We’ve discussed why the West Heath is (or, more accurately, was) a “heath.” Today we’ll look at some of the West Heath’s history and major landmarks.
Location, Location
As the map shows, the West Heath is a rough triangle proceeding west from Whitestone Pond, bounded by West Heath Road to the south and North End Way to the north. Golders Hill Park is adjacent along the western boundary. To the southeast of a jog in West Heath Road is the former site of Branch Hill Pond—now a mere grass-filled depression—famously painted by Constable. The southwestern edge of the West Heath is about 300 yards from our front door; we consider the West Heath to be “our” section of the Heath.
In general, the West Heath slopes gently upward from southwest to northeast, but the terrain is relatively flat in comparison to much of the rest of the heath. (We will discuss some reasons for that at a later date.) This relatively flat terrain was one reason why the West Heath was a popular venue for horse racing in the early 18th Century.
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| Sandy Road |
Features Galore!
Sandy Road is a wide, unpaved track that runs along the western edge of the West Heath, from Platt’s Lane to North End Way—our route to the Old Bull & Bush, in fact. One might easily assume that Sandy Road was conceived and built as a footpath, as might be found in any large park. One would be mistaken. Sandy Road was a true road—before the Heath became a public trust in 1872 and Platt’s Farm was developed into The Crofts in the 1890s, Sandy Road was the continuation of Platt’s Lane, linking Child’s Hill to North End and Spaniard’s Road. For centuries, this was probably the main route for carrying produce from the surrounding farmland (including Wyldes Farm) to market in London, via the Roman-laid Watling Street (now Kilburn High Road and Edgware Road).
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| Leg o' Mutton Pond, December 2010 |
About 100 yards along Sandy Road from Platt’s Lane, one finds Leg o’Mutton Pond. Like the other large ponds on the Heath, Leg o’ Mutton is man made, dug in 1816 as part of a relief program for unemployed laborers during the depression that followed the Napoleonic Wars. (Sandy Road also was raised and improved as part of the same relief effort.) The pond is naturally maintained, however, filled by two spring-fed streams that flow across the West Heath and ultimately into the Brent River, and thence to the Thames. During the Nineteenth Century, the pond was popular for summer bathing and angling (though one wonders from whence came the fish).
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| The Pergola |
Among the more interesting features on the West Heath are the Pergola and Hill Garden. These features are comprised of a manicured, formal garden with terraces arranged around a long, rectangular lily pond, and an elaborate 800 foot-long, Italian Renaissance-style pergola, complete with climbing vines. When happened upon from the south or east, these features rise quite unexpectedly from the wilds of the Heath, and are a delightful surprise. Why are they here, and why are they part of the Heath?
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| Public Right-of-Way, The Pergola |
As one might expect, the answers to these questions make an interesting tale. In 1905, the wealthy soap magnate William Lever, Lord Leverhulme, purchased an estate on North End Way called The Hill, which commanded magnificent views to the north, over the (then, still unwooded) West Heath. Lord Leverhulme loved to throw magnificent garden parties. To that end, he purchased a neighboring property called Heath Lodge, with the intent of demolishing the house and replacing it with a garden. Unfortunately for Lord Leverhulme, there was a public right-of-way—a simple footpath, really—between The Hill and Heath Lodge. Despite Lord Leverhulme’s best efforts, he could not extinguish the right of way. This meant that anyone strolling on the Heath could stop and gawk at the Lord’s garden parties.
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| The Hill Garden Pond |
Lord Leverhulme turned to renowned landscape architect Thomas Mawson to resolve the problem. Mawson designed the Hill Garden, and the Pergola to provide private access over the right-of-way to the Hill Garden. The design and construction of the Pergola took 20 years, including a lengthy interruption during the Great War.
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| The Pergola, Detail |
Almost immediately after the Pergola was completed in 1925, Lord Leverhulme died. The Hill was acquired by shipping magnate Baron Inverforth and renamed Inverforth House; Baron Inverforth lived there until his own death in 1955. He willed the property to Manor House Hospital, and it was used as a convalescent home. The Pergola and Hill Gardens were purchased and added to the Heath in 1960, although by then they were in poor condition. A thorough renovation was carried out in the early 1990s, and the areas were reopened to the public in 1995. Inverforth House was subsequently sold and subdivided into flats, data from 2007 indicates that each was then valued at around £4 million.
I suppose the Gibbet Elms are no long a feature as they no longer exist, but they’re another good West Heath story. In March, 1674, a highwayman named Francis Jackson and his gang robbed two coaches in Hounslow (not far from where Heathrow Airport is now). The gang was spotted as they neared Acton (then a tiny farming village to the west of London), and they suddenly found themselves pursued by a posse of 40-to-50 men. A running battle ensued across much of Middlesex County. The gang reached Hampstead Heath hours later, exhausted and their powder and shot used up, where they were ambushed by 200 men. The gang held them off for nearly an hour before they were taken. During the resistance, Jackson killed one of the local Hampstead men. Jackson was hanged, and his corpse returned to the Heath and gibbeted from an elm tree, only a few feet from where the Hill Garden sits now. The corpse hung there for 18 years. The last of the Gibbet Elms blew down in 1907.
References:
A. Farmer, Hampstead Heath (1984)
C. Wade, Hampstead Past (1989)
D. McDowall & D. Wolton, The Walker’s Guide: Hampstead Heath (2006 ed.)
D. Wolton & D. McDowall, Hampstead Heath (2007)
http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/B5F7A42F-FA5A-4087-A3A4-C3FFE907EB2D/0/OS_HH_pergola.pdf
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