The best of Chelsea by the people who know - Cadogan

15 | STREETS & SIGHTS |
Cadogan bought the site from the
Ministry of Defence in 1999 and began a
£120 million development which included
100,000 sq ft of shops, cafés, offices
and flats.
Architects Paul David & Partners
worked with English Heritage to make
sure the new buildings complemented
the historic ones around them, and work
began in April 2000. The area was landscaped
by Elizabeth Banks Associates
and was designed to create a haven
from the bustle of the King’s Road, with
pale stone, fountains and shrubs. It was
the first new public square in central
London for more than a century.
The development was opened by HRH
Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, on
March 19, 2003. A sculpture of children
playing commemorates the school that
stood on the site, and a statue of Sir
Hans Sloane links it to both Chelsea and
Cadogan’s past.
Today, Duke of York Square features
the Saatchi Gallery and a variety of fashion,
beauty and food shops, as well as
restaurants and cafés. There are regular
events, including the Saturday Farmers'
Market, the annual BADA Antiques &
Fine Art Fair and concerts. For more,
visit www.dukeofyorksquare.com.
Elm Park Gardens
• Labour politician Sir Stafford Cripps
(1889-1952) was born at 32 Elm Park
Gardens. He served in several posts in
the wartime coalition in the Second
World War and was Chancellor of the
Exchequer from 1947 to 1950.
• Entertainer and writer Joyce Grenfell
OBE (1910-1979) lived in Flat 8 at 34
Elm Park Gardens between 1957 and
1979. She is best known for her onewoman
shows and monologues, including
her role as a nursery teacher with the
catchphrase: “George… don’t do that.”
She had also lived in the King’s Road
and St Leonard’s Terrace.
Duke
of York
Square
opening
King’s Road
The King’s Road started life as just that –
the King’s private road. It was built by
Charles II in the 17th century as a route
from Whitehall to Hampton Court.
Because not everyone could use the
thoroughfare, Chelsea was based more
around the riverside.
However, locals were allowed to use
the road, and when George I looked set
to take away this right, Sir Hans Sloane
and the local rector organised a petition
and saved the custom. It remained
closed to the general public – only those
with a special token could pass – until
1830, when it was opened to everyone,
helping to invigorate the area.
The King’s Road’s reputation as a
fashion hub and key scene in the
Swinging Sixties really began with the
opening of Mary Quant’s shop Bazaar
in 1955. She railed against traditional
fashion and launched cutting-edge
designs including mini-skirts and plastic
raincoats. Iconic boutiques such as
Granny Takes a Trip, Hung on You and
the Chelsea Drugstore complex also
sprung up in the King’s Road.
The road was the epicentre of punk
culture in the 1970s, as a new era swept
away the idealism of the 1960s.
Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm
McLaren opened their shop, Let It Rock,
at 430 King’s Road in 1971. It reopened
as SEX in 1974 and changed its focus to
S&M-inspired anti-fashion that challenged
the establishment.
McLaren had been helping a band
called the Strand – soon to be known as
the Sex Pistols – and spotted John
Lydon, who auditioned at SEX and
became the band’s lead singer, Johnny
Rotten. McLaren managed the band and
The Pheasantry on
the King’s Road
helped them gain notoriety.
In the 1980s, the King’s Road became
known for ‘Sloane Rangers’, after the
publication of Ann Barr and Peter York’s
Official Sloane Ranger Handbook in
1982. ‘Sloanes’ was a term for the caricature
of the young, upper or upper-middle
class men and women often seen on
the road.
Today the King’s Road is known for its
shopping, nightlife and history (for more
on the history of the King’s Road, see
History).
• Thomas Arne (1710-1778), the composer
of Rule, Britannia!, lived at 215
King’s Road. He also wrote music for
concerts at Ranelagh Gardens. His son,
Michael, who was also a composer, had
a passion for alchemy and built a laboratory
in Chelsea, where eventually his
obsession destroyed his finances.
• Actress Ellen Terry (1847-1928), one
of the great beauties of her time, also
lived at 215 King’s Road. She was one
of the era’s leading actresses and
appeared at Chelsea’s Royal Court
Theatre.
Her first marriage was to the artist
George Frederic Watts, who was much
older, and she features in several of his
paintings. Although they separated after
less than a year, she wasn’t divorced
from him until much later – making her
relationship with architect Edward
William Godwin, with whom she had
children, something of a scandal.
• John McKean Brydon's Chelsea Old
Town Hall was finished in 1887. The
front of the building, seen from the King’s
Road, was added 30 years later by
Leonard Stokes. The building hosts
events and has beautiful rooms available
for hire, including for civil marriage ceremonies
and receptions. It also houses
the Chelsea Library.
• Thomas Crapper had a bathroom
fittings showroom at 120 King’s Road.
Contrary to myth, he didn’t invent the
flush toilet, but he did help to popularise
it and developed several important inventions,
such as the floating ballcock.
• The Six Bells pub on the King's Road
was a favourite of artists including
Whistler. It is now Henry J Bean’s (see
Pubs, bars and nightlife).
• The Glaciarium, the first mechanically
frozen ice rink, opened just off the King’s
Road in 1876 and moved to a permanent
venue on the street the next year.
• Australian-born pianist, composer and
arranger Percy Grainger (1882-1961)
lived at 31 King’s Road. He is best
known for his piano arrangement of the
folk tune Country Gardens, which he is