The Hill Garden and Pergola

Can heritage be romantic? Without a doubt.

- JOHN DARLINGTON

I met my wife nearly 40 years ago while I was excavating an old abbey in Shrewsbury - my chat-up line was: "Would you like to see my medieval cesspits?" Surprisingly - very surprisingly it worked, and we've remained together ever since. I wouldn't recommend such a line to anyone who is not an archaeologist, but I would always champion the romance of ruins, ancient monuments and historic buildings. London is full of these places where couples may clasp hands against an iconic backdrop. Of these, Hampstead Heath glows bright, as if blessed by St Valentine.

The Heath has its hidden corners and secrets. One of these is the scented pergola at The Hill, a house purchased by William Lever in 1904, and now known as Inverforth House.

An industrialist from Bolton, Lever made his fortune in the manufacture of soap, including the brand Sunlight. The Hill was almost 100 years old when Lever moved in and he soon decided to refurbish and expand it. This was more than a wallpaper job, and perhaps the best of what he created is the extraordinary pergola in the garden. For this he commissioned a fellow Lancastrian, the great landscape designer Thomas Mawson, who began work in 1905 and extended the garden and pergola in phases over the next seven years as Lever acquired the neighbouring properties (incidentally, Mawson also designed Fazl Mosque, the first purpose-built mosque in London).