Sweet Hampstead and Its AssociationsWhite, Caroline A.
History
Sweet Hampstead and Its Associations
White, Caroline A.
Hampstead (London, England) -- History
Now that we are so near the Whitestone Pond, and the half square of
houses opposite, let us cross over, and, passing at the side of the
last of these, walk to the end of the tree-shaded alley, the view from
which is one of the many scenic surprises of the Heath. There lies—or
has it, with many other charms, been swept away?—the still pond, its
surface scarcely ruffled by the movements of the swans, the green Heath
on this side dipping down to its margin, and beyond the wooded heights of
Highgate and the church. It is a picture that requires no composing; it
is perfect in its natural picturesqueness.
A path under the garden wall of a house to the left brings us out at
the Holford Road, between high walls, skirted by well-grown trees, past
Heathfield House to the left, and other enclosed premises to the right,
with Christ Church facing us, fringed by some grand old trees (part of
a grove), leading by Cannon Place to Squire’s Mount. To the left of
the church is a space half surrounded by houses, in one of which the
well-known popular Nonconformist minister and eloquent preacher and
writer, the Rev. Newman Hall, resided. To the east of the church are the
school buildings appertaining to it, and Christ Church Road, which runs
down to the Willow Walk and East Heath.
Leaving the church, which stands slightly raised above the roadway, on
the right hand, we pass a row of good but dully-situated houses, known
as Cannon Place, which extends from Christ Church to Squire’s Mount, and
takes its name from the old cannon which stand as kerb-posts, muzzles
downwards, in front of the courtyard of Cannon Hall, at the north-east
corner of Squire’s Mount. Unfortunately, the history of the cannon
is lost, and so also is that of the man who originally placed them
there. Modern Hampstead is inclined to believe it the work of Sir J. C.
Melville, but the older inhabitants, whose ‘fathers have told them,’
assert that the cannon were there long before this gentleman resided at
Hampstead. There are, besides these peacefully-utilized pieces, two other
very curious small bronze pieces of ordnance of beautiful workmanship and
great age (said to have been taken from the Dutch), one bearing the date
1640, the other inscribed 1646. These find a place in the very beautiful
grounds in which the house stands, an old red-bricked, two-storied
mansion of early eighteenth-century design. The views from it—especially
to the south—are said to be very extensive. It possesses a garden an
acre in extent, and the ornamental grounds descend from 400 feet to the
level of the Thames.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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