History

Introduction

• A brief history
• Historical development of the Suburb
• A Concise History
• Growth and Change
• Henrietta Barnett's planning vision
• Unwin's town planning
• Small scale planning
• Town Planning Act
• Central Square Architecture
• St. Jude's and the Free Church
• The Institute

The historical development of Hampstead Garden Suburb

Early history

Prior to the 14th century, there is little evidence of anything other than sporadic, nomadic settlement in the area now covered by Hampstead Garden Suburb. The poorly drained London clay was hard to clear and cultivate, and the land was largely covered in forest. The Domesday Survey shows that the ownership of the land was dominated by the church, with smaller holdings by King William I. Custody of the land covering roughly half of the present conservation area was assigned by Henry VI to Eton College in 1449 and the title transferred to Eton College in 1531 at which time it was named The Wyldes.

By the 16th century, the growing metropolis provided a ready market for hay and other agricultural produce; this stimulated forest clearance creating arable land, pasture and coppiced woodland. Wyldes Farmhouse was built at this time. The land north of Mutton Brook remained in the ownership of the church with a similar pattern of land use. There were small settlements on the roads at the boundaries of the Wyldes estate. The Finchley Turnpike had been built in 1826 and a hamlet prospered at Temple Fortune where the turnpike crossed the old track linking Hendon to Hampstead. Another hamlet at North End grew when the North End Way was cut through the Heath in the 1730s and there were scattered houses along East End Lane on the northern boundary of the current Suburb. But, until 1900, the agricultural and woodland character of the Wyldes estate and the Ecclesiastical Commission land to the north remained substantially unchanged.

Diagram of field boundaries circa 1900:

Origins of the Garden Suburb

Change came as a result of proposals for the extension of the deep underground railway to Golders Green which offered, for the first time, the prospect of fast, cheap transport to the city and from the vision of a remarkable woman, Dame Henrietta Barnett. Henrietta Barnett, together with her husband Canon Barnett, Vicar of St Jude's in Whitechapel, worked to improve social conditions in one of the poorest areas of London. They had a weekend cottage near Spaniards End and recognised immediately the threat to the farmland of the Wyldes estate from the unrestricted housing development which was certain to follow the arrival of the railway. Henrietta Barnett began to raise money and to campaign for the preservation of 80 acres to form an extension of Hampstead Common as a public open space. Influenced by the ideas of Ebenezer Howard's Garden City movement, she broadened her objective to include a new community where all classes would live together in an open healthy environment.

Her first attempt to buy the land was refused on the grounds that she was 'only a woman' but she gathered together seven distinguished Trustees to lend credibility to her ideas and appointed an architect, Raymond Unwin, to translate her social ideals into a layout plan. Hampstead Garden Suburb Trust was born and the sale of the land progressed. The acquisition of the land now compromising Hampstead Garden Suburb was achieved between 1907 and 1911 from a jigsaw of seven separate lots. Building began in 1907 on the 243 acres of the Wyldes estate purchased from Eton College which form the major part of the 'Old Suburb'.

Map showing land acquisition and dates:

Pragmatic Idealism

Henrietta Barnet believed that good architecture and careful town planning would make a better quality of life available to the 'industrial classes'. Her idealism was, however, tempered by pragmatic economic arrangements and the social attitudes of the time. The Trust did not develop the land itself. Instead, it set up the Garden Suburb Development Company to develop the land within Unwin's master plan and to ensure that the lessees maintained high design standards, whether in the construction of cottages or in the mansions of the rich around the Heath Extension. The co-partners in the development of housing in the Artisans' Quarter, Hampstead Tenants Ltd were part of a wider philanthropic housing movement. The scheme guaranteed investors a 5% return on capital invested, and encouraged tenants to buy a share in the company and receive a dividend which equalled the rent charged. Building began in 1908 and the speed of development was very fast. This archive photograph from 1909 shows the builder's yard in what is now Queens Court and new housing in Hampstead Way and Farm Walk (Photograph 4).

