Where London's Millionaires Live | Hampstead Virtual Tour Part I

well hi guys Sinead here with free tours by foot London I'm being a bit quiet and sitting and one of my favorite little benches in the most beautiful part of the entire of London join me for a memorable walk of Hampstead and Hampstead Heath [Music] four miles into London and you could be in a little village somewhere it's got that old school more of a village feel to it and the now over the centuries hamster was always the safe haven for the rich to escape the smog of the pollution and particularly in the turn of the Industrial Revolution when masses of people flock to London in search of work cholera dysentery scurvy typhoid or commonplace diseases and I speak quite a lot about this and the effect it had on London so people tended to flock to the train stations and head up here but originally it only had a population of about 200. but this spring well was found here and like everything else it became part of history and that people believed that the waters from the spring well had healing properties and it kind of catapulted into an area as a spa if you like for the Rich and Famous and people flocked here to Avail of the beautiful countryside and the heath and nothing has changed today and look at these gorgeous little outdoor cafes to eat now I've been up here a good few days because I wanted to find some specific parts of this tour that I think will be of interest to you well there certainly of interest to me and I want to kind of appeal to everybody look at this amazing secondhand designer store I'm all over that later on ladies and gents exclusive designers secondhand sword this is called flask Avenue which is where people would come with their flasks flask walk to fill up on the healing the waters the spring water which they believe would cure all ailments and illnesses a bit like the the healing properties of the Waters of bath that we spoke about in my bath movie but look at this you have a little Charming Antiques Market my God I love these places because you never know what Treasures you're actually going to find so this is one of those designer charity stores ladies and gents Mary's living and giving shop and you might have noticed in my Wimbledon Village tour that's exactly where I went as well so she has a chain of stores look how quaint and pretty this little Courtyard is here you decide you want to get away from the hustle and bustle and the Mania of the city of London but look at these buildings now we're going to make our way to one of the finest Georgian remain remains in London these stunning homes that I wanted to show you I was gonna turn right in a second but I just wanted to give you an idea of what we're looking at real estate wise here in said heat so look at this beautiful home here Church Mount four bedrooms six bedrooms four bathrooms three receptions four million eight hundred and ninety five thousand pounds two-bedroom apartment here is about 1 million 250 000. and we're up to the three millions the 850 000 1 million okay let's see what one million will get us 5 million Hearst Avenue guide price is 5 million for this property here guys five bedrooms and five bathrooms oh my God look at that stunning property 2 million two hundred and fifty thousand okay so I think that we're gonna start a GoFundMe especially for me to buy that house what do you reckon sorry that was very cheeky right right we're gonna head down Church Road here look at these homes you guys one of the finest examples of classic Georgian architecture so again built in the early 1700s in the Dutch style which of course is made fashionable by the William of Orange this suburb is said to have more blue plaques than any other London suburb now it's on this very Street we've had quite a few literary artistic and intellectual figures have lived along here over the years so the poet Lord Alfred Douglas actually live down here at number 26. and this is number 26. he was known as Boise and he lived here from 1913 to 1914. it was actually his rather tumultuous relationship with Oscar Wilde which led to him being convicted of gross and decency acts and sodomy he went on to marry and have children himself however but um he always resented his relationship with Oscar Wilde and in fact that kind of came out on him as a very cantankerous angry personality and years later he was known for the several feuds he had with high-profile people including one that had resulted in him being imprisoned in 1924 after being convicted of criminal libel against Winston Churchill now another very famous resident on this street was right down here at number 17. now to be fair he lived in quite a few addresses in London but I feel like this was a a lot of inspiration for his many many books and his writing and that is at number 17. was the former home of H.G Wells and he of course was the author of The Time Machine and the War of the Worlds he used to host many dinner parties in there and there's a great story of D H Lawrence complaining bitterly one night of being invited to dinner but being refused entry unless he was wearing a suit in time being properly