Spencer Perceval by George Francis Joseph

Belsize House was a historic residence in Belsize Park in what is today the London Borough of Camden. It was a country estate located south of

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from Watling Street, the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the Lon ...

, which was then some distance away from the outskirts of the capital.

History

Elizabethan The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The symbol of Britannia (a female personifi ...

manor house stood on the site. Daniel O'Neill, an Irish Cavalier in the English Civil Wars, was granted Belsize House by Charles II following the

Restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...

in 1660. O'Neill rebuilt the house in 1663 and it again underwent significant further remodelling from 1744 to 1746. After 1720, Belsize became a place of public entertainment to cater to the growing traffic heading towards the fashionable

Hampstead Wells Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from Watling Street, the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the Lon ...

. This included serving refreshments as well as turning the grounds into pleasure gardens. It soon gained a reputation for hosting gambling as well. It subsequently reverted to being a residence. The politician Spencer Perceval rented the house between 1798 and 1807. He later served as Prime Minister before his assassination in 1812. It was demolished in 1853 and replaced by a series of streets of white

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...

residences to provide upmarket housing for the expanding population of the city. These included

Belsize Park Gardens Belsize Park is an affluent residential area of Hampstead in the London Borough of Camden (the inner north-west of London), England. The residential streets are lined with mews houses and Georgian and Victorian villas. Some nearby localities ar ...

while Belsize Lane a little to the north is an older road. The old house stood close to what is now St Peter's Church on Belsize Square and faced eastwards. What was once the old elm-lined approach to the house is now

Belsize Avenue Belsize could refer to: * Belsize Park – also known as 'Belsize' – a neighbourhood in London, the United Kingdom * Belsize (ward), a ward named after Belsize Park, London * Belsize, Hertfordshire, a hamlet in Hertfordshire * Belsize architects, ...

which heads east to

Haverstock Hill Haverstock is an area of the London Borough of Camden: specifically the east of Belsize Park, north of Chalk Farm and west of Kentish Town. It is centred on Queens Crescent and Malden Road. Gospel Oak is to the north, Camden Town to the south. ...

.Wroth & Wroth p.192

References

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Bibliography

* Cherry, Bridget & Pevsner, Nikolaus. ''London 4: North''. Yale University Press, 2002. * Linklater, Andro. ''Why Spencer Perceval Had to Die: The Assassination of a British Prime Minister''. A&C Black, 2013. * Wade, Christopher. ''The Streets of Belsize''. Camden History Society, 1991. * Wroth, Warwick William & Wroth, Arthur Edgar. ''The London Pleasure Gardens of the Eighteenth Century. Macmillan and Company, 1896 1663 establishments in England Houses completed in 1663 1853 disestablishments in England Buildings and structures demolished in 1853 Country houses in London Former houses in the London Borough of Camden Demolished buildings and structures in London Hampstead Belsize Park Spencer Perceval