Visit Belsize Park Places

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The Walkfo guide to things to do & explore in Belsize Park

  

Belsize Park Places Overview: History, Culture & Facts about Belsize Park

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Belsize Park history

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The name is derived from French bel assis meaning ‘well situated’. The area has many thoroughfares bearing its name: Belsize Avenue, Belsize Court, Belsize Crescent, Belsize Gardens, Belsize Grove, Belsize Lane, Belsize Mews, Belsize Park (the road), Belsize Park Gardens, Belsize Place, Belsize Square, and Belsize Terrace. The Manor of Belsize dates back to 1317, when as a subdivision to the Manor of Hampstead it was left to the Roman Catholic monks of Westminster Abbey. The original manor consisted of a number of subdivided farms, which were rented out for income. Hence after the reformation, King Henry VIII returned the estate to the newly constituted Anglican Dean of Westminster Abbey. By 1600, including the manor house there were at least three other properties on the estate, with diplomat and courtier Sir Isaac Wake (1581 – 1632) having a substantial property built on the west side of the main London to Hampstead road. Inherited by his daughter and her husband, Charles West (1626–1687), the fifth Baron de la Warr, by 1714 it had passed through various hands into the ownership of William Paget, the 6th Baron Paget, who had a substantial formal garden constructed. The name Belsize Park comes from the 17th-century manor house and parkland (built by Daniel O’Neill for his wife, the Countess of Chesterfield) which once stood on the site. Rebuilt in 1663, it was sublet by 1721, when the parklands opened as pleasure gardens for those looking to escape the dirt and grime of the City of London, with concerts, singing, dancing and country sports such as fishing and racing. In 1722 magistrates were instructed to act to stop riotous behaviour, although the parkland remained open until 1745. Belsize House was rebuilt in 1746, after which additional large country houses had been built on the surrounding farmlands for wealthy lawyers and merchants. Between 1679 and 1714, the number of houses on the estate had increased from 8 to 14, and by 1808 there were still only 22 recorded. However, the formal division of the state in 1808 into eight separate lands – based on the structure of the underleases pertaining to the estates formal houses – allowed the church to maximise its income, and hence to allow additional substantial houses to be built on the lands. This income allowed the church to have Belsize House rebuilt in 1812 for additional letting income. The wealthy leaseholders soon enabled themselves to purchase the freehold from the church, allowing the accelerated development of Belsize as a Victorian country urban suburb of London. One of the new land owners George Todd redeveloped what was known as the White House in 1815 as a substantial Georgian stucco-villa with portico, and two lodges. Known as Belsize House, it was later sold to Matthew Forster (1786 – 1869) the Whig MP for Berwick-upon-Tweed as Belsize Lodge – it was demolished in 1937. Victorian development started along the main London to Hampstead road from 1815 through the works of Edward Bliss, a self-made man who had leased and then bought the southeastern-located Newman’s House lands, on the west side of Haverstock Hill north of England’s Lane. Bliss not only built properties to lease out, but also allowed construction subleases. In 1829 Eton College advertised villa-sized plots on Haverstock Hill. The college then started developing an axis road to Finchley Road, naming it after Queen Adelaide. Development halted in the 1830s due to the proposal for the lines of the London and Birmingham Railway (L&BR) to be built through Belsize Park, but Eton College successfully argued via parliamentary lobbying for the railway to be tunnelled underground via Primrose Hill, which was then designed and engineered by Robert Stephenson. All the 38 houses on the Newman’s House lands had been built by 1830. The passing of the Ecclesiastical Leases Act 1842 allowed all church lands to be let on long term construction leases, which unlocked the accelerated urban development of Belsize Park. The opening in 1851 of Hampstead Road railway station on the L&BR prompted William Lund in 1852 to agree a 99-year construction sublease on the former Forsyth estate. He proposed developments to the west of Haverstock Hill, although his plans were curtailed by construction issues associated with building over both the Pond Street sewer and the L&BR tunnel. In 1852 Charles James Palmer, a Bloomsbury-based solicitor bought the lease of Belsize House. In 1853 he proposed demolition of the main house, with Daniel Tiley taking the lead role in constructing Belsize Square and associated properties. Palmer commissioned architect James Piers St Aubyn to design St Peter’s Church. In 1864 the church bought-back the lease on the undeveloped backlot of the Bliss lands. Tiley gained agreement from Palmer and Eton College to buy the construction lease from the church, and hence extend development south of Belsize Square to connect with the college’s estate. Mimicking the then fashionable styles of Kensington and Bayswater, between 1851 and the late 1860s he built over 250 8-10 bedroom semi-detached stucco houses with large porticos, aimed at the middle classes. The church undertook a similar agreement in 1857, reacquiring full control over the portion of Todd’s lease north of Belsize Lane in 1865, and again selling it to Tiley. With construction almost complete, fashion changed and Tiley went bankrupt in 1870. Of the original eight lands defined by the church in 1808, the three leased to Thomas Roberts remained substantially undeveloped throughout much of the Victoria era. South End Farm continued as a farmhouse, whilst although Rosslyn House was sold in 1816 to the undertenant, it remained in place with its formal gardens until the house was demolished between 1896 and 1909. In 1855 Henry Davidson exchanged his lease for life of the Rosslyn House lands for a 99-year building lease. Due to issues associated with construction over the L&BR tunnels, in 1859 he sold Rosslyn House and its extended formal gardens to Charles Henry Lardner Woodd. Woodd decided to sublease the house out for income, with its occupiers until 1893 including Sir Francis Freeling (1764 – 1836) who was Secretary of HM General Post Office, and General Sir Moore Disney. Davidson developed his part of the Rosslyn lands, undertaking a mixed development of large semi-detached properties similar to Belsize Park, slowed by a lack of labour through both the substantial development of the neighbouring Maryon Wilson land and the 1860s housing rush. Woodd endeavored to keep the ever-encroaching tide of housing from coming too close to Rosslyn House, permitting development only on the fringes of the formal garden, such as the housing by the local architect Horace Field on the south side of Wedderburn Road. It was only after Woodd’s death in 1895, and the sale of the House to developers by his widow the following year, that development took place on the north side of Wedderburn Road and elsewhere on the garden and site of the House. At 19-21 Lyndhurst Road (1898) the development incorporated the gatehouse of Rosslyn House, designed for Woodd by Teulon, the architect of St Stephen’s Church, Rosslyn Hill. Developing housing resulted in the need for facilities, including the Metropolitan Railway from 1860 (Hampstead Heath and Finchley Road), and the L&BR form 1868 (Swiss Cottage and Finchley Road). From 1873 William Willett – the father of William Willett the tireless promoter of British Summer Time, who helped his father from 1881 onwards – took over the church’s leases after the bankruptcy of Daniel Tiley. Willett redeveloped much of the former Eton College estate with newer, smaller but still substantial properties inspired by Queen Anne style architecture. By 1900, most of the residual country mansions and their gardens had been demolished, now to make way for smaller terraced houses. After World War I, the construction of blocks of flats began, and now a great many of the larger houses are also converted into flats. In World War II, a large underground air-raid shelter was built here and its entrance can still be seen near the tube station at Downside Crescent. The area on Haverstock Hill north of Belsize Park Underground station up to Hampstead Town Hall and including part of a primary school near the Royal Free Hospital was heavily bombed. When the area was rebuilt, the opportunity was taken to widen the pavement and build further back from the road.

