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Burgh House is a Queen Ann residence
in Hampstead, the second oldest house in the area.
The building was constructed
in the 1703 for the Sewells, a Quaker family and was later
the home of Dr William Gibbons, chief physician to the fashionable
Hampstead spa. It takes its name from a 19th century
resident, the Reverend Allatson Burgh, 1822 - 56. So
unpopular were he and his wife that his parishioners petitioned
Queen Victoria to have them removed.
The last private tenant of the
house was the son-in-law of the Rudyard Kipling, and the writer
visited Burgh House occasionally at the end of his life.
After falling into disrepair
Burgh House was saved from redevelopment by the local community,
and Hampstead Borough Council let the property to the Burgh
House Trust, and since 1979 the house has been run by the
Trust as the Hampstead Museum.
The Grade I listed building contains
displays on the history of Hampstead and some of its famous
residents.
The house has been changed inside
over the years and today the carved staircase is the highlight
of the interior. The Music Room, reconstructed in the
1920's, contains 18th century panelling from another building,
whilst there is a small art gallery which holds temporary
exhibitions by local artists.
The Hampstead Local History Museum
is in the house, with an area dedicated to the life of the
John Constable. The famous artist lived in Well Walk
when working on his series of cloud studies from Hampstead
Heath.
Other notable local residents
include the novelists D.H. Lawrence, J.B. Priestley and John
Galsworthy, the poet John Keats and the artist Stanley Spencer.
The local history exhibits include
a display on Hampstead's years as a spa in the 18th and 19th
centuries.
There is a regular programme
of concerts, art exhibitions and meetings.
The Buttery cafe overlooks its
award-winning garden, an informal, terraced garden with over
100 varieties of plants.
Admission free -
donations welcomed
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Hampstead