Hampstead

 

Hampstead station is often the answer to a well asked quiz question as it is the deepest station on the underground network. Its platforms are 58.5m (192ft) below ground level. This is mainly because it is sited at the top of a steep hill. It also has the longest lift shaft measuring 55m (180 ft).

If you don't fancy the lift there are steps, all 320 of them. I wasn't tempted.

Just in case you are not quite sure how difficult it might be to climb 320 steps there is a warning.

The station was originally going to be called Heath Road but this was changed to Hampstead when it opened.

The worn platform tiles were replaced in 1998 but the original station name tiles were preserved.

The station was designed by Leslie Green and you can see his familiar green tiling in the ticket hall. 

Although the ticket counters are no longer in use I was pleased to see how well they had been preserved. Each of them has a different information panel describing the station's history. 

            

Once again the familiar ox red tiles and semi circular windows of a Leslie Green designed station. As you can see the station takes up a prominent corner position in the heart of Hampstead Village.

Directly opposite the station is the Clock Tower, a prominent feature of the town. It was built in 1873 and was originally the local fire station with a watch kept from the tower. It ceased being a fire station in 1915. the ground floor was converted to offices in 1923. Today it has commercial space on the ground floor and flats above.

I walked up Holly Hill at the side of the Clock Tower and saw the Holly Bush pub down a side street. This is a well known, popular pub in the area. It was originally built as the stables in the 1790s for the artist George Romney. Romney was a society portraitist. One of his 'muses was Emma Hart, the future Lady Emma Hart, mistress of Lord Nelson. Around 1807 it was converted into the catering wing for the local Assembly rooms which were now based in Romney's house. Lectures and debates were held here from such notables as Michael Faraday and John Constable.. In 1928 the building was converted into a pub. It was far too early in the day for me to venture inside.

Walking further up the lane I noticed these magnificent iron gates, the entrance to Fenton House. The house is one of the oldest in Hampstead and contains collections of fine paintings, porcelain and early keyboard instruments.

 It is now owned by the National Trust but is only open at weekends otherwise I would have paid a visit.

I've heard the gardens at the back are stunning but I'll have to return another day to explore those.

This Georgian mansion was built c1720 and was later named Cannon Hall. It was home to the George du Maurier  from 1874-95. The most famous of his family was his daughter, Daphne du Maurier (1907-1989) who wrote 'Rebecca' and 'Jamaica Inn'. Whoever owns and lives here now wishes to remain anonymous and no details are available. 

This house was once the home of James Galsworthy (1867-1933) who won the Nobel prize for literature in 1932. 


The neighbouring house is known as The Admiral's House and was built c1700. It was built for Charles Keys who lived here until his death in 1753. At that time the house was known as 'Golden Spikes' -something to do with the Masonic Lodge that used to meet here. In 1775 a Lieutenant Fountain North moved in and delighted the neighbours by firing cannons to celebrate naval victories and royal birthdays. It is said that the Australian author, P. L. Travers, another local resident, used the house as a basis for the Admiral's House in the book, Mary Poppins.  The house also featured on a number of paintings by John Constable who lived in the area. 

At the top of Holly Hill I came out at Whitestone Pond. Situated at 135m above the London Basin, Whitestone Pond is located at the summit of Hampstead Heath and marks the highest point in London.

At the other side of the pond is Jack Straws Castle. The earliest record of the building is of a coaching inn in 1713. It would have been used by travellers from London stopping to water their horses at the nearby Whitestone pond. No-one is quite sure of the origin of the name. It is thought it might be a reference to the leader of the Peasant's Revolt in 1381 or it might just refer to a countryman. In the mid 1800s it was a very popular pub with the likes of Charles Dickens and Karl Marx having been known to have drunk there.

The building suffered bomb damage during the 2nd World War and was rebuilt in 1964. Today it is no longer a pub but private apartments.

Behind Jack Straw's Castle is Hampstead Heath. The Heath is almost 800 acres in size and is visited by millions of visitors each year. The last station at Belsize Park, this station and the next one at Golders Green are all with walking distance of the Heath. From around 1000AD the Heath evolved into Common land for grazing and fuel collection. In the Middle Ages it became a Royal hunting ground. then in the 17th -18th centuries ponds were created by damming a river to serve as reservoirs for London and its growing population. The Heath still has 30 ponds, some of which are used for swimming. The Heath became known as the lungs of London and was a popular place for the affluent to escape the pollution of the 19th cent. The railways made the Heath more accessible to the general public and in 1871 an Act of Parliament protected 200 acres of the Heath from development. The Heath now covers approx 800 acres  with remnants of ancient woodland and hedgerows still in existence. It is home to several species of conservation importance with numerous species of birds, bats and butterflies to be found here.

