• At the end of Frognal Gardens turn up the hill along Church Row… 

 

St John - at - Hampstead, on your right, dates from before the 16th century. It was extended in 1843 and ten years later the church had its first Willis organ built with Henry Willis himself employed as the organist. It has survived many plans for 'beautifying and improving' the building and is one of Hampstead’s landmarks.    ///army.orders.tables

 

The church has a fine musical tradition and under the direction of Martindale Sidwell it developed a national and international reputation as being the centre of excellence for Parish Music with a fully professional choir and high-profile concerts.

 

The Church graveyard to the side of the building contains two notable tombs which are clearly signposted:

 

John Constable, the romantic painter we have encountered earlier in this walk…

 

…and John Harrison, the celebrated inventor of the marine chronometer.

 

• There is another section of graveyard across the other side of Church Row which contains the graves of some famous people:

​

Walter Besant, novelist and historian

Peter Cook, writer and comedian

Eleanor Farjeon, author

C. E. M. Joad, philosopher

Kay Kendall, actress, film star of the 1950s

Hugh Gaitskell, Labour Party leader from 1955 until 1963

George du Maurier, author and cartoonist,

Gerald du Maurier, actor and manager,

Arthur Llewelyn Davies and his wife Sylvia

Evelyn Underhill, Anglo-Catholic writer

Anton Walbrook, Austrian Actor

 

Church Row itself contains many beautiful houses and, at number 17, there is a handsome plaque to Thomas Park and his son John James.   ///ranked.silks.weeks

 

At the end of Church Row the main area of Hampstead village begins with Heath Street. This further area will be covered in a future walk but, if you have time, do divert to have a stroll around the shops, cafes and restaurants.