The best of Chelsea by the people who know - Cadogan

17 | STREETS & SIGHTS |
Chelsea Old Church
Chelsea Old Church is on the corner
of Old Church Street and Chelsea
Embankment. There has probably been a
church on this site ever since Christianity
came to England, and it used to be the
parish church of the village of Chelsea
before it was part of London.
The building – before it was bombed
during the Second World War – dated
from the 13th century, and consisted of
the chancel, north and south chapels
and the later nave and tower (dating
from 1670).
The chapels were private property and
the north one, the Lawrence Chapel,
belonged to the Lord of the Manor of
Chelsea. The south chapel was rebuilt in
1528 as Sir Thomas More’s private chapel.
The date appears on one of the capitals
of the pillars leading to the chancel, said
to have been designed by Holbein.
The church was almost completely
destroyed when it was heavily bombed
in 1941 and a painstaking period of
rebuilding and restoration followed, led by
the architect Walter Godfrey. The More
Chapel suffered the least damage and
was extended and reopened in 1950. The
chancel and Lawrence Chapel were
restored and were rededicated in May 1954
and the entire church was reconsecrated in
May 1958 by the Lord Bishop of London, in
the presence of HM Queen Elizabeth the
Queen Mother. It is still on the original foundations.
The More Chapel was brought back
into use for weekday services in July 1964.
Chelsea Old Church features many
important monuments commemorating
some of the people who have worshipped
there. They were damaged in the Second
World War, but were mostly saved and
restored. These include the monument to
Sir Thomas More against the south wall of
the sanctuary, with an inscription composed
by More in tribute to his first wife and wishing
that he and his second wife should be
buried in the same tomb. It’s a matter of
debate where More’s final resting place was
after he was executed in 1535.
A tomb in the south-east corner of the
More Chapel remembers Jane Dudley,
the Duchess of Northumberland, who
was the mother of Elizabeth I’s favourite,
Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester. On the
north side of the nave, Lady Jane
Cheyne, daughter of the Duke of
Newcastle and a benefactor of the
church and
Chelsea,
is remembered
in a
1669 memorial
by Gian
Lorenzo
Bernini. These
are just a few
of the church’s
monuments.
Sir Hans
Sloane is
buried in
Chelsea Old
Church
and a
monument
was erected
in his honour
on the north wall
of the chancery,
paid for by the
Friends of the
British Museum
and unveiled by
Earl Cadogan, a descendent of Hans
Sloane.
Chelsea Old Church is Anglican and
part of the Church of England’s Diocese
of London. The church hall is the nearby
Petyt Hall, which can be hired. There
are regular services and the church is
also open Tuesday to Thursday from
2pm-4pm.
For more information, telephone
020 7795 1019 or visit www.chelsea
oldchurch.org.uk.
by Derby porcelain factory owner
William Duesbury. It closed around
1784.
• For The Cross Keys, see Pubs and
Bars.
• Novelist and poet Tobias Smollett
(1721-1771), best known for The
Adventures of Roderick Random and
The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle, lived
at 16 Lawrence Street and also lived in
part of the same house as the porcelain
factory from 1750 to 1762.
Lennox Gardens
• Polish statesman and diplomat Count
Edward Raczynski (1891-1993) lived at
8 Lennox Gardens from 1967-1993. He
was the Polish ambassador to the
League of Nations and became the
ambassador of the Republic of Poland in
the UK. He signed the Anglo-Polish
alliance that led Britain to declare war on
Germany after Hitler’s aggression
towards Poland, and was his country's
president-in-exile from 1979-1986.
Mallord Street
Mallord Street is named after Joseph
Mallord William Turner.
• Painter and etcher Augustus John
(1878-1961) lived at 28 Mallord Street in
a house modelled on Rembrandt’s studio
in Amsterdam, designed for him by
Dutch architect Robert van’t Hoff. He
later lived at 33 Tite Street.
• AA Milne (1882-1956), author of
Winnie-the-Pooh, lived at 13 Mallord
Street.
Oakley Gardens
• Novelist George Gissing (1857-1903)
lived at 33 Oakley Gardens from 1882
to 1884.
Oakley Street
• Lady Jane Francesca Wilde (1821-
1896), Oscar Wilde's mother, lived at
87 Oakley Street from 1887 to 1896.