St John, Hampstead

Detached houses in the area

London is a city, like many, that is full of stark contrasts. Often these contrasts can take shape just by walking around the corner. From a Georgian mansion, it is possible to turn the corner to a high rise estate. But one of these contrasts takes form by travelling on the Overground for twenty minutes from Homerton station to Hampstead Heath station. Hackney is one of the poorest boroughs and Homerton is one of the poorest areas with in one of the poorest boroughs. Hampstead on the other hand, is one of the richest areas in London, an untouched market town within inner city, urban London.

Hampstead Vegetation

The town appears similar to most market towns in England; red bricks, Georgian architecture, large parks (and Hampstead Heath is a very large park) and full of tea rooms and pottery shops but all of this is in Zone 2 of the Tube network. The area has been heavily populated by Kensington antique dealers and city types, who wear scarves through out the year and so not only are the prices extremely high, but the tea rooms, estate agents, cafes and shops are all aimed at this market. Most pubs seem to have been converted to wide spaced restaurants serving Gastro food, and sometimes the lighting seems to be designed the same man who uses violet up lighting in the City. A little annoying when on the hunt for an old fashioned pub in the middle of an almost country side setting.

Hampstead terraces

I think the best comparison that can be made is that Hampstead is London's Montmartre. This is far from true however, as the area lacks the artistic history and the tourism that Montmartre is known for, but it is an area within the inner city boundary full of a history independent to London itself, conserved in its best form... and it is on a hill...

Hampstead local

For those looking to find an area of London that is typically English, Hampstead will fulfil this. Many houses are semi-detached palaces that trigger fantasies of Poirot mysteries and imperial decadence. New buildings blend in and are unnoticeable. When the sun sets, Victorian style lamps switch on and create a stage set of reflections in the puddles. Houses drip with vines, and house owners either have enough time, or enough money or both, to keep their front gardens in a condition never seen in Hackney. That is, the very few front gardens that there are in Hackney. Hampstead may be typically English, but it is not typically London.

An area of wealth

The High Street is lined with mid to high range boutiques, as white, middle class mothers push prams and chase after children that scatter and point, still in their traditional school uniforms. Estate Agents show prices in their windows that would feed and shelter me for the rest of my life. The High Street even has its own floppy haired Stock Broker and Financial Adviser. 

Iron gates that feature on many Georgian buildings

I decided to take this trip today, after feeling a little lost for something to do, and as usual I thought to myself, 'this is far prettier than Clapton!', but again after half an hour, I remembered why my heart lies East. To enjoy a Hampstead lifestyle is to enjoy a life away from the varied sights and spontaneity of East London. Like Montmartre, Hampstead is a very beautiful museum and lacks that needed touch of modern England, of development and evolution. It is fixed in the style of the wealthy. And so it should be. Each area needs its own identity and Hampstead is best preserved but as I walked back from Homerton station, I smiled as I passed Polish shops, Turkish takeaways, disused buildings and a massage parlour. But once, during my recent house search, some one once said, 'Clapton is the Hampstead of the East', and this is increasingly becoming true.

GREEN GREEN GREEN

Buildings in Hampstead

Hampstead at night