Hampstead Garden Suburb conservation area
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Location
Hampstead Garden Suburb is located in the south of the borough. It comprises the land around the Heath Extension and runs northwards as far as East End Road. The eastern boundary is The Bishops Avenue. To the west it extends to the east side of Finchley Road.
The conservation area was designated in 1968 and subsequently extended to include Golders Green Crematorium.
The boundaries of the conservation area and the area covered by the Scheme of Management operated by Hampstead Garden Suburb Trust are not the entirely same. For example, the Trust’s Scheme of Management covers neither the Crematorium nor most of The Bishops Avenue.
The total Hampstead Garden Suburb area covers 1009 acres, which includes roughly 136 acres (13%) of open space.
The 2001 census indicated that approximately 12,500 people live in the Conservation Area and that there are just over 5000 households.
Description
Hampstead Garden Suburb is predominantly a residential area with significant open spaces devoted to recreational or community use and two local shopping areas.
The Suburb was developed between 1907 and 1938 on a greenfield site and built to a formal plan in which the character of the original woodland and agricultural land influenced the land usage and activities in the area.
The highest point is roughly in the centre of the original site and here, Central Square was developed as the formal heart of the new community with churches, public buildings and landscaped open space making a coherent and dramatic architectural statement. It remains the occasional focus for community activities.
Areas of woodland, Turners Wood, Big and Little Wood, were retained as open spaces and generous provision was made for small greens, communal gardens, allotment areas and tennis courts. The flood land alongside Mutton Brook was integrated into the Suburb as a park, recreational area and playing fields.
South of Central Square, the most desirable sites surrounding the Heath extension were developed with large houses and mansions set in very spacious plots. Here, on the East side of the Heath extension, part of the remaining Turners Wood still stands between Wildwood Road and Ingram Avenue.
Also, on the eastern edge of the Suburb, Hampstead Golf Club was established in 1894 on 38 acres leased from the Ecclesiastical Commissioners and has remained on this site within the conservation area, but not within the remit of the Trust Scheme of Management.
On the slopes of the hill to the north of Central Square, areas of more modest middle class housing lead to the Artisans’ Quarter where terraced cottages and fl ats provided cheaper housing. Social housing was concentrated in this part of the Suburb and some still remains.
The Artisans’ Quarter is bounded by Finchley Road, an old turnpike road linking Central London to its northern hinterland. This became the main shopping centre for the Suburb. A second shopping area is located at Market Place on the east to west route through the Suburb. This area grew as the Suburb expanded to the north of Market Place between the wars.
The overall housing density is roughly 10 to the acre but it ranges from 22 to the acre in the areas of flats and maisonettes, to 12 to the acre in the Artisans’ Quarter, and as little as 3 to the acre in Ingram Avenue. These are low densities by modern standards and are indicative of the large gardens and generous designation of public open space which characterise the conservation area.
Most of the houses are now owner occupied but the housing is very varied with every type of dwelling represented from one bedroom flats to large mansions (30% of the housing stock is flats and roughly 6% of dwellings are social housing). There is also sheltered housing for the elderly in The Orchard and a residential home, Abbeyfield House, in Holmsfield. This range of housing is fundamental to the character of the Suburb; it provides for a mixed community in age, household composition, and income.
Religious buildings include the Free Church, St Jude-on-the-Hill, the Quaker Meeting House and the Synagogue and Kerem School in Norrice Lea. Three other synagogues on the borders of the conservation area also serve the large Jewish community in the Suburb. Public buildings include the Primary and Infants School, Henrietta Barnett School, The Free Church Hall and Fellowship House which provide venues for a range of clubs, classes, lectures and meetings.
The Heath Extension (74 acres) is the largest public open space but additionally, there are nearly three acres of allotments, 18 acres of public woodland in Big Wood and Little Wood, and a major recreational area in the 23 acres of Lyttelton Playing Fields.
All of the open spaces are well used by residents and others outside the conservation area. At weekends, the Heath Extension is the venue for North London local league fixtures in football, rugby and cricket.
Golders Green Crematorium and Gardens and Marylebone Cemetery are important public facilities which also provide extensive areas of green, open space at the boundaries of the conservation area.
The quality of the architecture, the landscape environment and community facilities make the Suburb a very desirable place to live. These features also generate a strong sense of place among residents and a very high level of community activity. The Residents Association (RA) is the largest in the UK with 2,200 households in membership; it publishes an annual directory and a newspaper, Suburb News, which are distributed to every household. The RA is very active in activities to safeguard and enhance the character and amenities of the area. It is organised on a ward system and its Council and Standing Committees cover matters such as trees and open spaces, conservation and amenities, litter, roads and traffic.
There are many flourishing Societies which utilise the environment and facilities. Annual community events include the annual Proms at St Jude’s each June, Theatre Productions in the Little Wood Open Air Theatre and in Henrietta Barnet School Hall; and Spring and Summer Shows run by the Horticultural Society. All evidence of the continuing enthusiasm of residents for the concept of the Garden Suburb.
To mark its own Centenary in 2009, the Horticultural Society created a bed on Willifield Green to celebrate the plants and produce of Suburb gardens and allotments