You can visit Belsize Park places with Walkfo Belsize Park to hear history at Belsize Park’s places whilst walking around using the free digital tour app. Walkfo Belsize Park has 1114 places to visit in our interactive Belsize Park map, with amazing history, culture & travel facts you can explore the same way you would at a museum or art gallery with information audio headset. With Walkfo, you can travel by foot, bike or bus throughout Belsize Park, being in the moment, without digital distraction or limits to a specific walking route. Our historic audio walks, National Trust interactive audio experiences, digital tour guides for English Heritage locations are available at Belsize Park places, with a AI tour guide to help you get the best from a visit to Belsize Park & the surrounding areas.

“Curated content for millions of locations across the UK, with 1114 audio facts unique to Belsize Park places in an interactive Belsize Park map you can explore.”

Walkfo: Visit Belsize Park Places Map
1114 tourist, history, culture & geography spots

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Belsize Park historic spots	Belsize Park tourist destinations	Belsize Park plaques	Belsize Park geographic features
Walkfo Belsize Park tourism map key: places to see & visit like National Trust sites, Blue Plaques, English Heritage locations & top tourist destinations in Belsize Park

  

Best Belsize Park places to visit

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Belsize Park has places to explore by foot, bike or bus. Below are a selection of the varied Belsize Park’s destinations you can visit with additional content available at the Walkfo Belsize Park’s information audio spots:

Dudley House, London Dudley House is a Grade II* listed house with 44,000 square feet (4,100 m) located at 100 Park Lane in Mayfair, London . It is one of the few surviving aristocratic townhouses in London .

Dunraven Street Dunraven Street is a street in London’s Mayfair district . It was laid out in the 1750s as Norfolk Street and was sometimes known as New Norfolk Street . In 1939, it was renamed after being laid out by London County Council .

Hyde Park Estate Hyde Park Estate is a residential district in the Paddington area of London . It is characterised by a layout of squares and crescents . The area is home to embassies, prestigious businesses and celebrities .

Park Street, Mayfair Park Street is a street in Mayfair, London, England . It is the longest street on the Grosvenor Estate . The longest street is Park Street, the longest on the estate .

Connaught Village Connaught Village is a commercial and residential area just west of Marble Arch . It is owned by the Church Commissioners of England . The couture store of famous shoemaker Jimmy Choo was previously located here . Tony Blair, former leader of the Labour Party, lives in Connaught Square .

Western Marble Arch Synagogue The Western Marble Arch (WMA) Synagogue is a Jewish place of worship in central London . It is a leading Orthodox Judaism synagogue and offers religious and social activities . The WMA is the result of a merger between the Western and Marble Arch Synagogues .

Poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko Alexander Litvinenko was a former officer of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) and the KGB . After speaking critically about corruption within the Russian government, he fled retribution to the UK . Six years later he was assassinated by two Russians by poisoning .

Eagle Squadrons Memorial The Eagle Squadrons Memorial is a Second World War memorial in Grosvenor Square, London . It commemorates the service of the three Royal Air Force . The bronze sculpture of an eagle which tops the memorial is by Elisabeth Frink .

St Mark’s, Mayfair St Mark’s Church, Mayfair, is a Grade I listed building in the heart of London’s Mayfair district . The church is located on North Audley Street, on the north side of the road .

Beaumont Hotel, London The Beaumont Hotel is a Grade II listed luxury hotel in Mayfair, London . One of its rooms was designed by Antony Gormley as a public sculpture .

Visit Belsize Park plaques