From wildflower scented candles, to gin infused with botanicals, and honey from pollinating bees, there's an array of gifts inspired by Hampstead Heath.
As the festive season approaches we wrap up a few present ideas for the Heath lover in your life.
A good place to start is the site for Hampstead Heath volunteer group Heath Hands whose webshop sells maps, books, cards, bags and the annual official calendar to raise funds for the charity which helps to conserve the green space.
Hampstead's healing springs made the area famous in the 18th Century, but you might not want to drink Washington Tremlett's Hampstead Water. The fragrance for women and men "inspired by London county Hampstead known for its thermal sources," apparently has top notes of bergamot, orange and lavender, a mid note of mint, and base notes of musk and leather.
Marby and Elm's Hampstead Heath Candle (£30) ambitiously aims to capture the "green fresh scent of meadows and grass, swaying branches, cool breezes infused with the smell of open heathland and oxygenated air". The gift shop and stationary store is based in Islington's Exmouth Market and the candle comes in a glass holder packaged in a box with a ribbon.
not just a shop which reinvests profits into supporting students with their product-based businesses.
Alternatively you can support a student or graduate of the University of the Arts London by buying London Refinery's £20 hand-poured candle which uses 100 per cent essential oils and soy wax to evoke "a winter's walk on Hampstead Heath." Boasting a woody-based fragrance, with notes of cedarwood, pine needles, and fresh lemon, it's available through
The Heath Gin is a small-batch artisan London Dry Gin which was dreamed up during walks on Hampstead Heath. Pure grain spirit is infused with sixteen botanicals including plants native to the Heath such as dandelion, mountain ash, rose petals and burdock. They are joined by classic gin flavours of lime, pink grapefruit, orange, and kaffir lime to create an aromatic tipple which Spirit Sisters is selling in a gift box with two 50ml bottles.
North London artist and designer Ali Miller creates "collages of personal experiences, family history and identity" in designs inspired by her childhood memories. Her Hampstead Heath range of porcelain mugs, egg cups, tea pots, milk jug and even a Tea Towel (£19) were inspired by "family walks in the woodland and meadows of Hampstead Heath.. rich with pretty butterflies, greenery and views of London." The collection had its 15 minutes of fame when Hampstead based actor Benedict Cumberbatch poured a brew from one of the tea pots in the TV series Sherlock.
You might want some Hampstead Tea to brew in your tea pot. The company was founded at the kitchen table of Kiran Tawade and has won numerous taste awards for its 100 per cent organic, biodynamic and fairtrade infusions. Choose from either loose leaf or fully compostable tea bags including Earl Grey, French Vanilla and Peppermint and Spearmint. Or start with the discovery gift box at £11.99 containing 60 bags of 12 different teas from their Black Tea Selection, Herbal Infusion Selection and Green Tea Selection, all wrapped in a stocking friendly box.
For beauty gifts why not try a £20 shampoo, conditioner, hand or body wash or bath soak by Woodsome Skin Care. Containing natural and organic ingredients and "showcasing our fondness for produce present in the culinary world whilst acknowledging our love for the beautiful Hampstead Heath woodland," they are on sale through Heathside boozer The Bull&Last and include scents of orange, bay leaf, thyme, bergamot, lavender and clary sage.
Hampstead Honey from the Hampstead Butcher and Providore on Rosslyn Hill is harvested from local hives fed by Heath flora, left to settle and then de-cantered straight into jars at £12.50 for a 340g jar.
Or try Highgate Honey which also sells beeswax candles, soap, and other gifts alongside jars of honey for £13. They harvest in small batches throughout the summer months whenever it's ready, and keep the honey from each hive separate.
"This allows us to really appreciate the variety of colours and tastes of honey that result from the different flowers that the bees forage on at different times of the year". Watch out for a delicious dark honey thought to come from sweet chestnut trees on the Heath.
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