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.

Belsize Park

 

This is the 23rd station on the Northern line and the 213th station on the Underground system that I have visited so far. I have never been to this part of London before so I was interested to see what I might find. Apparently the name is derived from the French bel assis (beautifully situated). The station opened in 1907  to serve a developing residential area from what used to be farmland.

Being built prior to the iconic roundel sign with the station's name at its centre, the name of the station is included in the wall tiles. 

Belsize Park is a deep level underground station and there are lifts taking you up and down to the platforms. 

The lifts were replaced in the late 1980s.

If you are feeling energetic there are steps you can take.

The station was designed by Leslie Green. The familiar green ceramic tiles are the same design as in some of his other stations on this line.

The distinctive ox-blood red tiles and semi circular windows  are indicative of Green's underground stations. During the Blitz the stations deep tunnels were used as air raid shelters. By 1944 it had space for up to 8000 people. Belsize Park is one of just 8 London Underground stations that house deep level air raid shelters which were built in the early years of the war by London Transport. The entrances can be seen close by.

The tunnels are now used for data storage and are not accessible to the public.

I exited the station onto a wide tree lined road, Haverstock Hill, with lots of cafes, bars and restaurants.

The community notice board advertised lots of forthcoming events.

The post box topper greatly improved the look of the pillar box.

In amongst the bars and cafes on the Haverstock Hill is the Everyman Cinema. The Screen on the Hill was built on part of the site of the former Odeon which had a central entrance in the centre of a parade of shops and flats. It opened in 1977 and was the first of the luxury style Everyman cinemas. 

Further along the Haverstock Hill is the Old Town Hall. The Old Town Hall was built as a Vestry Hall in 1876 used for local government functions. Apparently the interior still has many of the original Victorian details including the elaborate staircase and Victorian floor tiles. the hall's first function was to host the Cambridge local examination for Women and the first parish council meeting took place a few months after it opened. At the beginning of the 20th century there was an increase in the work of local government and the Borough of Hampstead was established. The Vestry Hall became a Town Hall and was extended in 1910. In the 1960s Hampstead was amalgamated into the London Borough of Camden and although the Town Hall here carried out certain civic duties by the 1990s it had fallen into disrepair. When it became a listed building in 1994 there was a campaign to save it run by 'The friends of Hampstead Old Town Hall'. Largely due to their efforts the Old Town Hall is now an arts centre

I left the Hill to have a look at some of the houses down the side roads.

In the 19th cent the area attracted the middle classes. Many roads had very large houses but I noticed that a large number of them have been converted into flats now.

Then in the 1930s avant garde British artists such as Ben Nicholson, Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore moved into the area, I found the house where Moore had lived and worked.

  

 

Continental artists fleeing Nazi Germany also moved into the area.

Round about the same time in 1934, the Isokon was built, a landmark in modernist architecture. The idea behind it was the minimalist approach to living. The living space was carefully calculated to be the least needed by a 'rational, modern person'. Each flat consisted of a bedsitting area, bathroom, dressing room and all electric kitchenette decorated with Isokon's company furniture. Isokon attracted the writers and artists fleeing Nazi Germany such as Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius and sculptor Laszlo Moholy-Nagy as well as home grown writers such as Agatha Christie. The building also had communal facilities such as a bar, clubhouse and a canteen with a resident cook, Philip Harben, who later became one of the first TV chefs. The building's international and transient nature also made it a base for some Soviet agents including Arnold Deutsch, who recruited the Cambridge Five.

 

I crossed back over Haverstock Hill and walked down Lyndhurst Road and found a large property with lots of flags outside. It turned out to be the World Centre for the Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts. There have been three world centres in London. One in 1939 (Our Ark), Olave House in 1959 and this one, Pax Lodge in 1991. It was decided in the 1930s that as more than one million girls and young women had already joined the Girl Guiding group with many of them visiting London, they needed a place to stay and that was the start of the World Centres. 

This centre was named 'Pax Lodge' as a tribute to the Baden-Powells. The Latin word for peace, pax, was included in the name for their homes both in London and Paxtu in Kenya. Since opening, hundreds of thousands of guides have visited from around the world. 

I crossed back over Haverstock Hill and walked down Pond Street. The badge above the door and the shape of this building required further research.  

Although now a community gym this building began as two houses built around 1760 but was altered around 1811. In the 1900s it was converted  to become the headquarters for the First Cadet battalion of the Royal Fusiliers. It was a drill hall and military store for the cadets and that's when it got the name The Armoury. When it ceased being the Cadets' Headquarters it was converted into offices for civilian use. A partnership deal was achieved in 2013 between the Jubilee Hall Trust and The Royal Free Charity:

We are delighted that the Royal Free Charity has stepped in to help us to secure the future of The Armoury as a community gym, which enables more than 2,000 Camden residents – many of them disadvantaged – to be more active. The uncertainty over the last few months has made things very difficult for us, and we are grateful for the outstanding support of our gym members, our staff and many other local people. We look forward to working in partnership with the Royal Free Charity, to continue to build a healthier community in Camden for the foreseeable future.”

Jubilee Hall Trust

Across the road fr.om the Armoury is The Royal Free Hospital. The hospital was founded in 1828 by William Marsden, a nearly qualified surgeon who was shocked that he could not find treatment for a penniless poor woman. He founded the hospital on the principle that it would provide free healthcare to those who could not afford medical treatment. This was the first hospital in London to provide free care. In 1837 it was given the title 'Royal' by Queen Victoria in recognition of its work with cholera patients. It was the only hospital in London to stay open during the cholera epidemics. It was also the first hospital in London to accept female medical students in 1857.

I continued to the bottom of Pond St and round the corner on South End Road, I spotted this ghost sign on one of the buildings. This is an old hand painted advertisement for the London and North Eastern Railway. The sign reads: L.N.E.R: King's Cross for Scotland: Shortest and Quickest. The LNER was formed in 1922 and existed until the nationalisation of the railways in 1948. Although now British Rail no longer exists we are back to LNER rail for trains to the North East and Scotland, so the advert is relevant once again.

I followed the road round and realised I was on the edge of Hampstead Heath and the Hampstead Ponds. Hampstead Heath is a large area of woodland and grassland and within it there are a series of ponds. The main ponds were originally dug in the 17th and 18th centuries as reservoirs. These ones are the Hampstead ones with  larger ones on the other side of the Heath. There are three main ponds here. Pond number 3 is a mixed bathing pond. Pond number 1 is a nature/wildlife pond whilst this one is pond number 2 which permits angling. The ponds over the other side of the Heath  are also used for swimming.

I returned to South End Road and followed a sign for Keats House.

The house was built in 1814-1816 as two semi detached houses. John Keats moved into one of them in !818. The following year Fanny Brawne and her family moved in next door and Keats and fanny became engaged. It was here he wrote 'Ode to a Nightingale' and 'The Eve of St Agnes'. In 1820 he was diagnosed with tuberculosis and moved to the warmer climate of Italy but died the following year aged just 25. In 1925 after a public fund raising effort the house was opened to the public as a museum.

I enjoyed my walk today and discovered some new parts of London.