dressed but right down here like every beautiful Country Village stunning suburb is this wonderful Queen Church in the background we'll just let this lady pass us here and this is a beautiful church of Saint John at Hampstead now what I love about this is the graveyard but you know me I love a good graveyard this church dates back to 1745 although there would have been several places of worship for the Saxons or earlier churches would have been built on the site and actually the word Hampstead comes from Saxon Homestead it's Homestead is well it's a Saxon word for Homestead and um originally they were all this land was owned by the monks of Westminster but of course they were confiscated like everything else around London by Henry VIII during the disillusions of the monastery now I don't want to be too loud around here because I don't want to disturb people I've come to have a nice peaceful afternoon in the back of the graveyard but the monks of Westminster themselves kind of all approached came up here trying to escape the Black Death The Story Goes about 26 of them arrived but it was already too late for them because they arrived here fleeing their black death and they themselves had already contracted it now in the graveyard here around the back some notable figures who were buried here Jane Austen's aunt is said to be buried around the back here beautiful tomb Tunes now it's kind of rough and ready so you just have to have a little look around yourself Hugh Gaskill the famous labor leader is buried here John Constable the famous English painter and his wife I believe and their children are also said to be buried here but there is no actual marker of their tomb but we'll just take you around it's a rather small one and I will be coming back by the way to The Magnificent Seven I've yet to finish all the other graveyards but keep an eye out for the high gate one if graveyard's a thing I've also done West Hampstead Abney Park and cancel green West Brompton Avenue Park and kenzel green are all done and Highgate so I have three more to do folks look at this beautiful little quiet space now what's also interesting around here there's several members of the DU maurier family are buried around here and one of the grandchildren actually well one of the to maurier family is Sylvia Llewellyn Davis Sylvia Llewellyn Davis is part of the de maurier family and we'll be speaking quite a bit about them today because they're very significant in this area but she had several Sons but she's said to be buried here with two of her five Sons Michael and George now you don't think you know who these are but you do when I tell you the story the five Sons she had were playing one day in Kensington Gardens and they happened to meet a chap called J.M Barry which we all know of course was the author of Peter Pan so her five children are said to be the inspiration for the book Peter Pan and years later when Sylvia herself died of cancer J.W Barry she became Guardian to the five children and it is Michael is the brother who is considered to have been the main inspiration for Peter Pan they all had tragic ends to their life which is also a very sad story because Michael drowned in mysterious circumstances he was only age 21. his brother George died fighting in World War II and his other brother Peter committed suicide at Sloane Square Tube Station in the 1960s so of all the tragic ending but amazing to think they are immortalized in the incredible Peter Pan story and a chance meeting with J.W Barry in Kensington Gardens now we're going to exit the church and I want to take you also to the adjoining extension Cemetery here on the right hand side now it's either one was also said to be without a question about the inspiration for a very famous scene in bran Stoker's Dracula it is said um there was a famous scene in it in the two book of the main characters and we have Van Helsing Dr Van Helsing and Dr Stewart they eat a meal it's Jack Straw's castle and we'll be seeing that later on it's a famous form a pub in the area very famous for writers as well used to have a Tipple in there but they leave that pub at the Darkness at about 10 o'clock and they head down here and they climb over a wall in the church yard and they're coming off to set off and then examine Lucy's tomb um so it's said to be either this graveyard they came to another one directly behind me now coming up here on the right was the first constables Watchtower so I believe it's where the first police force for Hampstead was actually set up but look how quiet it is here folks and we have the place all to ourselves there you have the watch House in the 1830s the newly formed Hampstead police force set out on its Patrol and nightly watch from this house so the first Hempstead police force set up here now that's the top of Holly walk let me take you up here bring us up here by Mount Vernon and Prospect Place look at that now it's around here at number four I believe the Dane Judy Dench once lived not his Prospect Place oh yes and here is the hall of Robert Louis Stevenson folks famous author he lived here from 1850 oh no that's not the time he lived