Fortune Green:
A journey through time
Start at and follow the arrows on the trail below to know the history of Fortune Green
1646
First on record
Fortune Green gets its first written mention.
1746
On the map
Rocque's map shows it — twice today's size.
1820
The first slice goes
A corner is "enclosed"; 9 cottages built for laundresses.
1870
Ownership shifts
Henry Dunnett is granted the Green and quietly sells most of it to a developer for 5 shillings, about £39 in today's money.
1888
Up for auction
The Green is sold for £1,200 (£200,000 today) to a land company. Locals are furious.
1891
Locals fight back
The Fortune Green Protection Society forms. 90 people join in one meeting.
Jul 1895
Court battle
A 3-day High Court case. The Vestry loses. £1,000 in costs (£170,700 today).
Dec 1893
The gypsy showdown
A crowd of hundreds forcibly removes a caravan off the Green.
Dec 1896
The £250 rescue
Funds run short by £250 (£43,000 today) short with 8 days to go. Benefactor Henry Harben to the rescue!
1897–98
Officially for all!
The Green is the Vestry's! New turf and paths laid for £555 (£93,600 today).
1921 / WWII
Guns and shelters
German guns displayed;
an air-raid shelter
built beneath the Green.
1971
New owners
Camden Council takes over.
1970s–78
Green renovated.
Jester Festival begins; play centre built
2007
History repeats
Friends of Fortune Green
formed— "in the spirit of 115 years earlier."
NOTE: This outline of Fortune Green is not to scale. The placement of the events does not correspond to the actual places where those events took place.
This is simply a pictographic representation.
Fortune Green outline map courtesy: Simon Inglis
History of Fortune Green in the map above and in slides below courtesy: "The Streets of West Hampstead: A Survey of Streets, Houses and Residents in the Western Sector of the Old Borough of Hampstead. Christopher Wade, Camden History Society, 1972; and
Local historians Dick Weindling and Marianne Colloms on their blog 'The Fight for West End Green'
Fortune Green appears in historical records for the first time as manorial "waste" land. As manorial “waste”, almost anyone could use it, but the Lord of the Manor could also grant or sell it.
Originally four acres (twice its current size), Fortune Green was a triangular patch where local residents had the right to graze animals, dig turf, and play sports.The origin of the name "Fortune Green" remains a mystery to this day!
Fortune Green appears on the extensive London survey map drawn by John Rocque, a surveyor and cartographer. It showed Fortune Green as part of the village of West End.
The Green was much larger than today and surrounded by open fields. West End was a small, isolated village where everyone knew each other — about 480 people in total.
A corner of the Green is fenced off. About a third of the north-east corner (roughly where Alfred Court stands today) was "enclosed." Nine cottages were built for labourers and laundresses, who were allowed to keep drying poles on the Green for fourpence a year. A fountain was later added at the southern tip by the Cattle Trough and Drinking Fountain Association.
Cricket, rounders, trapball, and boxing gloves! The Green becomes the heart of village recreation.
The West End Cricket Club played weekly "Married vs Singles" matches. They kept their bats and stumps at the Cock and Hoop pub and enjoyed supper there after matches. Laundresses dried clothes on 40 drying poles, paying just fourpence a year!
In May 1870, Henry Dunnett — who happened to be the Lord of the Manor's own bailiff, responsible for measuring out exactly this kind of land grant — was granted almost the whole of Fortune Green. He immediately sold most of it to developer John Culverhouse for a nominal five shillings, a suspiciously convenient arrangement. That is about £39* in today's money, i.e. less than the cost of a round of drinks for the group who fought to save it.Culverhouse paid the equivalent of £0.25 for what was essentially the whole Green. Land right next door was fetching hundreds of pounds an acre.
When Dunnett died in 1873, his remaining share passed to his niece, Emily Jane Smith.
*This is based on the UK's official composite price index, which is the standard method for this kind of historical conversion. It's worth flagging that this converts general purchasing power, not land value specifically — land values have historically outpaced general inflation by a wide margin.
The underground station opened in 1879, followed by the overground in 1888. Suddenly, the isolated village of West End was connected to the rapidly expanding metropolis. Open fields began disappearing under bricks and mortar. The same developer, John Culverhouse, fences off West End Green in 1882. 200 locals burn the fence as 2,000 cheer. Read more of the story of West End Green here.
