Hampstead

Hampstead is one of London’s most attractive residential suburbs occupying a leafy north London hilltop area. This picturesque neighbourhood is in travel zone 2 and has both Underground and Overground Rail stations. It stretches from Belsize Park and Parliament Hill to Golders Green, and from Gospel Oak and Highgate to Finchley Road. Hampstead extends into Hampstead Heath, a vast woodland area with lakes and meadows.

At the top of a broad, winding High Street is the charming Hampstead Village. The densely built centre presents a wide mix of high-valued dwellings from Georgian townhouses, Victorian mansions and cottages to contemporary villas, family townhouses and artists’ studios. Cobbled streets, squares and narrow alleyways provide an intimate village atmosphere rarely found elsewhere in the capital.

Hampstead is a wealthy, affluent district that has been home to a fascinating number of public figures, scholars, authors, and artists including John Keats, D.H. Lawrence, John Galsworthy, Sigmund Freud, Henry Moore, Ben Nicholson and Barbara Hepworth.

History

Forested area with natural resources, Hampstead remained a rural district until the end of the 17th century. Considered healthy suburban area overflowing with ‘medicinal waters’, Hampstead attracted rich merchants and high society of Regency London fleeing the City during the Great Plague (1665-1666). To escape the grimy, polluted City of London, new residents bought land and built grand houses. Its expansion and development are linked to major North London transport projects: the Finchley Road route completed in the 1830s, the arrival of the North London Line in 1860, and the Northern Line Hampstead station opened in 1907. In 1888 Hampstead became part of London and in 1965, part of the Borough of Camden.

Culture and Entertainment

Beautifully preserved heritage sites provide Hampstead with attractive historic attractions. Period houses such as Fenton House, Burgh House and Kenwood House display outstanding collections of paintings, artefacts and objects giving a fascinating insight into the history of the area. Modern architectural projects such as the Bauhaus-inspired Isokon Lawn Road by Coats Wells,  2 Willow Road by Arno Goldfinger, and Highpoint I & II by Berthold Lubetkin provide Hampstead with superb examples of early 20th century buildings. Many historic sites serve a variety of very popular open-air events and festivals attracting audience from all over the world.

Hampstead village has its parade of designer shops, an antique market, local butchers, patisseries, fruit and veg markets, restaurants, jazz clubs, art galleries and studios, traditional-style pubs, a theatre and two cinemas.

Another lively village square is at South End Green, close to Hampstead Heath Overground station and one of many entrances into the Heath.

North of the village is the charming Frognal with Hampstead Parish church – the resting place of John Constable, John Harrison and Llewelyn Davies family who inspired Barrie’s Peter Pan story.

To the east of the village is the vast Hampstead Heath with over 20 ponds (including bathing ponds), recreational fields, and beautiful meadows. To the north is West Heath, and to the south is Belsize Park where the Royal Free Hospital.

Developments

Hampstead Manor

617 Finchley Road

Novel House

Belsize Park Firehouse

Theatre Square

Skylark Court

O2 Centre

Pubs, Restaurants, Bars

Hollybush, The Wells, The Flask, The Horseshoe, The Freemans, The Spaniards Inn.

Schools

Secondary schools:

The Henrietta Barnett School in Hampstead Garden Suburb

Haverstock

North Bridge House

Primary schools

Hampstead Parochial CofE School (Good)

Christ Church Primary (Outstanding)

Heathside Preparatory School

University College School

Council

Camden

For the latest Camden Council tax rates see HERE

Transport:

Travel Zone 2

Hampstead and Belsize Park are both on the Northern Line, London Underground, Edgware branch.

Hampstead Heath is serviced by London Overground trains with services to Stratford, Richmond and Clapham Junction.

Roads: Hampstead is well connected to A1 and the A41 routes and has straightforward access to North Circular and M1 motorway.

Busses:

24, 168, 46, 268, C11, 603

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