North London builders have to make sure that their constructions and development projects are completed to the exacting standards of design, materials, and finish quality that are justly renowned in the architectural landmarks of the North side of England’s capital. Chelsea builders and hampstead builders have an astonishing number of glorious houses surrounding them and regularly they will be asked to carefully restore or renovate one of them. Or, if a plot is vacant, they may get the chance to add their own efforts to the history and beauty of these areas.

It should be remembered, however, that Hampstead only became part of the county of London in 1889. Back in the mists of time, Hampstead was a quiet Saxon village where animals would have grazed and crops would have ripened. The Saxon origin of its name is actually ‘ham stede’, which meant home farm. Many of these country villages near London were developed in the late seventeenth century. Wealthy residents of the capital fled London and the risks of the plague in 1665, but as the risk subsided they decided to stay in the suburbs. Near to the amenities of London, but away from the dirt and noise of the city.

Chelsea also began as a small Saxon village. Its name is also derived from two Saxon words (‘cealc hythe’). Cealc meant chalk and hythe was a safe landing place for boats. Unlike Hampstead, however, Chelsea’s wealthy denizens arrived in the sixteenth century to start the process of transforming it into the sought-after address it is today. In 1520 Thomas More moved to Chelsea and in 1536 Henry VIII had a manor house built in Chelsea. Sadly both of these buildings were demolished in the middle of the eighteenth century. At the beginning of the eighteenth century Chelsea was a large village, but it continued to attract wealthy inhabitants and by the end of the century it was starting to be subsumed into London proper.

It is to be hoped that both Chelsea builders and hampstead builders are of a literary bent, because, when they are in these areas, perhaps to carry out a loft conversion or to do some re-tiling, they are likely to pass the homes of many famous writers. These North London builders can admire the homes of Keats (1795 to 1821) and Katherine Mansfield (1888 to 1923) in Hampstead and of Thomas Carlyle (1795 to 1891) and Oscar Wilde (1854 to 1900) in Chelsea. We must hope that the houses they build nowadays will shelter and inspire future authors to continue the tradition.

Please visit http://www.artisanlondon.com/ for further information about this topic.

http://www.artisanlondon.com/

4cd57e523949b