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Introduction
Primrose Hill is a very pleasant up-market enclave lying at the foot of the Hill’s open grassland, divided by the Regent’s Canal as it wends prettily from Regent’s Park to Camden Lock by the famous Camden Market.

It is a conservation area, chic and sophisticated, and well placed for access to the City and West End to the south, and Hampstead to the north.

History
The Hill was given its name, it is believed, from the primroses which flourished there in the 17th century.

Until then the Hill had been covered by forest which was reputedly ‘full of the lairs and covets of game, stags, boars and wild bulls’ which the aristocracy hunted. But the trees were cleared in Elizabeth I’s reign and over 100 acres of grassland were created, rolling down from the Hill’s 206 ft high summit. The wildlife and the hunters were consigned to history. Today they have been supplanted by dog walkers, kite flyers, sunbathers and, when the snow comes, tobogganers.

The area was developed in the 19th century and is now an enclave away from the traffic which passes round it, or in the case of trains under it. Only the quietly beautiful Regent’s Canal which was cut in the 1820s goes through it - you can stand today and enjoy a procession of houseboats passing.

Fortunately, no-one was allowed to build on the Hill itself which has remained a popular spot for picnics and outings for over 400 years, with people toiling to the top to enjoy magnificent panoramic views of London.

The location
Primrose Hill is splendidly located. Hampstead, Belsize Park and Swiss Cottage are just to the north. Camden Town is to the east – and, beyond it, the City. Regent’s Park is immediately to the south and, across it, the West End which many people actually walk to across the Park.

Amenities
Primrose Hill has a parade of upmarket shops and restaurants at the northern end of Regent’s Park Road.

Hampstead with all its shops, museums, galleries, restaurants, theatres, schools and lively nightlife is only a short distance away to the north and you can easily reach the Heath with its 800 acres of rolling grassland, trees, ponds, hedgerows and bog (click on ‘Hampstead’ for more information)

To the south is Regent’s Park with its magnificent rose garden, London Zoo, open air theatre, football pitches, tennis courts and boating lake.

To the east is Camden Town where you will find one of Britain’s most famous street markets (you can walk to it from Primrose Hill along the towpath of the Canal), a profusion of nightclubs, and an abundance of restaurants (click on ‘Camden Town’ for more information).

In the northeast of the area at Chalk Farm, there is the Round House, once the turntable for trains running from London to the Midlands and North but latterly converted into a splendid theatre and arts centre.

Property in the area
While most of the housing remains Victorian there are quite a lot of modern houses, many built in the spaces created by the Luftwaffe in the Second World War as their bombs missed the railway terminals and main lines which pass through neighbouring areas.

Primrose Hill therefore now offers a wonderful mix of housing along broad and sweeping streets and around pretty squares. Being a conservation area, new development is strictly controlled.

The residents
It has become popular with the glitterati and people in the arts and media, as well as entrepreneurs and professionals, and local restaurants will often yield you the sight of a famous actor, designer, musician or even the occasional supermodel.

Transport
It is served by the Northern Line on the Underground with a station at Chalk Farm, while nearby in Camden Town there is Camden Road station which is on both the overland North East London Line and the Silverlink Metro network.


	Primrose Hill was a popular spot for duelling and the last fatal duel in England was fought there in 1843. A Lieutenant Monro shot dead his brother-in-law Colonel Fawcett.