I entered the North West corner of the Heath to the  via the Hill Garden and Pergola. This was the brainchild of Lord Leverhulme in the early 1900s. 

He made his fortune from the manufacture of soap and built a mansion here at the other side of the Pergola.

There is a raised stone walkway with pillars. below the walkway are landscaped gardens with the woodland and heathland beyond that. By 1960 the gardens were in a state of decline and were taken over by London County Council. They were restored and opened to the public in 1963. The house itself was bought by developers in the 1990s and turned into houses and flats.

There are stairs to take you to the top of the walkway.

It was the beginning of Autumn when I visited and it was stunning scenery. I could have stayed there for hours but I needed to move on. I returned to the road and found a signpost for the Vale of Health. I had never heard of this place before and walked across an open area and found this path.

This is still part of the Heath apparently but I had no idea what I would find.

First of all there was a pond and close by a small caravan park which is for fairground workers. No sign of a fairground here now. The land has been owned by the same family for more than a century.

Then there were just a couple of roads with houses. These were the Byron Villas where DH Lawrence, the author lived in 1915.

There were a few heritage plaques around. 

I'm not sure you could call this a village as there is no shop or any other facility as far as I could see, more of a hamlet I suppose. It has been a bit of a find. I have never heard of the Vale of Health and so had no idea of its existence. So pleased I followed the sign post. I found it quaint, old and dark in places. Atmospheric and serene in places especially around the pond but I couldn't see myself living here especially coming home in the dark.

The afternoon was wearing on and I needed to find my way out of the woodland and back into Hampstead village. Eventually I came out onto a main road which I crossed over and walked down Wells walk. As you can guess the name comes from the well that was here. The Chalybeate springs of Hampstead, known as Hampstead Wells, were documented from 1698.



There is a plaque that reads: 'To the memory of the Honorable Susanna Noel who with her son Baptist, the third earl of Gainsborough, gave this well together with six acres of land to the use and benefit of the Poor Of Hampstead, 20 December 1698' The result was the Hampstead Wells and Campden Trust. It was the Trust that advertised the health benefits of the water to boost the funds of the Trust.
With the fresh air and the mineral waters Hampstead began to develop. Rapid growth changed the tiny village into a small town.  Commercial use of the waters meant it could be bought from local hostelries. The water fountain is all that exists of the well and is no longer in use. On one side of the fountain is written 'Drink traveller and with strength renewed, let a kind thought be given to her who has they thirst subdued. Then render thanks to Heaven'. This was in reference to the charity that donated the land to the poor.

 

Many affluent people moved into the area. John Constable (1776-1837), the artist lived in this house.





Dating back to 1845 this building was once a grocers shop. This would have been the heart of the area when people shopped daily as well as a good place to catch up on the local gossip. It remained a grocers until the mid 1950s when the new owners opened it as a pottery shop. The Well Walk Pottery continued in business until 2019. A young couple decided to take over the building and convert it into a children's bookshop, cafe and puppet theatre. In 2025 they won a Stage Award for the Theatre Building of the Year.



I continued my walk and saw a sign for Burgh House. What interested me even more was that not only was it free entry but there was a cafe there. A very welcome sight as the walk today was much longer than I had anticipated. The House itself was of interest as it is one of Hampstead's oldest buildings having been erected in 1704.


The house was beautiful inside with a number of original features. There was also a special exhibition featuring Helen Oxenbury, the children's author and illustrator. I might share the photos of the exhibition on my other blog. This post is long enough.

 

Once refreshed with a cup of tea and a slice of cake I continued my  walk back to the station. This large building on Flask Walk was the Wells and Campden Baths. They were built in 1888 by the Wells and Campden Charity to provide laundry facilities as well as public bathing as most homes in the area would not have had running water. The public baths remained in use until 1978. A few years later the building was converted into residential use. The building is Grade II listed.

A little further on and I came to the Flask public House where in centuries past the local spa water would have been poured into flasks to be sold.


I am a short distance from Hampstead High Street and there are lots of interesting shops and cafes to enjoy.

I followed Bird in Hand Yard to the High Street which I crossed as I had heard that Church Row had much of interest.

Church Row is Hampstead's best preserved Georgian terrace. Dating from c1720 these four storey buildings were constructed to cope with the demand created by the chalybeate spa. A number of well known people have lived here. H. G. Wells, the author was a resident from 1909 to 1912. Lord Byron's lover, Lord Alfred Douglas also lived on this road.
                                                                                                     

At the end of the road is the church of St John. It is in the graveyard here that John Constable is buried. Inside the church is a marble bust to Keats which was installed by a group of American admirers in 1894

From Church Row I returned to the High Street and back to the station.

Hampstead was a great place to visit with so much to see. It was a long day and I was glad to be going home for a rest.