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Chalk Farm is a small urban district of north west London, lying immediately north of Camden Town, in the London Borough of Camden.

Chalk Farm was originally known as the Manor of Rugmere, an estate that was mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. The manor was one of five which made up the large Ancient Parish of St Pancras. Rugmere is thought to mean the Woodcock's Pool. Henry VIII bought part of the manor, detaching it to form the north eastern part of what would become Regent's Park, the remainder subsequently become more commonly known as Chalk Farm. Both the detached area and the remainder remained part of the parish of St Pancras. In 1786 the estate was sold to Charles FitzRoy, 1st Baron Southampton, it was described as commonly known as Chalk Farm. The term Rugmere (or Rug Moor) appeared to have endured for some time as a field name.

The origin of the name is disputed: it certainly does not derive from the soil, as the area is built on London Clay. The consensus view is that "Chalk Farm" derives from Middle English Chaldecote or Caldecote, a common English toponym meaning "cold cottage" first attested in the area of Chalk Farm in 1256. This had become Chalcotts by the 16th century, and Chalk by 1746. The full form "Chalk Farm" is a 19th century coinage, though "Chalcott" remained in use in the early 19th century for a nearby estate, formerly the Upper and Lower Chalcot Farms. The Chalcott estate was farmed from England's Lane in Belsize Park, in the parish of Hampstead, half a mile to the north west (first recorded as Chaldecotes in the 13th century). The estate had split into Upper and Lower Chalcot Farms by 1720, but reunited and farmed from Upper Chalcot Farmhouse around 1797. The counter argument is that Lower Chalcot Farm was not Chalk Farm as often claimed, but actually farmed from another farmhouse on England's Lane. If that argument is correct then Chalk Farm was never known as Chalcot, but probably named for the whitewashed farm buildings. Chalk has often been used as a product in whitewash. The farmhouse at Lower Chalcot was sometimes referred to as the White House.

The south of the area has regular residents on its broadest definition, which is capable of including Jude Law, Sadie Frost and Sienna Miller among the highest grossing early 21st century 'Camden set' of writers, artists and actors, but equally, parts of both wards have some stubborn poverty and a significant minority of their housing is social housing. Census data for local wards gives an indication of varied social conditions in the area. + 2011 Published Statistics: Population, home ownership and extracts from Physical Environment, surveyed in 2005Output areaHomes owned outrightOwned with a loanSocially rentedPrivately rentedOtherkm2 green spaceskm2 roadskm2 waterkm2 domestic gardenskm2 domestic buildingskm2 non domestic buildingsUsual residents km2Haverstock 677727258311561110.100.010.000.150.100.08123640.73Camden Town with Primrose Hill1122882180219741250.160.020.020.180.150.17126131.17

Chalk Farm on the north–south Northern line, Edgware branch. The nearest London Overground station (east west) is centred 0.5 mile (1 km) east: Kentish Town West.