The two owners, Culverhouse and Smith, put Fortune Green up for auction. The Green was sold to a land company for £1,200. The sale "stirred up a hornet's nest" — the largest ratepayers' meeting Kilburn had ever held took place in protest, and Hampstead's own MP raised the sale in the House of Commons. Under pressure, the land company backed out of the deal, but Culverhouse and Smith refused to give up their claim.
Developers saw prime building land. Locals saw their heritage disappearing. The Fortune Green Protection Society was formed in July 1891. Hundreds rally on the Green. Within days, a petition had 520 signatures and£1 11s 1d (about £171 today) was raised. The battle lines were drawn.
Members kept up the pressure all throughout 1892, writing letters to the Ham & High demanding that the Vestry (the precursor of the Council) buy the Green as an open space
A huge crowd gathered, police stood by expecting riots. George Saxby (resident of Achilles Road) declared he was "prepared to spend Christmas in Holloway!" Using hammers and ropes, hundreds pulled a gypsy caravan off the Green. It seems likely that the gypsies were used as pawns by Culverhouse and Smith to establish their rights over the Green. After ensuring the occupants were safe, the crowd exchanged "compliments of the season" and cheered their bloodless victory. It made national headlines!In December 1893, the Vestry set up 50 posts in Fortune Green to stop encroachment. Culverhouse and Smith sued the Vestry for trespass.
The Vestry brought 13 witnesses including 69-year-old Miss Ann Miles and village blacksmith Robert Spicer. They proved 60+ years of community use. But the judge held that the villagers had no legal right to the land. One point against them was that the Vestry itself had taken part of the Green to pave Ajax Road. Legal costs were nearly £1,000 or £170,700 in today's money. The community was devastated but not defeated.
Fresh off their court defeat, campaigners faced an unexpected distraction: West End Hall, a grand 12-acre estate nearby, came up for sale as a potential park. Wealthy backers pledged thousands towards buying it instead, and the Vestry very nearly diverted its funds there rather than to Fortune Green. Only when the Hall's asking price proved too steep, did attention swing back to saving the Green.
By December 1896, donations poured in: £3,000 from the Vestry (£518,050 in today's money) after it received a petition with 840 signatures; £3,000 from London County Council, grants from the Worshipful Companies of Skinners and Goldsmiths, and Henry Harben's final £250 at the eleventh hour. On Christmas Eve, the deal was sealed. Fortune Green was saved!
A total of £1.2 million in today's money was raised to save the Green.
Fortune Green is the Vestry's from 21 October 1897.
Paths laid, grass properly turfed. Fortune Green opens as a public space forever.
At a cost of £555 (£93,600 in today's money), the Green was transformed into a proper park. After legal delays, it finally belonged to the people. The 250-year-old tradition of community use was secured for future generations.
Captured German guns are displayed on the Green — then melted down for the war effort.
In 1921, captured German guns from WWI were put on display on the Green as war trophies. They were removed and melted down during WWII, when a communal air-raid shelter was built beneath the Green's north-west quadrant instead. This air-raid shelter was removed in 2026.
A beloved annual tradition starts that continues to this day every July.
Since the mid-1970s, the Jester Festival has been a cornerstone of community life. What started as a small gathering has become one of West Hampstead's most anticipated annual events.
The Council builds a play centre and gives the Green a fresh renovation.
Alongside the new play centre, the Council carried out a full renovation of the Green.
History is repeated! A new generation forms to protect and maintain the Green.
Just like their predecessors in 1896, modern residents recognized the Green needed care and advocacy.The Friends of Fortune Green was born, carrying on the legacy of community stewardship.
The Green needs YOU. Join the legacy of community heroes who saved this space. In 1896, locals paid what they could to save Fortune Green.
Today, it's just £10 a year — less than a cinema ticket.
Your membership helps organize events, maintain the park, and keep this 379-year-old green space thriving for future generations.
Share Your Memories
Fortune Green has been part of countless childhoods, dog walks, first dates and quiet Sunday mornings — do you have a memory or story that means something to you? We would love to include it on the blog! Share it with us, and help us build a living history of Fortune Green, one story at a time.