Coordinates: 51°33′15″N 0°10′28″W / 51.5541, -0.1744

Hampstead
Hampstead shown within Greater London
OS grid reference	TQ265855
London borough	Camden
Ceremonial county	Greater London
Region	London
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	LONDON
Postcode district	NW3
Dialling code	020
Police	Metropolitan
Fire	London
Ambulance	London
European Parliament	London
UK Parliament	Hampstead and Highgate
London Assembly	Barnet and Camden
List of places: UK • England • London

Hampstead is an area of London, England, located 4 miles (6.4 km) north-west of Charing Cross. It is part of the London Borough of Camden. It is situated within Inner London. It is known for its intellectual, artistic, musical and literary associations and for the large and hilly parkland Hampstead Heath. It is also home to some of the most expensive housing in the London area, or indeed anywhere in the world, with large houses regularly listed for sale at over twenty million pounds sterling (about US$40 million in 2008). The village of Hampstead has more millionaires within its boundaries than any other area of Britain¹.

Etymology

The name comes from the Anglo-Saxon words hæmpe and stede, meaning "settlement near pigs".

History

Although early records of Hampstead can be found in a grant by King Ethelred the Unready to the monastery of St. Peter’s at Westminster (AD 986) and it is referred to in the Domesday Book (1086), the history of Hampstead is generally traced back to the 17th century.

Trustees of the Well started advertising the medicinal qualities of the chalybeate waters (water impregnated with iron) in 1700. Although Hampstead Wells was initially most successful and fashionable, its popularity declined in the 1800s due to competition with other fashionable London spas. The spa was demolished in 1882, although a water fountain was left behind.

Mount Vernon, Hampstead

Hampstead started to expand following the opening of the North London Railway in the 1860s (now the London Overground with passenger services operated by Transport for London), and expanded further after the Charing Cross, Euston & Hampstead Railway opened in 1907 (now part of London Underground's Northern Line) and provided fast travel to central London.

Much luxurious housing was created during the 1870s and 1880s, in the area that is now the political ward of Frognal & Fitzjohns. Much of this housing remains to this day.

During the 20th Century, a number of notable buildings were created. These include:

• Hampstead tube station (1907), incidentally the deepest station on the entire Underground network;
• Isokon building (1932)
• Hillfield Court (1932)
• 2 Willow Road (1938)
• Hampstead Theatre (1962)
• Swiss Cottage Leisure Centre (1964)
• Swiss Cottage Central Library (1964)
• Royal Free Hospital (1974)

Of these, the Hampstead Theatre relocated in 2003 to the present Swiss Cottage site (increasing capacity from 140 to 325 seats) and the Swiss Cottage leisure centre was closed for rebuilding in 2003 and reopened in 2006.

Cultural attractions in the area include the Freud Museum, Keats' House, Kenwood House, Fenton House, The Isokon building, and the Camden Arts Centre. The large Victorian Hampstead Library and Town Hall was recently converted and extended as a creative industries centre.

Though now considered an integral part of London, Hampstead has retained much of its village atmosphere and charm, with Hampstead High Street playing a vital role in the day to day life of a Hampsteadian.

On 14 August 1975 Hampstead entered the UK Weather Records with the Highest 155-min total rainfall at 169 mm. As of July 2006 this record remains.

Mark Pevsner, the grandson of Sir Nicholas Pevsner, described Hampstead as "a large collection of roads and passages which don't go in straight lines, houses of different ages, many of them good architecture but more often it's just the way they fit together, full of nice vistas and surprises. Hampstead is a huge collection of twists and turns."²

The area is now home to one of the largest Kings College London residences, Hampstead Campus (University of London).

Politics

Hampstead became part of the County of London in 1889 and in 1899 the Metropolitan Borough of Hampstead was formed. The borough town hall on Haverstock Hill, which was also the location of the Registry Office, can be seen in newsreel footage of many celebrity civil marriages. In 1965 the metropolitan borough was abolished and is former area merged with that of the Metropolitan Borough of Holborn and the Metropolitan Borough of St Pancras to form the modern-day London Borough of Camden.

Hampstead is part of the Hampstead and Highgate constituency and since 1992 the member of parliament has been the former actress Glenda Jackson of the Labour Party.

The area has a significant tradition of educated liberal humanism, sometimes referred to (occasionally disparagingly) as "Hampstead Liberalism".

The area is also home to the left-wing Labour magazine, Tribune and the satirical magazine the Hampstead Village Voice.

Notable current and former residents

It has been suggested that this article be split into multiple articles accessible from a disambiguation page. (Discuss)

Hampstead has long been known as a residence of the intelligentsia, including writers, composers, and intellectuals, actors, artists and architects — many of whom created a bohemian community in the late 19th century. In the 1930s it became base to a community of avant garde artists and writers and was host to a number of émigrés and exiles from Nazi Europe.

