The website of The Belsize Village Association
PHOTOS WANTED FROM RESIDENTS - email me if you have some
View of a House and its Estate in Belsize, Middlesex 1690
Jan Siberechts 1627-circa 1700 - web
Photo courtesy ot Tate Britain where the picture is on display
Belsize Park has a fashionable and notorious past
By the mid 16th century there was a substantial aristocratic manor house to the east of St Peter’s church with a carriage driveway along what is now Belsize Avenue. Surrounded by farmland, it was a country retreat within easy reach of London.
Belsize House was rebuilt in 1663 in the Restoration style with gardens designed by one of the Tradescant family. The diarists, Samuel Pepys and Sir John Evelyn, recorded visits there. By the early eighteenth century the house had been sublet and opened as a pleasure garden where visitors could dine on the best food, drink fine wine, listen to musicians or dance in the lavish ballroom from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. They could also fish, hunt deer, foxes or ducks, bet on horses or footmen and hear the “melodious and delightsome harmony of birds” in the park. “Stout fellows” were provided to protect them from highwaymen on their way back to London.
The Prince and Princess of Wales visited Belsize House in 1721 and in the following year there was a traffic jam when 3-400 carriages arrived for a hunt. But in 1722 a satirical ballad exposed the “scandalous, Lew’d House’ called Belsize and the magistrates took action to prevent unlawful gaming and rioting. The fashionable set moved on and part of the house was set aside for the “meaner sort”. Despite protests from local residents, events continued in the park until 1745.
Belsize House was rebuilt in 1746 as a private residence and gradually the area became respectable again. But by the early 1850s the house was derelict and the gardens neglected. In 1853 the house was demolished to build an exclusive estate within the old park walls. Commercial pressures resulted in the walls being pulled down a decade later to allow for more housing development. A mulberry tree from the park remains at the corner of Belsize Terrace and Belsize Avenue.
Eventually (-: I will try to merge these histories into one!
DRAFT - History of Belsize & Belsize Village
Belsize Ward is located in the north west of Camden. The name comes from the old French name for the area, Bel Assis, which translates as beautifully situated. Belsize’s recorded existence dates back to 1317 when Sir Roger le Brabazon left it in his will to the monks of Westminster Abbey.
Bellsize House (original spelling) was first built in 1496 and rebuilt in 1663. In the 18th century the house became infamous for its pleasure gardens, though these were eventually closed due to public outrage over their unsavoury reputation.
In 1854 the house and the gardens were demolished and built over, the name Belsize Park being given to the area in memory.
The area has a range of attractive Victorian architecture including Italianate style semi-detached stuccoed villas built in the 1850s and 1860s and richly decorated Gothic and Queen Anne style villas from the turn of the 20th century
Belsize House as a pleasure garden
An 18th Century Announcement
In the early 18th century, the Belsize Park area was a strong magnet for those who wanted the fresh air of the countryside, as well as the proximity to London that its location afforded. In particular it attracted the well-to-do middle classes.
The Prince and Princess of Wales visited in 1721 and in 1722 between 300-400 carriages arrived for a deer hunt. The local residents were less keen and petitioned the magistrates to close it.
This early advertisement dated 1721, is trying to tempt the local gentry and people from London to come and enjoy the pleasures of walking in the parkland and gardens. Refreshments are available, as well as free travel and protection from highwaymen.
Courtesy of the Bishopsgate Institute, London Collection
Manuscripts Ephemera: Online Exhibition - website
Averil Nottage, chairwoman of the Belsize Residents Association, outlining the history of Belsize Park.
Join the BRA and participate - HERE
Belsize Village is focused on the junction of Belsize Lane with the pedestrianised Belsize Terrace, built on the site of Belsize Farm.
The name Belsize Village was an invention of mid-Victorian developers. Daniel Tidey was the builder who built the stucco houses in Belsize Park that give it its character and because of this it was known at one time as Tideytown. Tidey went bankrupt in 1869 and died in the Belsize Tavern a few years later.
William Willett senior, one of the progenitors of the garden suburb concept, swiftly moved in and took up the project. He built the first shops, originally called Belsize Park Terraces, in a style that has been described as ‘standard speculator’s Italianate’. Willett gave up some of his land in 1876 to widen Upper Belsize Terrace (now Belsize Terrace) and create a village green.
Belsize Village later evolved into a service zone for the grander homes in neighbouring streets, with a set of mews for servants and horses.
Part extracted from the very interesting Hidden London - go to website