Chalk Farm is an urban district lying immediately north of Camden Town, in the London Borough of Camden.
History
Manor of Rugmere Chalk Farm was originally known as the Manor of Rugmere, an estate that was mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086.Domesday Online resource https://opendomesday.org/place/TQ2983/rug-moor/ The manor was one of five which made up the large Ancient Parish of St Pancras.BHO on the manor of Rugmere, ie Chalk Farm, being part of the parish of St Pancras 'Introduction', in Survey of London: Volume 19, the Parish of St Pancras Part 2: Old St Pancras and Kentish Town, ed. Percy Lovell and William McB. Marcham (London, 1938), pp. 1-31. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/vol19/pt2/pp1-31 [accessed 16 May 2020]. Rugmere is thought to mean the Woodcock's Pool.London, 800-1216: The Shaping of the City p 343, referring to Place Names of Middlesex p142
Henry VIII bought part of the manor, detaching it to form the north-eastern part of what would become Regent's Park, the remainder subsequently become more commonly known as Chalk Farm. Both the detached area and the remainder remained part of the parish of St Pancras.
In 1786 the estate was sold to Charles FitzRoy, 1st Baron Southampton, it was described as commonly known as Chalk Farm. The term Rugmere (or Rug Moor) appeared to have endured for some time as a field name.
Etymology
The origin of the name is disputed: it certainly does not derive from the soil, as the area is built on London Clay. The consensus view is that "Chalk Farm" derives from Middle English Chaldecote or Caldecote, a common English toponym meaning "cold cottage" first attested in the area of Chalk Farm in 1256. This had become Chalcotts by the 16th century, and Chalk by 1746. The full form "Chalk Farm" is a 19th-century coinage, though "Chalcott" remained in use in the early 19th century for a nearby estate, formerly the Upper and Lower Chalcot Farms.Edward Walford, 'Primrose Hill and Chalk Farm', in Old and New London: Volume 5 (London, 1878), pp. 287-300. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/old-new-london/vol5/pp287-300 [accessed 16 May 2020].
The Chalcott estate was farmed from England's Lane in Belsize Park, in the parish of Hampstead, half a mile to the north-west (first recorded as Chaldecotes in the 13th century). The estate had split into Upper and Lower Chalcot Farms by 1720, but reunited and farmed from Upper Chalcot Farmhouse around 1797. The counter argument is that Lower Chalcot Farm was not Chalk Farm as often claimed, but actually farmed from another farmhouse on England's Lane.T F T Baker, Diane K Bolton and Patricia E C Croot, 'Hampstead: Economic History', in A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 9, Hampstead, Paddington, ed. C R Elrington (London, 1989), pp. 111-130. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/middx/vol9/pp111-130 [accessed 16 May 2020].T F T Baker, Diane K Bolton and Patricia E C Croot, 'Hampstead: Manor and Other Estates', in A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 9, Hampstead, Paddington, ed. C R Elrington (London, 1989), pp. 91-111. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/middx/vol9/pp91-111 [accessed 16 May 2020]. If that argument is correct then Chalk Farm was never known as Chalcot, but probably named for the whitewashed farm buildings. Chalk has often been used as a product in whitewash. The farmhouse at Lower Chalcot was sometimes referred to as the White House.
Geography The area is not formally defined, though the former Manor of Chalk Farm was a component part of the Ancient Parish and Borough of St Pancras. The core area lies between Chalk Farm Road in the east and St Pancras' western boundary to the west; an area that extends to Ainger Road and takes in part of the Primrose Hill open space, though the hill itself is in Hampstead. Modern conventions, however, take the railway line as the western border of Chalk Farm, with the area on the other side of the line being seen as part of Primrose Hill neighbourhood.
Chalk Farm includes part of the Camden Town with Primrose Hill ward, and perhaps also part of the Haverstock ward. As of 2020, Camden's wards are being reviewed and these wards will be abolished or have their boundaries redrawn.Boundary commission on ward bdry review, includes interactive maps https://consultation.lgbce.org.uk/node/15477
Neighbouring places Primrose Hill Camden Town Regent's Park Kentish Town Maitland Park St John's Wood Swiss Cottage
Culture and nightlife
Chalk Farm is well known for the Roundhouse arts and concert venue on Chalk Farm Road.
Social conditions The south of the area has regular residents on its broadest definition, which is capable of including Jude Law, Sadie Frost and Sienna Miller among the highest-grossing early 21st century 'Camden set' of writers, artists and actors, but equally, parts of both wards have some stubborn poverty and a significant minority of their housing is social housing.
Census data for local wards gives an indication of varied social conditions in the area. + 2011 Published Statistics: Population, home ownership and extracts from Physical Environment, surveyed in 2005Output areaHomes owned outrightOwned with a loanSocially rentedPrivately rentedOtherkm2 green spaceskm2 roadskm2 waterkm2 domestic gardenskm2 domestic buildingskm2 non-domestic buildingsUsual residentskm2Haverstock 6777272,5831,1561110.100.010.000.150.100.0812,3640.73Camden Town with Primrose Hill1,1228821,8021,9741250.160.020.020.180.150.1712,6131.17
Transport Chalk Farm on the north–south Northern line, Edgware branch. The nearest London Overground station (east–west) is centred east: Kentish Town West.
References