"The Heath and a whole lot more." a Hampstead Travel Page by planxty

Hampstead is a delightful area in North London, dominated by the famous Hampstead Heath, a larege open space in what is essentially fairly central London.

There is evidence of prehistoric people living in the area and it was said that the famous warrior Queen Boudicca (Boadicea) of the Iceni tribe was buried here, although there is no archaeological evidence for this. Subsequently, the Roman road to St. Albans was constructed over the Heath, and it is thought that a Saxon farmer clearing part of the forest for his "homestead" gave rise to the name Hampstead.

In medieaval times, a gallows was erected on the Heath and in 1524 a huge crowd gathered to watch a great flood that had been predicted which was to inundate London. Needless to say, it never materialised. The area was later again used by fleeing Londoners, this time attempting to escape the Great Plague.

the 18th century saw rapid expansion in the area with the population rising to 4300 in 1801. Over the years the area has had many famous residents with a good smattering of artistic types amongst them. These include Byron, Keats, H.G Wells, John Constable, Robert Louis Stevenson, John Galsworthy, J.B Priestley and Anna Pavlova.

Today, it continues to be a favourite residence for the artistc set, and is a very expensive part of london to live in, but well worth a visit. Apologies for the photo which was taken with a poor camera on an overcast day. I can assure you, on a clear day the views over london from the Heath are tremendous.