The best of Chelsea by the people who know - Cadogan

5 | HISTORY | A short history of Chelsea
A short history of Chelsea
History
Sloane Square
A powerful past
From humble origins as a tiny Thamesside
fishing village, Chelsea grew to be
a religious centre, an artistic hotspot,
and a favourite of the wealthy. We
reveal the area’s fascinating history,
from the Romans to Roman Abramovich
Chelsea has had a rich and interesting
history, and this is a brief overview of
how it developed into today’s wealthy,
bustling area. For more information on
specific streets, places and people, see
Streets and Sights
Early history
There is some limited archaeological
evidence of prehistoric activity in
Chelsea. Flint and pottery fragments
have been unearthed near Chelsea
Common and Chelsea Old Church.
A Neolithic flint sickle, an oak club or
‘beater’ dated to 3540-3360 BC, and
part of a human skull were all found on
the Thames foreshore.
‘Chelsea Man’, as the prehistoric
owner of the skull fragment is now
known, died between 1750-1610 BC
and had been subjected to trepanation,
a surgical procedure in which a hole is
drilled or scraped through the patient’s
skull in order to relieve afflictions such
as migraine, or in an attempt to treat
mental illness. The procedure was not
uncommon and would have been
performed on a conscious patient,
without anaesthetic, with a piece of
flint for a surgical tool. A form of the
procedure is still practised today to treat
patients suffering a build-up of blood
around their brains.
‘Chelsea Man’ survived this ordeal, as
we can tell by the bone regrowth around
the edges of the hole in the skull, only to
die six months later.
Roman times
Little is known about Chelsea in the
Roman period, although pits, ditches,
and a timber structure found under the
Chelsea Old Church churchyard indicate
Royal Borough of Kensingon & Chelsea, Family & Children’s Service
that there may have been a small rural
settlement there.
A few metres away, at 6-16 Old
Church Street, a pit and a shallow ditch
containing third century AD Roman
pottery suggests that the area was
occupied in some way at the time. It is
also possible that Julius Caesar used the
low waters in the Chelsea section of the
Thames at the time cross it
during his invasion of Britain in 54 BC.
Anglo-Saxon times
A fishing village emerged around the site
of Chelsea Old Church during the Anglo-
Saxon period, and two large mid-Saxon
fish traps, originally thought to have been
wharves, have been uncovered on the
Thames foreshore, giving an insight into
The Old Chelsea Bun House
by Walter Greaves