Hampstead Road, NW1

Road in/near Euston, existing until now.

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December
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2020
Hampstead Road connects the Euston Road with Camden.

There was until the reign of William IV, a rustic corner of the outskirts of London between King’s Cross and St John’s Wood.

The prætorium of one Roman camp was visible where Barnsbury Terrace is now and the remains of another were situated opposite old St Pancras Church. Herds of cattle grazed at Rhodes Farm near where Euston station is now. In 1707 there were no streets west of Tottenham Court Road and one cluster of houses only, besides the ’Spring Water House’ nearly half a century later, at which time what is now the Euston Road was still part of an expanse of verdant fields.

In the reign of George IV, as Samuel Palmer writes in his History of St. Pancras: "the rural lanes, hedge side roads, and lovely fields made Camden Town the constant resort of those who, busily engaged during the day in the bustle of . . . London, sought its quietude and fresh air to re-invigorate their spirits. Then the old ’Mother Red Cap’ was the evening resort of worn-out Londoners, and many a happy evening was spent in the green fields round about the old wayside house by the children of the poorer classes. At that time the Dairy, at the junction of the Hampstead Road and Kentish Town Road, was a rural cottage, furnished with forms and benches for the pedestrians to rest upon the road-side, whilst its master and mistress served out milk fresh from the cow to all who came."

The Euston Road (New Road) was at the time of its formation in the eighteenth century, the boundary line for limiting the ’ruinous rage for building’ on the north side of London. It was made by virtue of an Act of Parliament passed in the reign of George II (1756), after the strong objections of the Duke of Bedford, who opposed its construction on the grounds of its approaching too near to Bedford House - the duke’s town mansion. The Duke of Grafton, on the other hand, strenuously supported it, and after a fierce legal battle it was ultimately decided that the road should be formed.

In the Gentleman’s Magazine for 1755 there is a ground plan of the New Road, from Islington to Edgware Road, showing the then state of the ground (and the names of the proprietors) between Oxford Street and the New Road. The Act of Parliament for the formation of this great thoroughfare directed that no building should be erected ’within fifty feet of the New Road.’



Rhodes Farm stood beside Hampstead Road near the current Euston station site
(click image to enlarge)


In Gwynn’s London Improved published in the first decade of the 1800s, it is stated that "the present mean appearance of the backs of the houses and hovels have rendered this approach to the capital a scene of confusion and deformity, extremely unbecoming the character of a great and opulent city." Gwynn’s remarks applied aptly to the quarter of a mile of the New Road which lies between Gower Street North, where the old Westgate Turnpike formerly stood, and the eastern entrance to Regent’s Park. Here the road was narrow, and perpetually obstructed by wagons. The New Road between Battle Bridge (King’s Cross) to Tottenham Court Road was considered unsafe after dark. Parties would "collect at stated points to take the chance of the escort of the watchman in his half-hourly round."

In course of time, an improvement was made and that part of the road was widened by the removal of some obtruding houses, and the thoroughfare made as nearly as possible of one uniform width all along, with the exception of the hundred yards immediately to the west and east of the Adam and Eve at the junction of the Euston Road, Hampstead Road and Tottenham Court Road.

After constructing the Metropolitan Railway before 1863 using ’cut and cover’, the railway company re-made the roadway.

At the corner of the Euston Road and Hampstead Road was a public house. Nearly on the site of what is now Tolmers Square, was a reservoir of the New River Company, surrounded with a grove of trees - removed around 1860.

The Adam and Eve as late as 1832 was quite a rural inn, only one storey in height, ’with spacious gardens at the side and in the rear, a fore-court with large timber trees, and tables and benches for out-door customers. In the gardens were fruit-trees and bowers and arbours for tea-drinking parties. In the rear there were no houses at all; now there is a town.’

An advertisement in September 1718, tells us how that "there is a strange and wonderful fruit growing at the ’Adam and Eve,’ at Tottenham Court, called a ’Calabath’, which is five feet and a half round, where any person may see the same gratis."

