Seven Sisters Road in the Urban Area of Stoke Newington in the Urban Area of South Tottenham in the Urban Area of Finsbury Park

The Origins of the Seven Sisters

Seven has always been a magical number. The Pleiades, a constellation of seven stars, have since classical times been known as the Seven Sisters (Septem Sorores in Latin).

By the 15th century, the Seven Sisters appeared in European folklore as seven Fever Demons, each associated with a different type of illness. Magical seals to ward off the sisters can still be found in English Books of Hours, such as The Hours of the Virgin Mary, produced in London in 1410.

By medieval times, north of London near the village of Tottenham and its High Cross, there stood a hamlet called Page Green. It lay adjacent to the Four Mile Stone, marking the distance to the City of London.

At Page Green once stood the Hermitage and Chapel of St. Anne, a monastic cell belonging to the Priory of Holy Trinity in Aldgate. According to Old and New London (1878), the Hermitage was located on the east side of the High Road, just south of Tottenham Cross, with a narrow strip of land running down to a circle of trees known as the Seven Sisters.

In addition to the Hermitage and the milestone, there was once an inn called the Seven Sisters , and in front of it stood a grove of mature elm trees planted in a circle around a central walnut tree.

One tradition claims a Christian martyr was burned on the site, and that the trees were planted as a memorial, a story first recorded by Rev. William Bedwell, vicar of Tottenham from 1607 to 1632.

Another tale recalls that seven sisters were staying at the inn, and when the time came for them to part, each planted a tree as a token of remembrance.

This story is echoed in a monument in All Hallows Church, Tottenham, which commemorates Maria, wife of Sir Richard Barkham, who died in 1644. Her monument shows seven kneeling daughters, and later traditions associate these daughters with the origin of the tree planting at Page Green, although the date of the monument postdates Bedwell’s account.

Historical maps from 1619 and 1798 show tree clusters at Page Green. Locals believed the trees to be over 500 years old by the time they disappeared in the 19th century. The walnut tree survived the longest, outliving the elms by many years.

A further legend suggests the original sisters were daughters of Robert Bruce, King of Scotland, who once held the manor of Tottenham.

The Replanting's

• In 1852, the McRae sisters planted a new circle of seven trees, though not on the original site.
• In 1886, the Hibbert sisters repeated the ritual at a second site.
• The last surviving Hibbert sister died in 1955, and in 1956, the Basten sisters carried out the third ceremonial planting.

A persistent local belief holds that each tree is mystically bound to the sister who plants it, and that the trees can only be replanted once all of the previous sisters have passed away.

The site of the original trees on the left and the 1886 replanting to the right. (Source: Esri, Maxar, Earthstar Geographics)

Does anyone know more about the Chapel of St Anne and Hermitage which seems to be linked to the Seven Sisters or know who the Martyr was? I'd love to learn more.

David