Hampstead is situated in North West London in the London Borough of Camden. It combines the convenience of easy access to the West End and banking districts with the relaxed lifestyle of picturesque Hampstead.
Hampstead was referred to in the Domesday Book but the history of the area is easily traceable to the late 17th century when Trustees of the Well started advertising the medicinal qualities of the chalybeate (water impregnated with iron). In the 1800s the popularity of the waters declined and the spa was demolished in 1882 and only a water fountain provides a reminder of this era. In the 1860s the North London Railway opened and encouraged the expansion of the area and in 1907 further rail links allowed fast travel to central London. Hampstead flourished, expensive residences were built and the area became a desirable suburb for intellectuals, artists, musicians and professional people.
Cultural attractions in the area include the Freud Museum, Keats House, Kenwood House, Fenton House, the Hampstead Theatre and the Camden Arts Centre. Hampstead Heath with its three open-air swimming ponds is popular with residents and the London skyline may be admired from Parliament Hill.
Though now considered an integral part of London, Hampstead has retained much of its village atmosphere and charm and the area is well served by quaint pubs, popular restaurants and trendy shops.
Journalist, Jonathon Miller, gives a resident’s view of Hampstead,
Many move in and never leave and others pass through. Hampstead only strengthens its reputation as an attractive and convenient neighbourhood of artists and merchant bankers nestled in the north-western hills of London, with an attached famous Heath. Hampstead likes to think of itself as an urban village and its attractive streets and old houses certainly give it a village-like feel. But it is also a highly internationalised community and a favoured base for those spending a sojourn in London.
Hampstead is not immune to the curse of the school run because it has some of the best schools in London within it or on its doorstep, including the American School in St Johns Wood and the renowned South Hampstead High School for Girls. On weekends in the summer the shops get busy and the pubs and restaurants crowded. Literary tourists clutch guidebooks; architecture students snap photos; fashion victims stalk the boutiques. There can be a slightly bohemian feel to the place.
Hampstead retains an intimacy. Many eccentric residents provide continuing entertainment. Hampstead offers an easy multi-cultural harmony, an intellectual fervent and at the edges (Camden Town) gets quite sharp.
Hampstead knows it is a little better than anywhere else with estate agent boards banned, McDonald’s run out of town, and earnest imigrants busily watering hanging baskets.
If you want to live in Hampstead you will need to be blasé about running into actors at the Food Hall or pop singers in the bakery. So, if you run into an international footballer at the Coffee Cup, try not to make too much of a fuss as he is most likely to be your neighbour.
