Hampstead is just one walk from the many to be found at London Tube Rambles. There are architectural gems, beautiful country views, historic places and whacky buildings to be found, even in the most unpromising areas covered by the Greater London Underground stations. Usually the places listed are within a mile of the Tube - often only five minutes walk away. If you enjoy this page, you might like to go to www.londontuberambles.co.uk to see the other destinations explored . You'll be amazed at what's out there!

HAMPSTEAD Northern Line (Edgware)
A full day's outing!

This is a much longer entry than usual. There is so much to see in Hampstead that I have only suggested a few of the most outstanding buildings – just keep your eyes open for intriguing bits and pieces as you go. There are also some excellent modern houses to look out for. The Underground station itself is interesting. It’s the deepest in London and the ticket hall retains the moulded olive green tiles of 1907.

















When you emerge to Hampstead High Street go left. Flask Walk, with its attractive mix of small shops and old cottages, is the first turning on the left. Further on it becomes Well Walk. Both these names reflect the history of the area. In the late seventeenth century chalybeate springs were discovered. Visitors could take the iron-flavoured water straight from the source, while at the nearby Flask Tavern it was bottled for sale elsewhere. Just before a small patch of grass you will see the quaint Flask Cottages – topped with a couple of crooked chimneys. If you look beyond the cottages to New End you will see the great bulk of the old workhouse/hospital, of which more later. The spa was run as a charity to help the poor of Hampstead. This was later amalgamated with other local charities and in Well Walk you will find their old public wash house and baths (1888) , now converted to housing. Hampstead abounds in plaques commemorating the great, the good and the artistic. The first one you will encounter is on No. 14 Well Walk , a late Victorian house, home to Marie Stopes, most famous for her pioneering work in birth control.

At New End Square you will find handsome Burgh House (1703). Now the local history museum which you might very well want to visit (see link for opening hours). Continue up Well Walk and cross Christchurch Hill to the nineteenth century Wells Tavern which has a board outside relating its part in the development of the area as a small spa. Further up at No. 40 is the house where Hampstead’s most famous artist, John Constable, lived. A little further up, No. 46 has a charming Gothick bay window. On the other side of the road is a drinking fountain of 1882 commemorating the springs which by the end of the eighteenth century had ceased to operate, having lost favour with the more fashionable patrons due to rowdy behaviour and a reputation for immorality.

After crossing Christchurch Hill turn left up narrow Well Passage and at Well Road turn right. Those with a taste for the bizarre will enjoy the enormous Victorian house, The Logs, which glowers on the corner opposite the Heath. Some might think it a good thing that this extraordinary house is half-hidden behind greenery - indeed the weird pile was described by the normally restrained Niklaus Pevsner as a ‘formidable atrocity’. The two modern houses nearby are easier on the eye. Retrace your steps and turn right up Cannon Lane to find the old Parish Lock-up (in use from about 1730 to 1830). Where the road forks bear left and then turn left into Cannon Place. Here you will find the grand eighteenth-century home of the actor Gerald du Maurier, complete with bronze seat sculpture by the front door - an intriguing piece. Cross Christchurch Hill and continue up to Hampstead Square. Like the other squares in Hampstead, it is hardly large enough to be dignified by the name, but its few early eighteenth century buildings are well worth seeing. On the corner is a tiny dark red brick block. This was built c 1730 and converted in 1986 to’ homes for the aged’. Next door is a Friends Meeting House in Arts & Crafts style. Bit mystified by the heavy black porch on the front of this otherwise pleasing building.


















Continue up the hill to Heath Street and use the crossing to reach the delightful group of cottages opposite. Go left up into The Mount, made famous by Ford Madox Brown’s early (1850’s ) social realism painting 'Work’ which depicted navvies laying sewer pipes(Click on the 'Work' website picture to enlarge.) On the right is a superb 1694 mansion, No. 6 Cloth Hill. Continue to the Mount Square and walk across it to reach Hampstead Grove. Cross to Admiral Walk to see the extraordinary white Admiral’s House (The Grove) Built in 1700, towards the end of the century it was occupied by an eccentric retired naval officer called Fountain North who constructed a quarterdeck on the roof and from there fired cannons to celebrate royal birthdays and naval victories. Constable painted a picture of the house and architect Giles Gilbert Scott lived there in the nineteenth century . Snuggling up to it is a cosy farmhouse, Grove Lodge, built at the same time as the Admiral’s House and lived in by novelist John Galsworthy from 1918 to 1933.


Turn right up Lower Terrace to find the enchanting eighteenth century house (No. 2) that John Constable lived in for a short time in the early 1820’s. From here he could see The Grove and produced the first of two paintings of the house. Return to Admiral Walk and go right down Hampstead Grove, which becomes Holly Bush Hill.

