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Camden New Journal - by DAN CARRIER
Published: 14 June 2007

From left: Dr Chris Hindley, Bob Hall and Jeremy Wright

Heath welcomes back the land that got away

THE first new land to be added to Hampstead Heath in more than 60 years has been officially opened to the public.
The acre of land nestling behind woodland on the eastern meadows at the foot of Kenwood grounds was handed over to Heath managers the City of London by a developer building luxury homes at former care home Athlone House nearby.
The land was part of the 1860 mock-Elizabethan mansion’s garden but the patch had once briefly been part of the Heath.
At a party to unveil the new land last Wednesday, Heath management committee chairman Bob Hall revealed it had been sold by London County Council, which formerly managed the Heath, to raise money to buy other sections of Kenwood land and to guarantee the house and its grounds were open to the public.
In 1923, Kenwood Preservation Society bought South Meadow and Cohen’s Field, but to help finance the purchase a section of land was sold to the owner of nearby Caen Wood House, with a covenant stating it must never be built on. It is this land which has now been returned to the Heath.
Mr Hall said: “There were a number of shenanigans over this land in the 1930s and it slipped out of the Heath into private use. It is wonderful to welcome it back – it forms the most marvellous secret garden.”
The land was returned to the Heath due to the efforts of a Highgate doctor.
GP Dr Chris Hindley, a founder member of Highgate Society, heard through NHS contacts that the hospital was earmarked for closure. Managed by Kensington and Chelsea NHS Trust, it had been offered to other health authorities but there were no takers, paving the way for the house to be turned into luxury flats.
Dr Hindley launched a campaign to bring the once-lost garden back.
He said: “I knew this land once belonged to the Heath and had been sold off between the wars.
“When I heard the house was going to be sold again, I thought we had to do something about this, and the idea of making it public again gained support.”
Heath and Hampstead Society Heath representative Jeremy Wright said: “It is nice to set foot on a new part of the Heath for the first time.”
Heath superintendent Simon Lee said he believed the Heath would grow even bigger in coming years.
He added: “The Heath has expanded in the past, and that process is not necessarily finished. There are potentially other slices that could be made part of the Heath.”

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