Holly Hill is a street in

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 ...

in the London Borough of Camden. It runs northwards from a junction with Hampstead High Street and

Heath Street, Hampstead Heath Street is located in Hampstead in the London Borough of Camden, part of the A502 road for much of its route. It runs from the centre of Hampstead Village northwards towards Hampstead Heath. By Jack Straw's Castle, Hampstead, Jack Straw's C ...

heading uphill to a grassy triangle named Holly Bush Hill where it meets Windmill Hill and

Hampstead Grove Hampstead Grove is a street in Hampstead in the London Borough of Camden. It heads northwards from Holly Hill, Hampstead, Holly Hill running towards Hampstead Heath, but curving back towards Lower Terrace which connects it to the Heath. It runs ...

by the entrance to

Fenton House Fenton House is a 17th-century merchant's house in Hampstead in North London which belongs to the National Trust, bequeathed to them in 1952 by Lady Binning, its last owner and resident. It is a detached house with a walled garden, which is ...

. It takes its name from a

grove Grove may refer to: * Grove (nature), a small group of trees Places England *Grove, Buckinghamshire, a village * Grove, Dorset * Grove, Herefordshire * Grove, Kent * Grove, Nottinghamshire, a village * Grove, Oxfordshire, a village and civil ...

of holly bushes which stood on the hill until the 1940s. In the eighteenth century it was known as Cloth Hill, likely because local laundresses using

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 ...

hung their clothes out on the Holly Bushes to dry. Holly Mount turns eastwards off the street and forms a

cul-de-sac A dead end, also known as a cul-de-sac (, from French for 'bag-bottom'), no through road or no exit road, is a street with only one inlet or outlet. The term "dead end" is understood in all varieties of English, but the official terminology ...

, although there are steps linking it to Heath Street below. Holly Mount contains The Holly Bush pub, which was once linked to the nearby assembly rooms. Notable residents of Holly Hill have included the artists George Romney and Derek Hill, both commemorated with

blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term i ...

s. A number of properties are now

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

.https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1379084 Romney's House at 5 Holly Bush Hill is

Grade I listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. Running uphill to the west is Mount Vernon which also features notable historic properties and Holly Walk.

References

Bibliography

* Bebbington, Gillian. ''London Street Names''. Batsford, 1972. * Cherry, Bridget & Pevsner, Nikolaus. ''London 4: North''. Yale University Press, 2002. * Wade, Christopher. ''The Streets of Hampstead''. Camden History Society, 2000. Streets in the London Borough of Camden Hampstead {{coord missing, London