Freud's sofa, at 20 Maresfield Gardens, Hampstead

Famous past inhabitants have included:

• Lord Edgar Adrian—nobel-prize winning physiologist³
• Sir Kingsley Amis — novelist and poet⁴
• Martin Amis—writer; son of Kingsley
• Sir Alan Ayckbourn - playwright
• Sir A. J. Ayer — philosopher, philanderer
• Michael Ayrton – artist, sculptor, painter
• Nigel Balchin – writer, psychologist
• Sir Arnold Bax — impressionist composer ⁵
• Cecil Beaton — society man, fashion photographer, style icon⁶
• John S. Beckett — musician, composer and conductor
• Sybille Bedford — writer, essayist ⁷
• Sir Isaiah Berlin— philosopher, historian of ideas, man of letters⁸
• Sir John Betjeman—poet⁹
• William Blake — poet, painter, writer, mystic¹⁰
• Arthur Bliss — composer
• Dirk Bogarde — actor ¹¹
• Arthur Boyd — Australian painter and sculptor¹²
• Marcel Breuer — modernist Hungarian architect and refugee
• Sir Richard Burton — explorer¹³
• Richard Burton—Hollywood actor¹⁴
• Lord Byron — poet¹⁵
• Elias Canetti — nobel prize winning novelist¹⁶
• John le Carré — author¹⁷
• Dame Agatha Christie — author¹⁸
• Lord Clark— art-historian
• Samuel Taylor Coleridge— romantic poet and philosopher¹⁹
• John Constable — artist ²⁰
• Peter Cook — writer and comedian²¹
• Milein Cosman — artist
• Charles de Gaulle — leader of the Free French Forces during WW2
• Charles Dickens — author²²
• Jacqueline du Pré — cellist²³
• Daphne du Maurier²⁴
• Sir Edward Elgar — composer²⁵
• T. S. Eliot — poet
• Sir William Empson— poet and renowned man of letters²⁶
• Marianne Faithfull²⁷
• Ian Fleming — author, creator of James Bond²⁸
• John Fowles — novelist, lived on Church Row for many years²⁹
• Anna Freud³⁰
• Lucian Freud — artist
• Sigmund Freud — psychoanalyst and philosopher³¹
• Naum Gabo — artist³²
• John Galsworthy—Nobel Prize winning novelist¹⁹
• Hugh Gaitskell — renowned leader of the Labour Party (1955-63)²⁴
• Margaret Gardiner — artist, friend of Barbara Hepworth and partner of Professor John Desmond Bernal
• Ernő Goldfinger — architect³³
• Sir Ernst Gombrich — art historian, man of letters ³⁴
• Walter Gropius — architect and designer³⁵
• Thom Gunn — poet³⁶
• Audrey Hepburn — actress
• Barbara Hepworth³⁷
• Freddie Highmore— actor
• Leonard Trelawny Hobhouse— sociologist
• Elizabeth Jane Howard— novelist and actress ⁴
• Sir Andrew Huxley — nobel laureate ³⁸
• Aldous Huxley — novelist, spiritualist
• Leigh Hunt — romantic poet³⁹
• Mahomed Ali Jinnah founding father of Pakistan and a notable barrister ⁴⁰
• Samuel Johnson— poet, aphorist, essayist, biographer, lexicographer, wit - typically known as 'Dr Johnson' ⁴¹
• John Keats — poet⁴²
• Hans Keller — musician and writer⁴³
• Lillie Langtry⁴⁴
• D. H. Lawrence — author¹⁹
• Doris Lessing nobel prize winning novelist⁴⁵
• Lord Leverhulme William Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme, soapmaker and philanthropist
• Berthold Lubetkin⁴⁶
• Anna Mahler — sculpturess and daughter of composer Gustav Mahler⁴⁷
• Ramsay MacDonald— former Prime Minister ²⁴
• Thomas Mawson Landscape gardener, founder of the Landscape Institute, Designer of the garden of Lord Leverhulme's The Hill House in Hampstead
• Lord Yehudi Menuhin — violinist, conductor, child-prodigy, virtuoso ⁴⁸
• A. A. Milne — author of "Winnie the Pooh"⁴⁹
• Sir Jonathan Miller⁵⁰
• Lee Miller — photographer, fashion model, actress, war correspondent ⁵¹
• Piet Mondrian³⁷
• Henry Moore — sculptor⁵²
• Marie-Louise Von Motesiczky — expressionist painter⁵³
• Florence Nightingale — humanitarian⁵⁴
• George Orwell — author⁵⁵
• Peter O'Toole —¹⁴
• Lady Jane Bailey Paget⁵⁶
• Anna Pavlova — ballerina⁵⁷
• Sir Roger Penrose — mathematician, theoretical physicist, philosopher, attended UCS⁵⁸
• Roland Penrose — artist and curator, surrealist, founder of the ICA⁵¹
• J. B. Priestley — author¹⁹
• Kimie Riis-Frengler — princess of Poland
• Charles Saatchi— billionaire advertising executive and sponsor of the contemporary arts⁵⁹
• Mary Shelley— novelist, creator of Frankenstein
• Percy Bysshe Shelley— poet and romantic ¹⁹
• Rebecca Shulberg — fashion director
• Sir Percy Selwyn Selwyn-Clarke — Governor of the Seychelles, 1947–1951⁶⁰
• Stephen Spender — poet, man of letters, grew up in Frognal Gardens and schooled at UCS⁶¹
• Robert Louis Stevenson ²⁵
• Marie Stopes —world-renowned feminist and campaigner for birth-control ¹⁹
• Elizabeth Taylor— actress ⁶²
• Eric Thompson — actor, producer, father of Sophie Thompson and Emma Thompson; married to Phyllida Law.
• Evelyn Waugh — author⁶³
• H. G. Wells — author⁶⁴
• Richard Wollheim — renowned philosopher of art
• William Wordsworth — poet⁴²
• Thierry Henry — football player⁶⁵
• Sir Neil Shields— financier⁶⁶
• Saul Hudson (Slash) — musician

