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West Hampstead | |
Tufnell Park |
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Hampstead Garden Suburb | |
Camden Town |
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Muswell Hill | |
Kentish Town |
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Crouch End | |
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Kentish Town
If all you know of Kentish Town is the rather run-down Kentish Town Road then you don’t really know Kentish Town at all.
Because, on either side of the Road, are delightful quiet residential streets lined by large Victorian houses and villas which, together with Kentish Town’s convenient location and excellent transport links, have attracted great numbers of young professional first-time buyers and families.
History
Kentish Town has had its ups-and-downs as an area. It grew up on an ancient road to the north which itself followed the line of the Fleet River which rose in Highgate and flowed down to the Thames.
By the 15th century a village had composed itself surrounded by farming country with dairies and hayfields. Wealthy men and some aristocrats constructed fine mansions. For them, Kentish Town was conveniently close to London but still in the words of one writer ‘a most agreeable rural retreat…absolutely and clearly out of the influence of the London smoak.”
At the end of the 18th century, housing development began which progressively changed Kentish Town into a very select area which was said to be ‘the residence of some good families who kept their carriages and a suite of servants’.
But this pleasant state of affairs couldn’t last as the city began to spread north and from 1840 onwards Kentish Town’s farms and pastures were submerged beneath rows of villas and fine houses, many of which survive today.
However an unfortunate decline set in as railways lines were cut through the area to new stations at Kings Cross, Euston and St Pancras. The Fleet River disappeared underground. Much of the area became slums, while a lot more of it consisted of the kind of property where people with standards but no money lived in genteel poverty, among them (though some 70 years apart) Karl Marx and George Orwell.
Kentish Town remained in decline for many decades. But lately the area has picked up again as its fine housing stock and excellent location have been recognised and affluent, mainly young buyers have flooded in.
Location
Kentish Town lies north of Camden Town, with Primrose Hill and Regent’s Park not far away. To the west is Belsize Park.
The City and the West End are only short distances away to the south which means commuting times are short.
Amenities
Kentish Town is on the edge of Camden Town with all with all its astonishing variety and dynamism including one of Britain’s most famous street markets, a profusion of nightclubs, and an abundance of restaurants (For more information click on ‘Camden Town’).
Primrose Hill with its panoramic views of London is within easy reach and Hampstead Heath with its 800 acres of rolling grassland, trees, ponds, hedgerows and bog is only a short drive away (Click on ‘Primrose Hill’ and ‘Hampstead’ respectively)
Regent’s Park is not much further, with its magnificent rose garden, London Zoo, open air theatre, football pitches, tennis courts and boating lake.
Property in the area
Much of the accommodation – perhaps three-quarters – consists of flats in Victorian homes though there are numbers of detached villa-style houses and, more recently, a number of old commercial buildings have been converted into lofts.
Transport links
Kentish Town is blessed with excellent transport links. It is served by the Northern Line on the Underground with a station at Kentish Town, by the overland Silverlink metro network with stations at Kentish Town West and Gospel Oak, and by Thameslink with a station at Kentish Town.
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