Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
West Heath
Northwest of the Vale of Health is the busy road junction around
Whitestone Pond
,
which marks the highest point in this part of north London (440ft), overlooked by the
faux-ancient
Jack Straw's Castle
pub
.
To the west lies
West Heath
, a densely wooded,
boggy area with a thick canopy of deciduous trees sloping down towards Childs Hill;
it's a very peaceful place for a stroll and a popular gay cruising area. A track leads
northwest from
Jack Straw's Castle
,
across West Heath, over to
Hill Garden
(daily
8.30am to dusk), the Heath's most secretive and romantic little gem. Originally an
extension to the grounds of nearby Hill House, built by Lord Leverhulme in 1906 (and
now converted into flats), the garden's most startling feature is the 800ft-long zigzag
Pergola
, whose Doric columns support a host of climbers including a wonderfully
gnarled wisteria. The pergola is elevated some 15ft above the ground in order to
traverse a public footpath that Lord Leverhulme tried in vain to have removed.
Golders Hill Park
West Heath Ave • Daily 7.30am-dusk • Free •
!
Golders Green
Adjacent to the West Heath are the landscaped gardens of
Golders Hill Park
. Near the
main entrance is the park café, serving delicious Italian ice cream, courtesy of
Arte Gelato
,
and close by, a beautifully kept walled garden and pond. The central section of the park is
taken up by a
zoo
containing alpacas, red-legged seriemas, ring-tailed lemurs, and a series
of impeccably maintained aviaries, home to white-naped cranes and other exotic birds.
Kenwood
Gardens
Daily summer 8am-8pm; winter 8am-4pm • Free
House
Daily 10am-5pm • Free •
T
020 8348 1286,
W
english-heritage.org
.uk • Bus #210 from
!
Archway or Golders Green
Hampstead Heath's most celebrated sight is
Kenwood
,
the former private estate
whose
beautiful off-white Neoclassical mansion faces south to catch the sun. The house dates
from the seventeenth century, but was later remodelled by Robert Adam for the Earl of
Mansfield, the most powerful jurist in the country. Mansfield, who sent 102 people to
the gallows and sentenced another 448 to transportation, was a deeply unpopular
character and one of the prime targets of the 1780 Gordon Riots. Having ransacked
his Bloomsbury house, a mob headed for Kenwood, but were waylaid by the canny
landlord of the nearby
Spaniards Inn
(an ex-butler of Mansfield's), who plied them with
free drink until soldiers arrived to disperse them.
Nowadays, with its free art collection and magnificently landscaped grounds, Kenwood
is a deservedly popular spot. The gardens, to the west of the house, boast splendid azaleas
and rhododendrons; to the south, a huge grassy amphitheatre slopes down to a lake. The
whole area is something of a suntrap and a favourite picnic spot, while the provision-less
can head for the excellent
Brew House Café
in the old coachhouse.
20
Kenwood House
The house is now home to a superb seventeenth- and eighteenth-century
art collection
from the English, Dutch and French schools. First off, head for the Dining Room,
where a superb late self-portrait by
Rembrandt
shares space with marvellous portraits by
Franz Hals, Van Dyck and Ferdinand Bols, and
Vermeer
's delicate
Guitar Player
. Of the
house's many wonderful period interiors, the most spectacular is Adam's sky-blue and
gold
Library
, its book-filled apses separated from the central area by paired columns. The
pièce de résistance
is the tunnel-vaulted ceiling, decorated by Antonio Zucchi, who fell in
love with and married Kenwood's other ceiling painter, Angelica Kauffmann.
Upstairs, you'll find more paintings, including William Larkin's full-length portraits,
possibly of a Jacobean wedding party, the arrogant Richard Sackville, a dissolute
aristocrat resplendent in pompom shoes, and his much nicer brother, Edward, sporting
earrings festooned with ribbons. Don't miss the room of shoe buckles, jewellery and
portrait miniatures donated by local collectors. Back downstairs in the Music Room,