The rural nature of the neighbourhood of the Adam and Eve can be seen from an advert which appeared in 1708:—"At Tottenham Court, near St. Giles’s, and within less than a mile of London, a very good Farm House, with outhouses and above seventy acres of extraordinary good pastures and meadows, with all conveniences proper for a cowman, are to be let, together or in parcels, and there is dung ready to lay on. Enquire further at Mr. Bolton’s, at the sign of the ’Crown,’ in Tottenham Court aforesaid, or at ’Landon’s Coffee House,’ over against Somerset House, Strand."

The first street to the north of the "Adam and Eve" in the Hampstead Road became called Eden Street - now gone.

The streets on the west side on Hampstead Road are mostly named after the first names of the family of the owner of the land, such as Henry, Charles, Frederick, William, Robert, and Edward Streets.

Henry Street became Brock Street. Charles Street disappeared when Drummond Street’s name was extended westwards. Frederick Street became William Road and Edward Street: Varndell Street. Each of these streets cross at right angles with a broader thoroughfare called Stanhope Street, which ran parallel with the Hampstead Road.

At the corner of Charles Street (formerly Sol’s Row) was the Sol’s Arms which is immortalised by Dickens in "Bleak House." It derives its name from the Sol’s Society, an institution which was conducted somewhat upon the principles of freemasonry. They used to hold their meetings at the "Queen of Bohemia’s Head," in Drury Lane; but on the pulling down of that house the society was dissolved. In Sol’s Row, David Wilkie, the artist, resided for some time, and there painted his Blind Fiddler.

The remaining streets on the west side of Hampstead Road have other designations: Rutland Street, Granby Street and Mornington Crescent, which connects the road with Camden High Street. Granby Street commemorates the English general, the Marquis of Granby. Mornington Crescent compliments the Earl of Mornington, then Governor General of India and the brother of the Duke of Wellington.

Charles Dickens, when about twelve years old, was sent to a school in Hampstead Road, close to the corner of Mornington Place and Granby Street and called Wellington House Academy. At this time Dickens was living with his parents, in "a small street leading out of Seymour Street, north of Mr. Judkin’s Chapel." Whilst here he would "ramble over the Field of the Forty Footsteps".

On the eastern side of the Hampstead Road, the Old King’s Head at the corner opposite to the Adam and Eve presented an "awkward break in the uniform width of the Euston Road", by projecting some feet beyond its neighbours, and so narrowing the thoroughfare. To the north of this tavern much of the land facing Eden Street was not built upon until about 1860. Here were large waterworks and a reservoir.

Drummond Street, the next road to the north, extends along by the front of Euston station. This street crosses George Street, which runs from Gower Street to Hampstead Road. Between George Street and Cardington Street is St James’s Church, formerly a chapel of ease to the mother church of St James’s, Piccadilly.

The Russell family owned the land further to the north - the names of several of the streets and squares commemorate them and a considerable part of the district was originally called Bedford New Town.

Ampthill Square - now disappeared beneath railway tracks - was not a square but a triangle. It was named after Ampthill Park in Bedfordshire, formerly the seat of the Earls of Upper Ossory, but afterwards the property of the ducal house of Bedford, to whom the land about this part belonged.

Harrington Square faces two sides of a triangular plot of ground, facing Mornington Crescent called after the Earl of Harrington, one of whose daughters married the seventh Duke of Bedford.




Main source: Euston Road and Hampstead Road | British History Online
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CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE LOCALITY


BG   
Added: 20 Dec 2022 02:58 GMT   

Lancing Street, NW1
LANCING STREET

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Wendy    
Added: 22 Mar 2024 15:33 GMT   

Polygon Buildings
Following the demolition of the Polygon, and prior to the construction of Oakshott Court in 1974, 4 tenement type blocks of flats were built on the site at Clarendon Sq/Phoenix Rd called Polygon Buildings. These were primarily for people working for the Midland Railway and subsequently British Rail. My family lived for 5 years in Block C in the 1950s. It seems that very few photos exist of these buildings.

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LATEST LONDON-WIDE CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE PROJECT


Steve   
Added: 19 Mar 2024 08:42 GMT   

Road construction and houses completed
New Charleville Circus road layout shown on Stanford’s Library Map Of London And Its Suburbs 1879 with access via West Hill only.

