
John and Charles Crew, originally from Barnet, engaged in long and sometimes violent criminal careers in Enfield Chase.[3]
William Crew worked for a time as an employee of the Duchy of Lancaster, the owners of Enfield Chase who were often in conflict with the commoners and common rights of Enfield. Crew also had a long criminal career and engaged in long feuds with the Duchy and appears to have become a folk hero, or anti-hero as a result. William Crew lived to 104 and gave his name to Crews Hill.[4][5]
Crews Hill is part of the large Chase ward, which also covers Botany Bay, Clay Hill and Bulls Cross. In the 2011 census, 77% of the ward's population was white (64% British, 11% Other, 2% Irish), 5% was Black African and 3% Black Caribbean.[7]
On Whitewebbs Lane there is the Whitewebbs Museum of Transport. Further along the road is Whitewebbs Park. In April 2025 a 500-year-old oak tree was felled by pub chain Mitchells & Butlers, causing much criticism.[8] A section of Whitewebbs Park has been leased to Tottenham Hotspur who, despite objections, plan to fence off 16 hectares (40 acres) of parkland and build a training ground for the women's team, a new women's academy and a new clubhouse.[9][10]
Crews Hill originally had a large area of glasshouse production, to serve the nearby London market with cut flowers, pot plants and vegetables. As this became less economic, these sites transformed into a number of garden centres and retail nurseries. Describing the horticultural output of Crews Hill, journalist Ian Jack wrote: "The greenhouses at Crews Hill ('Britain's horticultural mile') used to supply London with flowers and salads. Then came garden centres. Now there are warehouses filled with flowers, chilled at a permanent 7C, the same temperature that has kept them fresh in the six-hour lorry and rail journey through the tunnel from the auctions in Holland."[11]
In September 2025, the government announced that a new town would be established at 'Crews Hill and Chase Farm'. The new town would include more than 20,000 houses with the intention of up to half being classified as 'Affordable Housing', meaning that sales or rental price would be discounted 20% from the market rate.[13][14]
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