Trees and the landscape were of particular importance to the design and philosophy of the Hampstead Garden Suburb. In many of their writings, Parker and Unwin referred to the importance of trees, green spaces and landscape, together with the critical relationship between site and design. Henrietta Barnett's determination to preserve the Hampstead Heath Extension as the nucleus for her innovative concept of a 'garden suburb for all classes' was based, in large part, on landscape considerations.

The Unwin map of 1911 shows the overall plan for the Suburb with completed houses in black. By 1914 most of the land to the south and west of Central Square was developed, both the cottages and the larger houses proving very popular with the type of residents at which they were aimed.

Unwin map 1911:

The new community progressed very much as Henrietta Barnet had envisaged. There was a strong emphasis on community activities with the churches playing a leading role; recreational and social life flourished in the village-like environment. Archive photographs testify to the enthusiasm for gardening amongst residents (Photograph 5), encouraged by the formation of the H. G. S. Horticultural Society, founded by Henrietta Barnett in 1909. She wrote:

"The chief aim of the Society is to inculcate a pride in the cultivation of plants, trees and flowers, both beautiful and useful; and by inciting the members to a spirit of friendly rivalry to raise the standard of horticulture to a higher point as can be attained in suburban gardens."

Development after 1918

By 1914 work had begun on extending the Suburb into the 112 acres which led to Falloden Way, and into the 300 acres linking the Suburb to East Finchley Underground Station. Denman Drive, Oakwood Road, Falloden Way, and the Holms were developed to provide housing for rent at low to modest rates and architecturally, they continued the artisan cottage tradition. However, the First World War marked a big change in the history of the Suburb. Construction costs rose hugely during and after the war and, at the same time, Government housing finance shifted to favour building by Local Authorities. These two factors ended the ability of the private sector to build cottage housing for moderate rentals. Whilst retaining coherence in design and comprehensive control over subsequent change, the Co-partners began to aim at a more affluent market. Thereafter, in the 'New Suburb' designs largely favoured detached and semi-detached houses of more varied and sometimes modernistic design.

The final extension to the Suburb came in 1930 with the co-partners' development of the Finchley leasehold extension which added Winnington Road and Ingram Avenue to the Suburb. Houses in these roads were aimed at the very upper end of the housing market, large houses in extensive plots. Uniquely in the Suburb, Winnington Road was developed over a long period, with houses built throughout the 1930s, 50s, 60s and 70s.

1945 to the present day

Control of the appearance and character of the Suburb was in the hands of the Trust as the freeholder of the 'Old Suburb' and the ground leaseholder of the 'New Suburb'. Between the wars the terms of leases were strongly enforced but the bleak economic conditions after World War II delayed many much needed repairs and standards began to be relaxed. In 1958, the Trust bought the freeholds for the 'New Suburb' but, by this time, the Trust faced serious financial problems and there followed a turbulent period in its history. It was during this period that many of the out of character developments still seen today were made.

The situation eventually was stabilised with the reconstitution of the Trust in 1968 as The New Hampstead Garden Suburb Trust Ltd. The 1967 Leasehold Reform Act gave leaseholders the right to purchase their freeholds and the Trust now exercises control over changes to the character and appearance of the Suburb through the Scheme of Management which came into force in 1974 under section 19 of the 1967 Act. Controls were further strengthened by the designation of the Suburb as a conservation area in 1968.

The purchase of freeholds progressed rapidly and currently 3573 properties are freehold, 1518 leasehold. Property prices have risen significantly reflecting the quality of the area and the way in which it is managed and protected. In recent years, this has resulted in pressure from developers, as well as encouraging owners to apply for planning permission for large extensions, basements, and even, in some cases, to demolish and rebuild.

The history of the Suburb is of 100 years of a managed environment where the character and appearance of the architecture and landscape have been successfully protected. In recent years the combination of local authority control and the guidance, influence and close control of the Trust has proved exceptionally effective. The need for this cooperation and care continues.

Text and images taken from 'Character Appraisal Statement Introduction, section 3' - available in full here.