there but this was his home as well he was in good company if he was with Dane Judy Dench says I'm sitting here thinking about it I just love to think that Robert Louis Stevenson you just passed the house where he wrote Classics like Treasure Island and The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde but before we continue down to one of the most beautiful little pubs in London I just want to show you this incredible building here it's a huge huge building behind the trees and of course it's a little difficult to see trees are covering most of it but it's a now it's expensive and luxury Flats but it was the former Mount Vernon Hospital in this area and it dates back to 1896 and it was usually for the treatment of consumptive diseases now consumption was something that we always read about in books like Pride and Prejudice and all the Georgian and Victorian novels Robert Louis Stevenson actually died of consumption died in Samoa he was very young actually he was only in the 40s I like to think he was very close to the hospital he could be treated in but now of course it's been transformed into luxuries flats and the rumor has it that a very famous Spice Girl has an apartment inside there which one I'm not so sure and I'm EX I suspect maybe Mel C but let me take you down here because this walk is a rather long one but the most the nicest place to take a little break is to leave a bite to eat or a fresh mint a little gin and tonic if you'd like is right down here and this is one of the most famous pubs in Hampstead always very busy most notably on the weekends but an incredibly historic place with the amount of famous writers that have drank down here and this is how you get to it this is Holly Mount see around the corner of holly bush and Holly Mount look it tucked away here down in this beautiful little corner the holly bush Pub isn't that gorgeous so it's one of those real traditional old-fashioned public houses ladies and gents perfect place to take a little break it's been frequented by so many famous writers over the years including Dr Samuel Johnson who was inspired and most of his books were written up here even though we all know he lived in golf Square in the city of London Dr Johnson's museum is located there where his cat oranges so you'll see more about that in my city of London walk and James Boswell is known to have drank in here as well that's George Romney famous painter would have frequented here this Pub dates back you guys to the 1640s I mean how immense so we might have a Charming little look inside we'll see if they allow me to film anything in there okay but then for myself I mean what a treat you guys it's an incredible Jasmine's Cottage how lovely I'm not gonna keep walking along here and there's another beautiful home up here I want to show you down the end so to be the home of a famous Hollywood director and I love these places when I researched them they're all very discreet as to who lives up here and that's fine too but it was the former home coming up here on the right of Gerald du maurier now Gerald maurier might not be very familiar to you but we spoke earlier on about his granddaughter Sylvia Luellen Davis who had the five boys that were the inspiration for Peter Pan Barry's Peter Pan her brother was a chap called Sir Gerald he was actually the first actor to play the Dual role of George darling and Captain Hook in the original stage performance so this is where George de maurier lived and it was his granddaughter his daughter Sylvia Llewellyn Davis his son sir Gerald de maurier where the cigarette brand is named after as well by the way but his granddaughter was the very famous Daphne de maurier I always make the mistake of calling her Rebecca tomorrow here because she wrote the famous book Rebecca and she's also famous for the birds and Jamaica in all of which were actually made into movies and directed by Alfred Hitchcock so this is called the mount square and right down here is Admiral house now there's a not so discreet big sign down here saying Admiral house in Grove Lodge this beautiful house was built by a rather eccentric Navy lieutenant in the 1700s and apparently he used to fire cans from here during the King's birthday so he was kind of like his own King's troop Royal artillery to celebrate the King's Birthday he'd fire cannons from here but apparently the roof is said to be shaped like the deck of a ship and there was also a very famous another famous altar that lived up here and his name was P.L Travers which you'll know is the author of Mary Poppins which incidentally featured an eccentric Admiral Admiral Boone Bluetooth lives in a house shaped like a ship where he often fires a cannon as well but over here is where John galesworth also lived and he was a novelist and playwright he lived in the adjacent house you'll see here he won the Nobel Peace Prize for literature in 1932 but one of the chap that lived a Grove Lodge for a period of time Sir George Gilbert Scott who also lived in the South for a period of time he's the architect of Saint Pancras Station and of course the beautiful Albert Memorial in Hyde Park he lived