On the way is Fenton House (NT) with a walled garden. This late seventeenth-century merchant’s house has an outstanding collection of early keyboard instruments. An audition is required should you wish to play any of them - this condition was sensibly introduced not long after I bashed out some Bach on a couple of priceless exhibits many years ago.

The main road at the end of the hill is Frognal. Facing you is Mount Vernon. The dramatic blocks of flats that rear up in over-confident French chateau style were originally built in the 1880’s as a TB hospital to take advantage of Hampstead’s famous clean air (the top of Heath Street, is 420 feet above sea level). Cross Frognal carefully and take the railed path above the street to the left of the flats. From here there is a good view of artist George Romney’s house – the one with the weatherboarding. This was originally the stabling of No. 6 Cloth Hill. Continue on the raised path past Mount Vernon Cottages. Next door to these is the eighteenth century house, formerly a girls’ school, where Robert Louis Stevenson once lived. By the side of the house is a downward path, Holly Walk. The Watch House near the top, was home to the first Hampstead Police Force, formed in the 1830’s. Some unfortunate additions in the shape of so-what-ish spindly iron balconies.





A bit further down is an unusual Roman Catholic Church. St. Mary’s (1816) is tiny, but impressive. The tall stuccoed façade is a later addition of 1850 and has a niche with statue of the Virgin, plus a bellcote above. It is not just unusual architecturally speaking, but is an early example of a Catholic church, since it was not until 1829 that 'Papists' were granted full civil rights in England, Wales and Scotland. Although the somewhat out-of-scale facade sits slightly uneasily in the middle of a plain terrace, it is a most appealing set of buildings. Keep going down the fairly steep slope , past a churchyard. At the end of the road, cross Church Row to the brick-built Parish church of St. John (1745-47) and have a wander round the graveyard. You will find John Constable’s tomb in the south-east corner of the churchyard, up against a brick wall. Go back to the road and turn right to see splendid Church Row. These terraces were built in the early eighteenth century and were used as country retreats for Londoners and by visitors to the spa. An oddity; on the north side No. 5 has a large weatherboarded bay.


At the bottom of Church Row turn left down Hampstead High Street and make your way back towards the Underground. But don’t go home just yet! Walk past the Tube station (Heath Street) and up the hill for about five minutes – it’s packed with fascinating houses - until you are opposite The Mount. The large building on the corner of New End is the old workhouse/hospital. Just before turning right into New End, look between the hopsital and a small shop to see a large round structure. This is the Rotunda (1880’s) a huge circular ward with central chimney. The impressive hospital buildings of 1849, with a dignified pedimented frontage, have now been converted into gated housing units. I wonder if the inhabitants realise that the little theatre opposite was once the mortuary and that the tunnel under the road was used for the discreet conveyance of corpses. The building on the corner, dated 1853, was once the dispensary and soup kitchen. The plaque records that it was erected in thanksgiving for the parish’s escape from the cholera epidemic of 1849. Now a prep school. Go right at this corner, continuing down New End where the architecture is an entertaining assortment of styles. Turn right again down Streatley Place, an alleyway. This is dominated by the old workhouse chimney and by New End Primary School. This massive building, designed to cater for 612 children, is one of the most daunting Edwardian examples of a London Board School. It is still in use, with a roll of about 400.



Now for Mansfield Place - look for the wrought-iron lamp arch - one of many in Hampstead - on the right. This is one of the strangest ‘streets’ of Hampstead, being a cul-de-sac lined with cottages which ends with steps up to the front door of a larger house. The access to the cottages is only a flagstone wide, while the ample gardens with their wooden fences seem to belong to a country town. Towering over all, is the forbidding mass of the old workhouse/hospital. On the other side of Streatley Place are blocks of Victorian tenements. Towards the end of the Streatley Place are some steps (those needing to avoid these can return to New End and go down past the back of the school via Boade Mews, though this is quite a steep downward slope.) Once back in Heath Street go left to return to the Underground.

Although it's great that Hampstead has retained a lot of its pre-Victorian tangled street layout, it does make it slightly difficult to navigate, so you might like to print out the map before you set off.
Also, please note that parts of Hampstead (including Kenwood) are hilly enough to cause some problems for wheelchair users.



Kenwood House (English Heritage)is worth a separate visit to Hampstead. The eighteenth century mansion itself is about twenty minutes walk from the station, but much of this is over Hampstead Heath and through the landscaped grounds of Kenwood. From the Tube turn right up Heath Street and proceed to the junction with Spaniards Road. Take the right-hand fork and enter the Heath by the cycle track, just after Heath House. (Ignore the first pathway with steps). After a few minutes take the path off to the left through woodland and soon you will catch your first glimpse of Kenwood House – a wonderful sight.

MAP
© DR2008

Photos:
Flask Cottages: shops in Flask Walk: Burgh House
Cottages in Heath Street: Admiral's House:
Lower Terrace: Fenton House:
St. Mary's RC church
Church Row: New End Hospital
Mansfield Place
Kenwood House.