Page 239 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - London

HA MPSTEAD AND HIGHGA TE  237

the house, which was first
opened to the public in 1925.
Visitors are also able to see
facsimiles of some of Keats’
manuscripts, part of a collection
that serves as an evocative and
memorable tribute to his life
and work.

7 Highgate
Cemetery
Swain’s Lane N6. Tel 020 8340 1834.
1 Archway. Eastern Cemetery:
Open 10am–5pm Mon–Fri,
11am–5pm Sat & Sun (closes 4pm
daily Nov–Feb). 8 check website for
times. Western Cemetery: Open for
Personal items belonging to the poet John Keats can be seen at his former home
tours only: 1:45pm Mon–Fri (advance
booking essential), half-hourly
for concerts held in the was the late Jim Henson, the 11am–3pm Sat & Sun (no advance
house. The porcelain collec- creator of The Muppets. booking at weekends; tickets on sale
tion was largely accum ulated The church on the corner from 11am). No children admitted
by Lady Binning who, in (the second Hampstead church under 8 years. Closed 25 & 26 Dec
1952, bequeathed the to be called St John’s) was built & during funerals (phone to check).
house and its contents to in 1823 to serve the Hill’s & 7 Eastern only.
the National Trust. residents. Inside, it still has its ∑ highgatecemetery.org
original box pews.
4 Church Row This Victorian gem, a Grade I-
listed site, is divided into
NW3. Map 1 A5. 1 Hampstead. 6 Keats House two parts. The western section
opened in 1839. For many
Keats Grove NW3. Map 1 C5. Tel 020
Church Row is one of the most 7332 3868. 1 Hampstead, Belsize years it lay neglected, until a
complete Georgian streets in Park, Hampstead Heath Overground. voluntary group, the Friends of
London. Much of its original Open Mar–Oct: 11am–5pm Wed–Sun; Highgate Cemetery, prevented
detail has survived, notably Nov–Feb: 11am–5pm Fri–Sun. Closed further decline. They have
the ironwork. Christmas week. & garden free. 8 restored the Egyptian Avenue,
At the west end is St John’s, 3pm when house is open. 7 ground a street of family vaults styled
Hampstead’s parish church, floor only. = Poetry readings, lectures. on ancient Egyptian tombs, and
built in 1745. The iron gates are ∑ cityoflondon.gov.uk /keats the Circle of Lebanon, more
earlier and come from Canons vaults in a ring, topped by a
Park in Edgware. Inside the Originally two semi-detached cedar tree.
church is a bust of John Keats. houses built in 1816, the smaller In the eastern section lie Karl
John Constable’s grave is in one became Keats’ home in Marx, Herbert Spencer and
the churchyard, and many 1818, when a friend persuaded novelist George Eliot (real name,
Hampstead luminaries are him to move in. Keats spent two Mary Anne Evans).
buried in the adjoining cemetery. productive years here: Ode to a
Nightingale, perhaps his most
celebrated poem, was said to
5 Downshire Hill have been written under a plum
tree in the garden. The Brawne
NW3. Map 1 C5. 1 Hampstead.
family moved into the larger
A beautiful street of mainly house a year later and Keats
Regency houses, Downshire Hill became engaged to their
lent its name to a group of artists, daughter, Fanny. However, the
including Stanley Spencer and marriage never took place:
Mark Gertler, who would gather Keats died of consumption in
at No. 47 between the two Rome before two years had
World Wars. The same house passed. He was only 25 years old.
had been the meeting place A copy of one of Keats’ love
of Pre-Raphaelite artists, among letters to Fanny, the engage-
them Dante Gabriel Rossetti ment ring he offered her and
and Edward Burne-Jones. A a lock of her hair are among the
more recent resident, at No. 5, mementos that are exhibited at Graves at Highgate Cemetery

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