Although this club is not a listed building, it is the oldest non-affiliated private members’ club in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1820 as the Southgate Reading Society and was at that time based in the Old School House, Blue Row, South Street (halfway down Winchmore Hill Road). The Club amassed 2,500 books and 38 watercolour paintings and moved locations into larger and larger premises until 1850 when it settled in one of the trustees’ (Mr Long) residence and changed its name from the Southgate and Winchmore Hill Library to the Southgate Reading Room and Library. The Club was used as the headquarters of the Southgate Nondescript Cycle Club in 1882. This became the Southgate Cycling Club in 1886. In 1888 the Southgate Reading Room and Library commissioned Arthur Roland Barker to design a new premises for them. He also designed Palmers Green Town Hall and many other buildings in London. Membership was open to males over 18 years old. Lady members could use the library but not the recreation room. No intoxicating liquor could be sold on the premises but this rule was revoked in 1921. Local sports clubs and village associations were allowed to use the reading room and library but political and sectarian meetings were (and still are) barred, although there was a debating society. The ideal of the founders was to promote a non class based organisation. When alcohol was introduced to the Club lady members were barred until very recently. At its Annual General Meeting on 27 April 2013 the Club welcomed back its first full lady member. Back in 1931 the premises were enlarged and altered, adding a bar, a new recreation room and lavatory accommodation. In 1932 the ‘new’ Southgate Social Club came into existence. In 1947 its name changed to The Southgate Club Limited. Much of the Club’s historic documents were lost during the blitz when in 1941 the Club’s solicitor’s office in King Street, Cheapside, was destroyed by a German V2 flying bomb. Sir Winston Churchill is known to have visited the Club on more than one occasion. The Club still has the original snooker table provided by Sir Thomas Lipton of Lipton Teas fame. The Club has featured many exhibition snooker matches, including players such as Alex Higgins, Dennis Taylor and Doug Mountjoy. In 1980 the Club building was extended towards Crown Lane and the ‘new’ function room is now used for private hire, weddings, parties and the popular tribute nights held each month which are open to everyone. The current building is one of the oldest in Southgate and is part of the Southgate Circus Conservation Area.

The WhatPub link is here: WhatPub/Southgate Club

The Southgate Club featured on the Chasing in Lanes, Greens, Hills and Fields: Daytime Tour of Palmers Green, Southgate and Enfield on 17 February 2024.