A hill village with early 18th-century streets
Hampstead was a village on a hill long before London reached it. Its core still keeps its 18th-century layout, with narrow passages, steep lanes and small squares. On a lane like that, the gate is often the first thing you see of a house, and sometimes the only thing.
In the early 18th century a spa, Hampstead Wells, brought money and visitors up the hill. Burgh House on New End Square was built in 1704, in the reign of Queen Anne. The spa’s physician, Dr William Gibbons, moved there in 1720 and added a wrought-iron gate that carries his initials.
Church Row is the street most people know. Its south side was built in the 1720s, and No. 5 dates from 1728. The houses are mostly brick with red brick dressings, and St John-at-Hampstead closes the west end. A line of trees runs down the middle, and ten cast iron lamp posts date from the mid-19th century. Nearly every house is listed, and many listings include the railings. No. 12 has cast-iron railings with patterned standards and an early 20th-century wrought-iron gate with an overthrow and lamp holder. No. 23 has cast-iron area railings with urn finials and a wrought-iron lamp bracket above the door.
Beyond the old core, most streets were built in the 19th century. Downshire Hill was laid out at the start of that century, and its early houses hide their roofs behind tall parapets. Stucco was in fashion by the 1850s. Later Victorian houses in red or yellow brick have more decorative roofs and porches, and larger villas stand in their own gardens.
Gates and railings for Hampstead houses
Hand-forged pedestrian gates
This is the core of our work in Hampstead. Camden’s guide says most houses here sit behind low brick walls with gate piers, and that unbroken runs of walls to green front gardens are a key part of the area. A forged gate between those piers can follow a plain Georgian pattern. It can also carry an overthrow and lamp, like the gates on Church Row.
Driveway gates for detached houses
On larger plots we make pairs of driveway gates designed around the piers and the house. Frames can be built to take automation, with the visible ironwork kept hand-forged.
Railings on low walls
Camden notes that many front walls were once topped with dark-painted railings, and that surviving historic railings are now very rare. The council wants them repaired, and put back where they have been lost. We forge new railings to sit on your wall, matched to surviving lengths nearby.
Restoring old gates
An 18th-century or early 20th-century gate is worth saving. We take worn gates back to our own workshop, repair hinges, scrolls and bars, and forge only the parts that cannot be mended.
Staircase balustrades
Inside, Hampstead’s Georgian houses often have fine old stairs. We forge balustrades to suit, from plain stick balusters to scrolled designs.
Walls, piers and front paths
In Hampstead a gate is only as good as the wall around it. Camden’s guide recommends lime mortar for repointing, because cement mortar can damage old brickwork. It also asks owners to keep and repair original tiled paths and York stone.
Our team handles that side of the work too. We rebuild leaning piers, repoint walls in lime mortar, reset copings and repair front paths and steps, so new ironwork goes onto sound masonry. If a wall needs rebuilding before a gate can be hung, we do both.
Planning in the Hampstead Conservation Area
Camden says that changing gates, walls or fences at the front of a house in Hampstead needs planning permission. Demolishing a front wall is likely to be refused. Like-for-like repair does not need permission. Nearly 500 buildings in the conservation area are listed. If yours is one of them, any change to its gate or railings needs listed building consent, which is permission from the council to change a protected building. Please check with Camden Council before you commit. We prepare scaled drawings to go with your application.
Choosing a design
You can choose from the craftsman’s design album, which holds hundreds of proven patterns, and adapt one to your piers and path. Or we can draw a fully original gate in CAD. Nothing is forged until you have approved the drawings.
How a commission works
Survey
We measure the opening and piers, check levels on sloping paths, and record any historic ironwork.
Design and approvals
We agree the design and supply drawings for planning and any listed building consent.
Forging
Your gate or railings are hand-forged in our own workshop, drawing on 20 years of hand-forging experience.
Installation
Our London team fits the finished work. Hampstead’s lanes are steep and some are very narrow, so we plan delivery and parking in advance.
For a hand-forged gate or railings on a Hampstead house, request a quote or give us a call.