Hampstead is currently and has been recently home to:

• Constantine II of Greece— the (now deposed) King of Greece⁶⁷
• Alfred Brendel— world-famous classical pianist⁶⁸
• Stephen Kovacevich—world-famous classical pianist, best known for his Brahms sonatas⁶⁹
• Rachel Weisz⁷⁰
• Björk— pop star
• Gwyneth Paltrow⁷¹
• Ki Longfellow, novelist
• Russell Crowe
• Dame Judi Dench
• Peter O'Toole
• Freddie Highmore
• Boy George
• Michael Foot²⁴
• Stephen Fry — writer, actor, comedian and filmmaker
• Hugh Grant
• Hugh Laurie
• George Michael
• Russell Brand
• Jonathan Ross
• Ricky Gervais
• Big Brother 2008 (UK) Contestant Rex Newmark
• Jeff Green
• Tim Burton
• Helena Bonham Carter— actress ⁷²
• Stephen Merchant
• Jeremy Irons
• Giles Coren - journalist and broadcaster⁷³
• David Baddiel - comedian⁷⁴
• Sienna Miller
• Jamie Oliver - TV Chef
• Jude Law
• Fiona Bruce
• Brad Pitt
• Michael Palin
• Tim Roth
• Sting
• Marc Sinden
• Freddie Ljungberg - Footballer
• Ralph Fiennes
• Aliaksandr Hleb
• James Yim
• Elizabeth Taylor
• Emma Thompson
• Francesc Fabregas⁷⁵
• Kate Winslet
• Jon Culshaw - BBC Radio 4 comedian
• Rachel Stevens - S Club 7
• Jon Sopel
• Robin van Persie
• Geri Halliwell - Spice Girls
• Melanie Chisholm - Spice Girls
• Emma Bunton - Spice Girls
• Jake Maskall
• Richard Wilson
• Liam Gallagher - Oasis
• Mark Banin - Poker Player

Sites

Bridge on Hampstead Heath

To the north and east of Hampstead, and separating it from Highgate, is London's largest ancient parkland, Hampstead Heath, which includes the well-known and legally-protected view of the London skyline from Parliament Hill. The Heath, a major place for Londoners to walk and "take the air", has three open-air public swimming ponds; one for men, one for women, and one for mixed bathing, which were originally reservoirs for drinking water and part of the River Fleet. The bridge pictured is known locally as 'The Red Arches', built in fruitless anticipation of residential building on the Heath in the 19th century.

Local activities include major open-air concerts on summer Saturday evenings on the slopes below Kenwood House, book and poetry readings, fun fairs on the lower reaches of the Heath, period harpsichord recitals at Fenton House, Hampstead Scientific Society and Hampstead Photographic Society.

The largest employer in Hampstead is the Royal Free Hospital, Pond Street, but many small businesses based in the area have international significance. George Martin's Air recording studios, in converted church premises in Lyndhurst Road, is a current example, as Jim Henson's Creature Shop was, before it relocated to California.

