Chelsea

Chelsea is an area of west London bounded to the south by the River Thames, where its frontage runs from Chelsea Bridge along the Chelsea Embankment, Cheyne Walk, Lots Road and Chelsea Harbour. Its eastern boundary was once defined by the River Westbourne, which is now in a pipe above Sloane Square tube station. The modern eastern boundary can be said to be Chelsea Bridge Road and the lower half of Sloane Street, including Sloane Square. To the north and northwest, the area fades into Knightsbridge and South Kensington, but it is safe to say that the area north of the King's Road as far northwest as the Fulham Road is part of Chelsea.

The district is now part of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. From 1900, and until the creation of the Greater London in 1965, it formed the Metropolitan Borough of Chelsea in the County of London.

Note also that Stamford Bridge, the famous headquarters of the Chelsea Football Club, though close to the west end of the King's Road, is actually in nearby Fulham, which therefore hosts two Premiership teams.

The word 'Chelsea' means landing place [on the river] for chalk or limestone" (Old English). Anglo-Saxon Cealc-h3ð = "chalk wharf". The first record of the Manor of Chelsea precedes the Domesday Book and records the fact that Thurstan, governor of the King's Palace during the reign of Edward the Confessor, gave the land to the Abbot and Convent of Westminster. Abbot Gervace subsequently assigned the manor to his mother, and it passed into private ownership.

Henry VIII acquired the manor of Chelsea from Lord Sandys in 1536, (Chelsea Manor Street is still extant). Both Catherine Parr and Anne of Cleves lived in the Manor House, Princess Elizabeth (the future Queen Elizabeth I) was a resident, and Sir Thomas More lived more or less next door at Beaufort House. James I established a theological college on the site of Chelsea Royal Hospital (which was founded by Charles II).

By 1694, Chelsea — always a popular location for the wealthy, and once described as "a village of palaces" — had a population of 3,000. Even so, Chelsea remained rural and served London to the east as a market garden, a trade that continued until the 19th century development boom when the district was finally absorbed into the metropolis. The street crossing what was know as Little Chelsea, Park Walk, linked the Fulham Road to the King's Road and continued to the Thames and Local Ferry down Lover's Lane, renamed Milmans Street in the 18th century.

The King's Road was named for Charles II, recalling the king's private road from St James's Palace to Fulham, which was maintained until the reign of George IV. One of the more important buildings in the King's Road is Chelsea Town Hall, a fine neo-classical building containing important frescos. Part of the building contains the Chelsea Public Library. Almost opposite is the Odeon Cinema, with its iconic facade, which carries high upon it a large sculptored medalion of the now almost forgotten William Friese-Greene, who claimed to have invented celluloid film and cameras before any subsequent patents.

According to Encyclopædia Britannica "the better residential portion of Chelsea is the eastern, near Sloane Street and along the river; the western, extending north to Fulham Road, is mainly a poor quarter". This is no longer the case, with parts of Fulham such as Parson's Green attracting equally high house prices and being deemed desirable places to live. The areas to the west (and particularly around Cadogan Square) is actually now far more desirable.

The memorials in the churchyard of Chelsea Old Church (All Saints), near the river, illustrate much of the history of Chelsea. These include Lord and Lady Dacre (1594-1595); Sir John Lawrence (1638); Lady Jane Cheyne (1698); Francis Thomas, 'director of the china porcelain manufactory'; Sir Hans Sloane (1753); Thomas Shadwell, Poet Laureate (1692). Sir Thomas More's tomb can also be found there.

Chelsea was once famous for the manufacture of Chelsea buns (a Chelsea bun is made from a long strip of sweet dough tightly coiled, with currants trapped between the layers, and topped with sugar). Chelsea is still famous for its "Chelsea China" ware, though the works, the Chelsea porcelain factory — thought to be the first workshop to make porcelain in England — were sold in 1769, and moved to Derby. Examples of the original Chelsea ware fetch high values.

The best-known building is Chelsea Royal Hospital for invalid soldiers, set up by Charles II, opened in 1694. The beautifully proportioned building by Wren stands in extensive grounds. There was also until recently the Duke of York's Barracks off the King's Road, now a shopping mall. Chelsea Barracks, at the end of Lower Sloane Street, is still in use - primarily by ceremonial troops of the Household Division.

Chelsea's modern reputation as a centre of innovation and influence originated in a period during the 19th century when the area became a veritable Victorian artists' colony. It also became prominent once again as one of the centres of 1960s 'Swinging London' .