thumb|Audio description of the parkland by [[Shami Chakrabarti]]

thumb|View of London from Parliament Hill during sunset, with [[22 Bishopsgate under construction.]]

Parliament Hill is an area of open parkland in the south-east corner of Hampstead Heath in north-west London. The hill, which is high, is notable for its views of the capital's skyline.

The Houses of Parliament, which are south of Parliament Hill in the City of Westminster, can be seen from the summit, although construction in the intermediate parts of London has partly obscured them.

History

A mound on the hill may have been a Bronze Age burial barrow. In 1133, the hill was part of a manor that Henry I gave to a baron called Richard de Balta. During Henry II's reign it was passed to Alexander de Barentyn, the king's butler. A legend states that this was the site from where Guy Fawkes and Robert Catesby, of the Gunpowder Plot on November the 5th 1605, planned to watch the destruction of Parliament. The area that was known as Traitors' Hill may have acquired its current name during the English Civil War in the 17th century, when it was occupied by troops loyal to the English Parliament.

Over time, plots of land in the manor were sold off for building, particularly in the early 19th century, though the hill remained mainly common land. In 1875 Hampstead Heath was acquired for the people by the Metropolitan Board of Works. Thirteen years later Parliament Hill was purchased for the public for £300,000 and added to Hampstead Heath.

thumb|right|Kite Flyer on Parliament Hill, [[St Michael's Church, Highgate|St Michael's Highgate in the background (February 2008)]] Nevertheless, manorial rights to the land remained in private hands until the mid 20th century when they lapsed under Sir Spencer Pocklington Maryon-Wilson, who died in 1944, when the titular estate was passed on to his grandson Shane Gough, 5th Viscount Gough. Until the 1940s, livestock was still reared on the hill to be sold through Smithfields, the London meat market.

The City of London Corporation has managed Parliament Hill since 1989. Before that it was managed by the GLC and then Camden Council.

Local area

It is administered by the City of London Corporation together with the rest of Hampstead Heath.

See also

;Canada

  • Parliament Hill, Ottawa
  • Parliament Hill (Quebec City)

;China

  • Government Hill, Hong Kong

References

;Notes

;References

  • BBC website
  • A Map of Hampstead Heath showing the location of Parliament Hill