South Hampstead is an affluent part of the London Borough of Camden in inner north London. It is commonly defined as the area between West End Lane in the west, the Chiltern Main Line (south), Broadhurst Gardens north and north-west followed by a non-road line demarcating the south slopes of Hampstead village, west of Belsize Park, and north and west of the usually narrowly defined Swiss Cottage neighbourhood. It takes in some of Fitzjohns Avenue leading up to "the village" (of Hampstead), but the exact amount is an arbitrary measure.[n 1] The streets were laid out in the Victorian era. The area was not served by any railways until Loudoun Road station opened in 1879 on the street of that name.[1]
Notable residents and associated organisation
- T. S. Eliot, poet and winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature lived at 3 Compayne Gardens with his first wife Vivienne Haigh-Wood Eliot[2]
- Silvanus P. Thompson, physicist, who lived on Chislett Road (now Compayne Gardens)[3]
- Mina Loy, writer[4]
- Nahum Sokolow, author and Zionist statesman
- Frederick Rolfe, writer
- The 43 Group, an anti-fascist group of Jewish ex-servicemen after World War II who broke up right wing marches and fought fascists in the streets, was founded here.
- Kylie Minogue, singer
- ETA, the Basque separatist group, and PLO, the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, used properties here as safe houses in the 1970s.
- Barry Humphries, Australian comedian known for playing Dame Edna Everage[5]
- Natalie Imbruglia, singer[5]
- Simon Amstell, comedian
- Lindsay Anderson, film director
- Kathy Lette, comedian, author
- John Mortimer, barrister, writer and creator of Rumpole of the Bailey, lived at 3 Harben Road for ten years.
- Walter Sickert, artist[6]
- John Seymour Lucas, artist[6]
- Banister Fletcher (senior), architect and politician[6]
- Thomas Castaignède, rugby player[6]
- Turner Layton, musician[6]
- Ronald Frankau, comedian[6]
- Kim Philby, British intelligence officer and spy for the Soviet Union as part of the Cambridge Five[6]
South Hampstead High School, an independent girls' day school, is located at 3 Maresfield Gardens in Hampstead.[7]
Nearby places
- Hampstead Village (to the north-east)
- Swiss Cottage (to the south-east) and Primrose Hill (to the far south-east)
- Belsize Park (to the east)
- St John's Wood (to the south)
- West Hampstead (to the north-west)
- Finchley Road where considered a neighbourhood (narrow linear area in the east continuing to the north)
- Maida Vale and Kilburn (to the west)
Transport
Railway stations
