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The Friends of the Iveagh Bequest, more well-known as the Friends of Kenwood, was formed in 1979 to p

Kenwood House is an outstanding example of 18th Century architecture by architect Robert Adam, containing one of the nation's great art collections. Kenwood Estate is a stunning landscape adjoining Hampstead Heath, largely unchanged from its early 19th century layout

The Friends of the Iveagh Bequest, more well-known as the Friends of Kenwood, was formed in 1979 to promote and preserve the special qualities of Kenwood.

13/06/2026

A at

13/06/2026

Looking forward to on Saturday in ! Here’s a selection of photos from previous years. We’ve had all weathers, so looking forward to the SUN this year! It’s a GREAT DAY! Come and say hello to us! Friends of Kenwood say 👏👏🙏 to the organising team!
Highgate Festival

11/06/2026

👏👏👏 three cheers for the Kenwood garden volunteers! They make a huge difference to by helping maintain the grounds of a top london destination, along with Heath Hands who work at Kenwood and throughout and
Kenwood Heath Hands Hampstead Heath

11/06/2026

11 June 1776, John Constable was born in East Bergholt, . He painted this small sketch of Hampstead Heath with Pond and Bathers on 19 July 1821, the evening of the coronation. It now hangs at which is free to visit.
There are several similar sized sketches of Hampstead skies at the Royal Academy, and you can still locate the precise location Constable stood in to create them!
Constable lived in Hampstead in various homes between 1819 and 1837 and is buried in St John’s churchyard
Kenwood Royal Academy

03/06/2026

Mary, Countess Howe by Thomas Gainsborough has been on banners up and down 5th Avenue! A landmark exhibition finished last week and this portrait, normally at shows the timeless appeal of Gainsborough.
You can come to to see her and her Leghorn hat where she is part of the

26/05/2026

Read this! 2,000,000 pairs of feet on this carpet! The is a really important source of funding for projects at Kenwood House which might otherwise be hard to fund! But SO important! So BIG THANKS to the bookshop volunteers for voting to contribute to the cost of this essential carpet replacement!
The bookshop is open every day!
It’s entirely run by volunteers which means all money stays at for such essential projects.
YOU can support them by buying books or by donating good reads you no longer want. It’s a great bookshop!
The brainchild of a quiet genius.

23/05/2026

Interesting tours for members of all this week! (Impressive artwork too)

20/05/2026

20 May 1975 Barbara Hepworth died in . She created ‘Monolith (Empyrean)’ in 1953 and you can find it at . It’s a memorial to her son and the words on the new sign next to the sculpture are taken from the catalogue she wrote for her Whitechapel Gallery show in 1954.

17/05/2026

Beat this anyone! And there’s more..

14/05/2026

14 May 1727, Thomas Gainsborough was baptised in Sudbury, . He painted this portrait of Joseph Merlin, inventor, clock- and musical instrument-maker in 1781. Merlin (who only referred to himself as Joseph Merlin, but who was baptised as Jean-Joseph) came to England in 1760 from Wallonia. The portrait normally hangs at and is part of the . It’s just been at the for its groundbreaking exhibition ‘Gainsborough: The Fashion of Portraiture’. Once you’ve seen Gainsborough’s work in London, go and see it in his birthplace!

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London
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Website

https://friendsofkenwood.org.uk/

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