These days Sandy Heath seems a total misnomer for the precipitous, shadowy woodland, scattered with giant trees, that runs from Spaniards Road down to the Heath Extension. But this is the ridge of Bagshot Sands which runs east to west across the heath. ‘The Bagshot Sands’, says Helen Lawrence in How Hampstead Heath Was Saved, …
Helen Lawrence
Hampstead Heath extension – Part 1….
The story of the extension starts with Wylde’s Farm (which still sort of exists and I will track down for another blog). To quote from Wikipedia: Built in about 1600, Wylde’s Farm was the farmhouse for one of two estates acquired by Eton College in 1449, soon after its foundation. The Eton College estate originated …
The Viaduct and the Viaduct Pond
In the centuries-long saga of how private landowners, and later local government, tried to ‘develop’ the heath – only to be frustrated each time by those who were determined that it should remain open ground – one name stands out. That of the Maryon Wilson family and especially the villain of the piece, Sir Thomas …
Hampstead Heath Trees….
The heath is home to the most amazing selection of trees. You have already seen a number of them on this blog and I am sure will see many more. although, I am ashamed to say, that I do not know what most of them are…. This beauty, with a crow perched on its topmost …