The station was opened in 1848 by the Eastern Counties Railways as "Enfield". A house which stood on the site since the late 17th century is said to have been the birthplace of Isaac D'Israeli (father of Benjamin Disraeli) and later to have become a school, where John Keats was educated. It became the station house before being demolished in 1872 when the GER opened the Bethnal Green to Enfield 'short-cut'. The fine seventeenth-century brickwork facade, once attributed to Sir Christopher Wren, was dismantled, and reconstructed in the South Kensington Museum. Its place was taken by a brick station building with an attached station-master's house and a walled forecourt. This in turn was replaced in 1957 by the present building by the British Railways architect H. H. Powell. Enfield was recorded in Domesday Book in 1086 as Enefelde, and as Einefeld in 1214, Enfeld in 1293, and Enfild in 1564: that is 'open land of a man called Ēana', or 'where lambs are reared', from the Old English feld with an Old English personal name or with Old English ēan 'lamb'. The feld would have been a reference to an area cleared of trees within woodland later to become Enfield Chase. After the Norman Conquest, both Enfield and Edmonton were mentioned in Domesday Book. Both had churches, and Enfield had 400 inhabitants, Edmonton 300.
Enfield is also described as having a "parc". This parc—a heavily forested area for hunting—was key to Enfield's existence in the Middle Ages. Wealthy Londoners came to Enfield first to hunt, and then to build houses in the green, wooded surroundings. In 1303, Edward I of England granted Enfield a charter to hold a weekly market, which has continued up to this day. The old market cross was removed in the early 20th century to make way for a monument to the coronation of King Edward VII, but was preserved by the horticulturalist E. A. Bowles for his garden at nearby Myddelton House, where it remains today. Enfield Grammar School with its Tudor Old Hall stands next to the Enfield Town Market Place and St. Andrew's Church, the school having been extended several times since 1586. A new hall and further additions were completed shortly before World War II. Nearby historically was the palace of Edward VI, where Elizabeth I lived while a princess, including during the final illness of Henry VIII. Edward was taken there to join her, so that in the company of his sister, Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of Hertford could break the news to Edward, formally announcing the death of their royal father in the presence chamber at Enfield, on his knees to make formal obeisance to the boy as King. The typical off-peak service from the station is two trains per hour to London Liverpool Street. In the peak times four trains each hour serve the station and there is even more trains serving the station on Tottenham Hotspur's match days. Enfield Town station has entry/exit barriers which require passengers to use their Oyster/Freedom passes. Unusually for this line, there are no stairs at Enfield Town, as the platforms are at street level. On 31 May 2015 the station transferred from Abellio Greater Anglia to London Overground Rail Operations. This change to London Overground will mean that Freedom Pass holders will be able to use their passes at any time, as on the Underground, thus avoiding the need to additionally carry an Oyster card when making journeys prior to 9:30a.m. The station is in Travel Card Zone 5. The station has wi-fi, payphones, boarding ramps, a waiting room, cash machines, help points and toilets.
Connections: London Buses routes 121, 191, 192, 231, 307, 313, 317, 329, 377, W8, W9 and W10 and night route N29 serve the station.
