Hampstead Heath is London's favourite open space, walked over by thousands every day. This richly illustrated book unveils what anyone strolling on the Heath can watch out for, including a geological structure unique for London, nurturing very particular flora; veteran trees; the 'ghosts' of ancient woodland and hedgerows dating back to the Middle Ages and beyond; Anglo-Saxon estate boundaries; traces of the great estates of the 18th century, of which Kenwood is the sole survivor. As the authors explains, the Heath would have been covered in housing had it not been for our determined, cunning and generous forebears, who outwitted the landowners step by step to secure the landscape for us all.