Golders Hill

Slideshow

Music : Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness by the Smashing Pumpkins from Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness - Dawn To Dusk [Disc 1]
2.50mins

September 2005

During the Industrial Revolution the area now called Hampstead Heath was under continual threat of development. Through the 1860s common preservation became a public issue driven by a nostalgia for the rural past and a defence of nature in the arts.
The Metropolitan Commons Act of 1866 laid the foundation for the preservation of common land, and by 1871 the Hampstead Heath Act enabled The Heath to be preserved;
'it would be of great advantage to the inhabitants of the Metropolis if the Heath were always kept unenclosed and unbuilt on, its natural aspect and state being as far as may be preserved'.
The 240 acre Heath became public property in 1872 and was extended throughout the 19th century with the purchase of land. The 36-acre Golders Hill Estate came up for auction in 1898 and was bought for £38,500 in 1899.
This public space makes a Sunday morning walk very special.