Plans showing street numbering were recorded in 1888 so we can concluded the houses in Charleville Circus were built by this date.

Source: Charleville Circus, Sydenham, London

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Steve   
Added: 19 Mar 2024 08:04 GMT   

Charleville Circus, Sydenham: One Place Study (OPS)
One Place Study’s (OPS) are a recent innovation to research and record historical facts/events/people focused on a single place �’ building, street, town etc.

I have created an open access OPS of Charleville Circus on WikiTree that has over a million members across the globe working on a single family tree for everyone to enjoy, for free, forever.

Source: Charleville Circus, Sydenham, London

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Charles   
Added: 8 Mar 2024 20:45 GMT   

My House
I want to know who lived in my house in the 1860’s.

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NH   
Added: 7 Mar 2024 11:41 GMT   

Telephone House
Donald Hunter House, formerly Telephone House, was the BT Offices closed in 2000

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Paul Cox   
Added: 5 Mar 2024 22:18 GMT   

War damage reinstatement plans of No’s 11 & 13 Aldine Street
Whilst clearing my elderly Mothers house of general detritus, I’ve come across original plans (one on acetate) of No’s 11 & 13 Aldine Street. Might they be of interest or should I just dispose of them? There are 4 copies seemingly from the one single acetate example. Seems a shame to just junk them as the level of detail is exquisite. No worries if of no interest, but thought I’d put it out there.

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Diana   
Added: 28 Feb 2024 13:52 GMT   

New Inn Yard, E1
My great grandparents x 6 lived in New Inn Yard. On this date, their son was baptised in nearby St Leonard’s Church, Shoreditch

Source: BDM London, Cripplegate and Shoreditch registers written by church clerk.

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Vic Stanley   
Added: 24 Feb 2024 17:38 GMT   

Postcose
The postcode is SE15, NOT SE1

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Gillian   
Added: 17 Feb 2024 00:08 GMT   

No 36 Upper East Smithfield
My great great grandfather was born at No 36 Upper East Smithfield and spent his early years staring out at a "dead wall" of St Katharine’s Docks. His father was an outfitter and sold clothing for sailors. He describes the place as being backed by tenements in terrible condition and most of the people living there were Irish.

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LOCAL PHOTOS
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Camden Town (1920s)
TUM image id: 1557159163
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The Carreras Cigarette factory, Mornington Crescent area This started life at the Acadia Works on City Road in the 19th century. It was a small business owned by Don Jose Carreras Ferrer who sold cigarettes, cigars and snuff out of small shops. A black cat began to curl up and sleep in the window of the shop near Leicester Square in Prince’s Street and the shop became known locally as "The Black Cat Shop". After the cigarette making machine was invented, the business required a large factory and moved to Hampstead Road between 1926 and 1928. It was designed by architect brothers, Marcus and Owen Collins with George Porri as their consultant. The black cat became the company’s logo. In 1959 the company merged with Rothmans and moved to Basildon, Essex. In the early 1960s the building became offices. The Egyptian décor was stripped away and the two cat statues removed. When the building got new owners in 1996, its former grandeur was restored. The building was later called “Greater London House” having become an office building.
TUM image id: 1660650534
Licence: CC BY 2.0
Agar Town (1857)
Credit: Percy Lovell
TUM image id: 1499434317
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All Saints, Camden Town, in 1828.
TUM image id: 1492970567
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Camden High Street
TUM image id: 1547918916
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10 Gower Street, Bloomsbury What’s in a name? Well, this area abounds in streets named after landowners. Gower Street is named after Gertrude Leveson-Gower, the wife of John Russell, the 4th Duke of Bedford. Leveson-Gower was noted as a formidable adviser to her husband who held various political roles during the reigns of George II and George III, including Lord Privy Seal and Ambassador to France at the end of the Seven Years’ War. The Gower baronetcy was a subsidiary title of the Duke of Sutherland, held in the Leveson-Gower family until 1963. The area now known as Bloomsbury had come into the possession of the Russell family in 1669. That year the 5th Earl of Bedford’s son married Lady Rachel Vaughan, daughter of the 4th Earl of Southampton. Southampton had started developing the area in the 1660s. John Russell died in 1771 and Gower Street was laid out from the 1780s onwards under Lady Gertrude’s supervision.
Credit: Spudgun67
TUM image id: 1546448389
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In the neighbourhood...

