Hampstead and Marylebone

by G. E. Mitton

On the south side is Cannon Hall, an old Queen Anne mansion. Old cannon, which have doubtless some connection with the name, stand in the roadway before it, and close by is Christ Church Vicarage, of the same type, with red-tiled roof.

Christ Church Road is a long tree-shaded thoroughfare descending the slope of the hill; it was formerly called Green Man Lane, from the public-house of that name at the foot.

The church stands at a great elevation, and has a high spire, which forms a landmark far and wide. It was built by Sir Gilbert Scott, consecrated in 1852, and was the successor of the chapel in Well Walk, an account of which is given on p. [18]. The church was enlarged in 1882. The streets hereabouts are set at all angles, and the result to a stranger is a little perplexing.

Hampstead Square is a square only in name; one or two delightful old brick houses are dotted about, but are chiefly detached, and can hardly be said to form a square. At New End is the workhouse originally built in 1845, but extended in 1870 and 1883. It is a solid and commodious building. Of the remainder of that part of Hampstead known as New End, it is almost impossible to give any detailed account. It is a curious medley of steeply tilted narrow streets, little passages, small cottages set down at any angle, with vine or Virginia creeper growing over them, and here and there a hideous row of little modern brick houses. The White Bear at New End is the oldest public-house in the parish, bearing date 1704. Willow Road lays claim to its name by the fringe of willows that lines its northern side.

The Flask Tavern in Flask Walk is on the site of one of the oldest beerhouses in Hampstead; the present structure is a hideous brick building of modern date. The Walk is reached from High Street under a covered entry, and the street is at first only wide enough for the passage of one vehicle. Being on the side of the hill it shows, further on, a picturesque irregularity with the footway at a different level from the road. Small rows of limes add a certain quaintness to its aspect, and it is easy to imagine the four days' fair, beginning on August 1, which used to be held here annually. The watch-house and public stocks stood at the upper end of this street when removed from Heath Street.

It is easy to imagine that the name Flask originated in the shape of the road, with its narrow neck and expanded end, but perhaps the Walk took its name from the public-house, in which case the suggested derivation would fail.

Well Walk is the most celebrated spot in Hampstead, for here flow the famous chalybeate waters, which rivalled those of Bath and Tunbridge Wells, and in their best days drew an amazing army of gay people to the spot. The earliest mention of the spring is in the time of Charles II., when a halfpenny token with the words "Dorothy Rippin at the well in Hampsted" on the obverse was issued. In 1698 Susanna Noel with her son Baptist, third Earl of Gainsborough, gave the well, encompassed by six acres of ground, to the poor of Hampstead. It was in the beginning of the eighteenth century that the waters first became famous. Howitt says they were carried fresh every day for sale to Holborn Bars, Charing Cross, and other central spots; but their palmy days did not last very long, for in 1734 there was an attempt to revive interest in them by a laudatory pamphlet. However, while they were at the height of their popularity many persons whose names are well known were attracted by them. It was at the Long Room, Hampstead, that Fanny Burney (afterwards Madame D'Arblay) came to stay, and here she made her heroine Evelina attend balls. Her book gained her such a circle of admirers that it is said her second work was expected as eagerly as a novel from Scott.

The chief building was the Pump Room, on the south side of the street, near where the entrance to Gainsborough Gardens now is. The first recorded entertainment here was on August 18, 1701, when a concert was given. Concerts and entertainments of various kinds were kept up during the season. There was a bowling-green near. This house dated from about the beginning of the eighteenth century. In 1733 it was converted into an episcopal chapel, and was so used until 1849. There was another chapel called Sion Chapel in the vicinity, though its exact situation is unknown; here couples could be married for five shillings, provided they brought with them a license. The license was not always insisted on. The Pump Room was later used as a guard-room of the West Middlesex Volunteers, and was pulled down in 1880 to make way for the road above mentioned. It was then discovered by the intervening wall that the adjacent house was of still older date, and it is thus proved to be one of the oldest remaining in Hampstead. It has a graceful spindle porch and delightful old-world air, though the side adjoining Gainsborough Gardens has been refaced.

Just opposite is a solid drinking fountain of polished granite, with inscription to the effect that it is in memory of Susanna Noel's gift, and here the chalybeate waters may still be tasted. One or two old houses are on the northern side of the Walk, and one of these, a long, low, red-brick edifice called Weatherhall House, deserves special notice. It contained the Long Room where dances and assemblies were held, and even after the fame of the waters declined it still held its place. Perhaps this is the room referred to by Seymour as having been built in 1735. He describes it as "60 feet long and 30 feet wide, well adorned with chandeliers. The manner of being admitted into it is by a ticket, of which every gentleman who subscribes a guinea for the season has one for himself and two more for two ladies; all those who have not subscribers' tickets pay 2s. 6d. each at the entrance every night. And Sunday nights in the same room is an assembly where the gentlemen and ladies who lodge in the town are entertained with tea and coffee at sixpence per head, but no other amusements are allowed on these nights."

Here Mrs. Johnson came, and Mark Akenside, poet and physician of the eighteenth century; Dr. Arbuthnot, friend of Swift, a man ranked high among the wits of his day, and holding the appointment of physician to Queen Anne; Fanny Burney, and many others. The house is now a private residence. Standing further back from the road behind a quadrangle is Burgh House, also old. This was at one time used as a militia barracks, at which time (1863) the two solid wings adjoining the road were erected.