Octavia Hill was an English social reformer, whose main concern was the welfare of the inhabitants of cities, especially London, in the second half of the nineteenth century. Born into a family of radical thinkers and reformers with a strong commitment to alleviating poverty, she herself grew up in straitened circumstances owing to the financial failure of her father's businesses. Home educated by her mother, she worked from the age of 14 for the welfare of working people.
Octavia Hill by John Singer Sargent, 1898
A Marylebone slum in the nineteenth century
Wicken Fen acquired by the National Trust in 1899
Hampstead Heath – saved by Octavia Hill and others
Hampstead Heath is an ancient heath in London, spanning 320 hectares. This grassy public space sits astride a sandy ridge, one of the highest points in London, running from Hampstead to Highgate, which rests on a band of London Clay. The heath is rambling and hilly, embracing ponds, recent and ancient woodlands, a lido, playgrounds, and a training track, and it adjoins the former stately home of Kenwood House and its estate. The south-east part of the heath is Parliament Hill, from which the view over London is protected by law.
Hampstead Heath extension towards Barnet
Corporation of London sign on the south-west edge of the heath
Hampstead Heath's Model Boating Pond (Highgate Pond No. 3)
Hampstead Pond No. 1