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High level shot of Regents Place as seen from Great Portland Street. The photograph shows the Holy Trinity Church and Great Portland Street underground station in the foreground.
Credit: Wiki Commons/PortlandVillage
Licence: CC BY 2.0


The Carreras Cigarette factory, Mornington Crescent area This started life at the Acadia Works on City Road in the 19th century. It was a small business owned by Don Jose Carreras Ferrer who sold cigarettes, cigars and snuff out of small shops. A black cat began to curl up and sleep in the window of the shop near Leicester Square in Prince’s Street and the shop became known locally as "The Black Cat Shop". After the cigarette making machine was invented, the business required a large factory and moved to Hampstead Road between 1926 and 1928. It was designed by architect brothers, Marcus and Owen Collins with George Porri as their consultant. The black cat became the company’s logo. In 1959 the company merged with Rothmans and moved to Basildon, Essex. In the early 1960s the building became offices. The Egyptian décor was stripped away and the two cat statues removed. When the building got new owners in 1996, its former grandeur was restored. The building was later called “Greater London House” having become an office building.
Licence: CC BY 2.0


Block of flats on the Regent’s Park Estate (2009) A large housing estate in the London Borough of Camden built after 1951, most of the estate is named after places in the Lake District such as Windermere, Cartmel and Rydal Water.
Credit: Wiki Commons/Sheila Madhvani
Licence: CC BY 2.0


Taste of India restaurant, Drummond Street, NW1 (2022)
Credit: The Underground Map
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Cobden Statue, corner of Eversholt Street and Camden High Street (1905) Richard Cobden (1804 - 1865) was a Radical and Liberal politician, manufacturer, and a campaigner for free trade and peace. He was associated with the Anti-Corn Law League and the Cobden–Chevalier Treaty. In 1866, the Cobden Club was founded to promote "Peace, Free Trade and Goodwill Among Nations".
Old London postcard
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10 Gower Street, Bloomsbury What’s in a name? Well, this area abounds in streets named after landowners. Gower Street is named after Gertrude Leveson-Gower, the wife of John Russell, the 4th Duke of Bedford. Leveson-Gower was noted as a formidable adviser to her husband who held various political roles during the reigns of George II and George III, including Lord Privy Seal and Ambassador to France at the end of the Seven Years’ War. The Gower baronetcy was a subsidiary title of the Duke of Sutherland, held in the Leveson-Gower family until 1963. The area now known as Bloomsbury had come into the possession of the Russell family in 1669. That year the 5th Earl of Bedford’s son married Lady Rachel Vaughan, daughter of the 4th Earl of Southampton. Southampton had started developing the area in the 1660s. John Russell died in 1771 and Gower Street was laid out from the 1780s onwards under Lady Gertrude’s supervision.
Credit: Spudgun67
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Amy Street Art Trail - Lidlington Place, NW1
Credit: Mr Cenz
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Mornington Crescent, northwest quadrant (1904). The view includes no.31 where Spencer Gore rented a room between 1909–12.
Credit: Camden Local Studies and Archives Centre
Licence: CC BY 2.0


A 2500 pound German bomb, buried opposite University College Hospital, is about to be removed by Army sappers as people in the area are evacuated to a safe distance (1948) Metropolitan "C’ Division covered the West End. Note the ’on duty’ striped armbands and the black helmet plates (now silver). The bomb fell in 1941 near to the corner of Stanhope Street and Euston Road.
Credit: Creative Commons image from New Times Paris Bureau Collection
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Warren Mews (2022) It is a cobbled cul-de-sac approached through an entrance under a building on Warren Street, in line with Fitzroy Mews.
Credit: @sarah.tuckman
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