The History Of Hampstead’s Hidden Hill Garden and Pergola

The Hill Garden and Pergola in Hampstead is absolutely one of my favourite spots in London. This Edwardian beauty can be found in the North-west corner of Hampstead Heath and is one of London’s best hidden gems.

Emerging out of the trees and seeing the Pergola has the feel of discovering some magnificent lost civilisation.

You will see a raised stone walkway with pillars on either side. Around them and over your head climb ivy and plants with abundant flowers. Below the walkway, spread out before your eyes are lovely landscaped gardens and beyond that; the heath and Golder’s Hill park.

The History

Lord Leverhulme

The Pergola was the brain child of Lord Leverhulme (1851-1925).

William Lever or Lord Leverhulme was born in Bolton to a grocer and was one of ten children. He went on to make his fortune in the soap business.

In 1885 he established the Lever Brothers with his brother James manufactured soap from vegetable oils- one of the first companies to do so. Taking full advantage of the wave of consumerism in Victorian Britain, the business was highly successful.

He took a creative approach to running his business and when they opened a new factory near Liverpool in 1888 and constructed a model village for his workers there: Port Sunlight (named after their famous bar: Sunlight soap). It was this idealism and creative mindset that fed so much into the Pergola and gardens.

He was made a Baronet in 1911, a Baron in 1917 and Viscount in 1922. By 1930 (after his death) the Lever Brothers employed 250,00 people and, in terms of market value, was the biggest company in Britain. That same year the company merges with Margarine Unie, a Dutch company, to form Unilever. Unilever is today the largest producer of soap in the world and could be considered the world’s first multi-national corporation.

The Hill Garden And Pergola

Lord Leverhulme acquired a number of homes, his main estate being Thornton Estate in the Wirral. Another he acquired was ‘The Hill’ on Hampstead Heath in 1904.

Over the following years he remodelled ‘The Hill’ completely (including building a ballroom underneath the terrace in 1923) and expanded his land to incorporate the space we have today.

However he also wanted a grand spot to entertain guests and, more specifically, to host summer parties! Enter the Pergola.

He employed Thomas Mawson, a landscape architect and garden designer, for the task of realising his dream. Both Lancashire born, Lever had used Mawson on a number of his projects around the country.

The main challenge was to raise the height of the gardens by 20-30ft to create a terraced landscape. The terraces were created out of the spoil from the construction of the extension of the Northern Line to Hampstead!

The first stage was completed in 1906 with further extensions added over the following years as his wealth and status grew. It was still being added to right up until Lord Leverhulme’s death in 1925.

Decline and Restoration

After Lever’s death Hill House and the grounds were bought by Baron Inverforth. When he died in 1955 he left it to Manor House Hospital who named it Inverforth House in his memory. London County Council took it over in 1960 by which point it was in a bad state of dilapidation and decline.

The gardens were restored and opened to the public in 1963. When the Corporation of London took over in the late 1980’s further restoration work was carried out.

The house itself was sold to developers in the 1990s and was turned into 2 houses and private flats. Knight Frank has an old listing for a 4 bed flat in Inverforth House that sold for £5 million.

Today and how to visit

Honestly, if you haven’t been to the Hill Garden and Pergola before you should. It is so worth the trip.

You can either head there across the heath itself or from Inverforth Close. I approached it from Sandy Road which is also an option. The closest station is Golder’s Green on the Northern Line or bus routes 210 and 268 take you there as well.

You can find out more about visiting here.

Thank you for reading, more of London’s historical gems below…