Hampstead Green & St Stephen's

St Stephen's is the magnificent Victorian Gothic building through the trees at the back of this picture.

It was designed by Samuel Sanders Teulon and built in 1869. It used to be a church but fell into disuse, and was empty until 2002. It has been restored now, is no longer a church, and can be hired for events.

Hampstead Green is the grassy area in front of St Stephen's. The Green used to be much bigger and on a map of 1746 of the area, drawn by John Roque, a large avenue of trees is shown.

In 1928, the Green's name was changed to the far less romantic Pond Street Enclosure.

The land is protected under the London Squares Act 1931 that stops development of small bits of green in the capital.