in Admiral's house between 1856. in 1864 and there you'll see Sir George Gilbert Scott there's his plaque you guys so Constable has a lot of work as well John Constable who lived in Grove Lodge right next door a lot of his he has a painting of Admiral house in Tate Britain I believe it is quite a few paintings of this house actually on display in the VNA as well I swear to God you get startled folks because any bit of noise around you just that radio start will be there because it's so quiet and so peaceful let me just show you around here again look how fabulous this actually apparently marks the highest point in London even the Heron is chilled out up here see him getting into the Palm there guys how happy you are so at 134 meters above sea level it's named after an old mile maker actually that can still be found in the bushes on the right hand side now we're not going to go in search of that I'm afraid but this prominent position actually made it a Natural Choice as a side for the Armada Beacon which marked today by this large flagpole you see the flagpole here folks when The Story Goes Behind These beacons that in 1588 when the Spanish Armada was first sighted of the Hampshire Coast a series of beacons were lit across the country to warn the Navy but the signal took two days to make its way as far as Hampstead before it moved on so they would light the beacon here was a warning to the Navy of the approach of the Spanish Armada let's go through the woods here together on our own nobody else around how amazing [Music] Hampstead Heath Hill garden and pergola pergola is one of the Hidden Delights of handset Heath it overlooks West Heath and was the dream of William H lever late Lord lever whom a wealthy idealist patron of the Arts architecture and Landscape gardening and Thomas morsen the celebrated landscape architect in 1904 Lord lever whom purchased in her fourth house which we'll be seeing in just a moment then known as the hill a substantial house facing north endway he subsequently acquired adjoining land and I had the opportunity to create the pergola a magnificent eduardian extravagance which would be the setting for garden parties and summer evening strolls and be a striking addition to the garden and the hill wait until you see this okay so this is going to speak for itself really you don't need me destroying this fabulous experience so here we go manicured Lawns we'll see in a moment the wonderful contrast of the Heath the manicured Lawns but also the overgrown ivy the walls we're going to take a little walk these steps [Music] flip-flops in hindsight weren't probably the best idea everlasts it's warm I mean how exquisite if this is your back Garden so we'll continue on here and Lord lever whom actually made his money as a soap manufacturer and he also purchased Hill House which we'll see in a moment but that was bought afterwards by Lord Inver fourth purchase the house of lever whom but look at this you guys so this is one of the most Instagram ago instagramable spots I guess I'm quite lucky today I didn't see as many up here today as I did the last day so probably the key to coming up here is probably on a weekday this pergola and Hill Garden how could you not this is Hill House by the way it's also been we'll get a better view in a minute but it's also been um like everything else developed into luxury flats and apartments up here as well walk along this way and that'll take us out to the beautiful manicure Gardens I mean this is just the dream this is exactly where we want to be good I love listening into other people's conversations I'm the worst and it's not nosiness it's just an interesting other people look at that guys I mean it's no wonder so many brides come up here and Instagram has come up here to get these incredible pictures continuing on and it's just the lush green it's just the perfect time to come on a beautiful Summer's Day let's get another view of the West Heath here it's quite busy up here today actually not so much a Hidden Gem anymore but still not that too busy the lush green overgrown Rambles and it just adds to this stunning quaint atmosphere of the area I will be back with part two very very soon so stay tuned our next installment Kentwood house Keith's house but for right now I'm gonna head back out the pergola out this way and up towards Chuck straws Castle for part two of our tour thanks as ever for Watching Ladies and Gentlemen please comment all your comments I read I love to hear from you all I want to hear what you think of This truly special place in the Hidden Gem in London Sinead signing out for part one of our Homestead tour coming shortly part two thanks for watching Sinead signing out here with free tours by footloot

Channel: Free Tours by Foot - London

Views: 248,289

Keywords: London, Hampstead, walking tour, virtual tour, London boroughs, Hampstead heath, Mary Poppins, Dracula, Peter Pan, cemetery, cemeteries, London cemetery, van helsing, history, luxury, property, Oscar wilde, bosie, pubs, the holly bush, hill garden, pergola, nature, gardens

Id: 6yvC4fqoxwA

Length: 29min 22sec (1762 seconds)

Published: Thu Aug 17 2023