West Hampstead facts for kids
Quick facts for kids West Hampstead |
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 West Hampstead
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| Population | 33,751 |
| OS grid reference | TQ255855 |
| London borough | |
| Ceremonial county | Greater London |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | LONDON |
| Postcode district | NW6 |
| Dialling code | 020 |
| Police | Metropolitan |
| Fire | London |
| Ambulance | London |
| EU Parliament | London |
| UK Parliament |
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| London Assembly |
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West Hampstead is an area in the London Borough of Camden in north-west London. Mainly defined by the railway stations of the same name, it is situated between Childs Hill to the north, Frognal and Hampstead to the north-east, Swiss Cottage to the east, South Hampstead to the south-east, Kilburn to the west and south-west, and Cricklewood to the north-west. The area is mainly residential with several small shops, restaurants, cafes, bakeries concentrated on the northern section of West End Lane and around West End Green. It is served by three stations: West Hampstead on the Jubilee line, West Hampstead Overground station and West Hampstead Thameslink station. It is part of the Kilburn postal district (NW6).
Contents
History
The village of West End
An area, known as "le Rudyng" (indicating a woodland clearing) in the mid-13th century, had by 1534 come to be called West End. It was then a freehold estate belonging to Kilburn Priory, and was so called because it was at the west end of another, larger estate. Although it is possible that there was a dwelling on the estate prior to 1244, an estate house was certainly extant by 1646. West End Lane (named as such by 1644) is still bent at a right-angle at the north and south ends where it connects to Finchley Road and Edgware Road respectively. This is because the lane used to form the boundary between a number of different estates.
By the early 17th century a number of houses were present, and by the middle of that century London merchants were building larger houses in the area, so turning a hamlet into the village of West End.
West Hampstead
At the beginning of the 19th century, there were three main large houses around the hamlet of West End: West End House, West End Hall and Lauriston Lodge which were later sold off for redevelopment with the arrival of the railways, which led to the transformation of the area from farmland into housing estates. In 1879, the Metropolitan Railway adopted the name West Hampstead for its station on West End Lane, the main road through the area.
Notable residents
There are four English Heritage blue plaques in West Hampstead commemorating historic personalities that have lived there. The plaques mark the residences of painter David Bomberg at 10 Fordwych Road, conductor Sir Adrian Boult at 78 Marlborough Mansions on Cannon Hill, newspaper proprietor Alfred Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliffe at 31 Pandora Road, and ophthalmologist Dame Ida Mann at 13 Minster Road.
Other notable people
- Gerry Anderson – publisher, producer, director and writer
- Joan Armatrading – singer and musician, resident in her early days
- Camila Batmanghelidjh – businesswoman, charity leader and author
- Sacha Bennett – filmmaker
- Dirk Bogarde – actor
- Paul Brightwell – actor
- Jim Carter – actor
- Jonathan Charles - Former BBC presenter and foreign correspondent
- Gus Dudgeon – record producer, lived at Kings Gardens and worked at Decca Studios
- Maurice Feild – artist
- Steven Finn – England and Middlesex County Cricket Club player
- Marina Fiorato – author
- Stephen Fry – actor and television presenter
- GFOTY – artist and musician
- Angela Griffin – actress and television presenter
- Julia Hartley-Brewer – radio presenter, political journalist and newspaper columnist
- Margot Heinemann – Marxist writer, leading member of the Communist Party of Great Britain, born at 89 Priory Road
- Barry Humphries – comedian, actor, satirist, artist, and author known for his character Dame Edna Everage
- Derek Jacobi – actor
- Chaka Khan – singer
- Phyllida Law – actress
- Doris Lessing – author
- Dua Lipa – singer and songwriter
- Matt Lucas – comedian and actor
- Bill Nighy – actor
- Slash – guitarist for Velvet Revolver and formerly for Guns N' Roses
- Henry Spinetti – drummer, session musician and brother of actor Victor Spinetti
- Dusty Springfield – singer, born and lived on Sumatra Road
- Imelda Staunton – actress
- Emma Thompson – actress, comedian and screenwriter
- Eric Thompson – actor, television presenter and producer
- Sophie Thompson – actress
- Johnny Vegas – actor, comedian
- Alec and Evelyn Waugh – authors, who grew up in Hillfield Road
- Greg Wise – actor
Transport links
There are three railway stations named West Hampstead, all within close proximity, and a number of other tube stations in the area. Numerous bus routes pass through the district.
- Tube: West Hampstead tube station, on the Jubilee line. Nearby is Finchley Road tube station, on the Jubilee and Metropolitan lines.
- Trains: West Hampstead Thameslink station on the cross London Thameslink route, and West Hampstead Overground station on the North London Line.
- Buses: 139 (Golders Green to Waterloo via Oxford Street, 24 hours), 328 (Golders Green to Chelsea via Notting Hill), and C11 (Brent Cross Shopping Centre to Archway via Hampstead Heath).
Gallery
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West End Green, near the northern end of West End Lane
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Shops on West End Lane
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Shops, Library on West End Lane
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West Hampstead tube station
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West Hampstead London Overground station
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West Hampstead Thameslink station
Location in context
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Cricklewood | Fortune Green | Childs Hill | |
| Kilburn |  |
Hampstead | ||
 West Hampstead  |
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| St John's Wood | South Hampstead | Swiss Cottage |