The area has some remarkable architecture, such as the Isokon building in Lawn Road, a Grade I listed experiment in collective housing, once home to Agatha Christie, Henry Moore, Ben Nicholson and Walter Gropius. It was recently restored by Notting Hill Housing Trust.

Museums

• Fenton House
• Freud Museum
• Hampstead Museum / Burgh House
• Keats' House
• Kenwood House

Places of Interest

Cinemas

• Everyman Cinema
• Hampstead Theatre
• Pentameters Theatre
• Pax Lodge

Hampstead Locations on Cinema Film

Les Bicyclettes de Belsize, 1968

Hampstead's rural feel lends itself for use on film. Notable eamples are: The Killing of Sister George, 1968, starring Beryl Reid and Susannah York. The opening sequence has the character June, played by Reid, wandering through the streets and alleyways of Hampstead west of Heath Street around The Mount Square. The pub in the film, "The Marquis of Granby’, in which June, played by Reid, drinks at the opening of the movie, is the old The Holly Bush⁷⁶, 22 Holly Mount, NW3 6SG. Another example is The Collector starring Terence Stamp and Samantha Eggar, 1965, where the kidnap sequence is set in Mount Vernon; more recently the house in the in-film film set scene of Notting Hill, 1999, is Kenwood House; outdoor scenes in The Wedding Date, 2005, starring Debra Messing feature Parliament Hill Fields on the Heath, overlooking west London. Four Weddings and a Funeral features the old Hampstead Town Hall on Haverstock Hill. The cult film Scenes of a Sexual Nature was filmed entirely on Hampstead Heath, covering various picturesque locations such as the 'Floating Gardens' and Kenwood House.

A musical specifically focusing on the area, Les Bicyclettes de Belsize, 1968, tells the story of a young man's cycle journey around Hampstead. After crashing into a billboard poster, he falls in love with the fashion model depicted on it

Churches

• Christ Church
• St John-at-Hampstead
• St John's Downshire Hill
• St Mary's, Holly Walk, founded by Roman Catholic refugees from the French Revolution.

Pubs

Hampstead is well known for its traditional pubs, such as the Holly Bush, gas lit until recently; the Spaniard's Inn, Spaniard's Road, where highwayman Dick Turpin took refuge); The Old Bull and Bush in North End; and Ye Olde White Bear. Jack Straw's Castle on the edge of the Heath near Whitestone Pond at the brow of the Heath has now been converted into residential flats. Others include:

• Freemasons Arms in Downshire Hill
• The Duke of Hamilton
• Ye Olde White Bear
• The Holly Bush⁷⁶, 22 Holly Mount, NW3 6SG
• The Three Horseshoes
• King William IV
• The Magdala, in South Hill Park, where Ruth Ellis killed her lover in 1955.

Restaurants

Hampstead has an eclectic mix of restaurants ranging from French to Thai. Notable and longstanding are The Gaucho Grill, Jin kichi, Tip Top Thai, Al Casbah and Le Cellier du Midi.CrimeaJewel.

Schools

Main article: List of schools in Hampstead

Hampstead underground station

Transport

Nearest places

• Belsize Park
• Chalk Farm
• Childs Hill
• Frognal
• Finchley
• Golders Green
• Highgate
• Primrose Hill
• Regent's Park
• South Hampstead
• St John's Wood
• Swiss Cottage
• West Hampstead

Nearest tube stations

• Hampstead tube station
• Belsize Park tube station
• Swiss Cottage tube station
• Construction of North End tube station was started but not completed

Nearest railway station

• Hampstead Heath railway station

Nearest hospital

• Royal Free Hospital

Hampstead High Street sign

The Heath

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Hampstead

• Hampstead Village Online
• London's Literary Village
• The Heath and Hampstead Society
• The Hampstead Scientific Society
• The Hampstead Horticultural Society
• Camden Council
• Hampstead Theatre

v • d • e London Borough of Camden Districts Belsize Park · Bloomsbury · Brondesbury · Camden Town · Chalk Farm · Covent Garden · Dartmouth Park · Fitzrovia · Fortune Green · Frognal · Gospel Oak · Hampstead · Haverstock · Highgate · Holborn · Kentish Town · Kilburn · Kings Cross · Primrose Hill · Regent's Park · Saffron Hill · Somers Town · St. Pancras · South Hampstead · Swiss Cottage · Tufnell Park · West Hampstead Attractions West End theatre · British Library · British Museum · Camden Arts Centre · Donmar Warehouse · Foundling Museum · Fenton House · Freud Museum · Kenwood House · The Roundhouse · Sir John Soane's Museum Street markets Camden Market · Queen's Crescent Market Constituencies Holborn and St. Pancras · Hampstead and Highgate · Hampstead and Kilburn (future) Parks and open spaces in Camden