12 | STREETS & SIGHTS |Stellar streetsStreetsand sightsThere’s history around every corner in<strong>Chelsea</strong>, and you can still stroll past thehouses where personalities including KarlMarx, Oscar Wilde and Mick Jagger lived,worked and – in Mick’s case – partied.Here we explore some of <strong>Chelsea</strong>’s notablestreets and sights. For a general overview,see History, page 5Royal Borough of Kensingon & <strong>Chelsea</strong>, Family & Children’s ServiceAnderson Street• Karl Marx (1818-1883) lived with hiswife and children at 4 Anderson Street in1849, but was evicted for not paying therent and moved to the German Hotel inLeicester Square, and later Dean Streetin Soho.Beaufort Street• Sir Thomas More, advisor to Henry VIII,bought more than 20 acres of land onthe site of what is now Beaufort Street inthe 1520s and built a house there. Hewas the first of several prominent figuresto build large properties in the area,including Henry himself, who decided<strong>Chelsea</strong> would be a fitting place for hischildren to grow up (see Cheyne Walk).Left: Beaufort House. Below: Thomas MoreMore became Henry's Lord Chancellorin 1529. He initially supported the king’sannulment of his marriage to his first wife,Catherine of Aragon, but when Henrymoved to declare himself Supreme Headof the Church in England and dissolvethe monasteries, he resigned.More’s downfall came when herefused to take an oath swearingallegiance to the Act of Succession in1534, which named Henry’s daughterElizabeth (by Anne Boleyn) the legitimateheir to the throne and declared Mary,his daughter from his first marriage,illegitimate. It acknowledged the breakfrom the Pope’s authority over theChurch of England, which More refusedto accept.More was arrested, charged withhigh treason and was executed in 1535.Five years later, More's <strong>Chelsea</strong> homewas demolished and, in 1566, BeaufortStreet was built on part of the site. (See<strong>Chelsea</strong> Old Church for more about SirThomas More).Bywater Street• John Le Carré’s fictional spy, GeorgeSmiley, lived at 9 Bywater Street, a littlecul-de-sac off the King’s Road, withhouses painted in lovely pastel colours.<strong>Cadogan</strong> Place• William Wilberforce (1759-1833), thepolitician, philanthropist and leader ofthe movement to abolish slavery, died at44 <strong>Cadogan</strong> Place.• Actress Dorothy Bland (1761-1816),also known as Mrs Jordan, lived at 30<strong>Cadogan</strong> Place. She never married, so‘Mrs Jordan’ was a name she took toseem more respectable on stage. Shebecame the mistress of William, Duke
13 | STREETS & SIGHTS |of Clarence, later King William IV, andhad at least ten illegitimate children withhim.<strong>Cadogan</strong> Square• Novelist Arnold Bennett (1867-1931),who wrote The Old Wives' Tale andAnna of the Five Towns, lived at75 <strong>Cadogan</strong> Square.Carlyle Square• Dame Sybil Thorndike (1882-1976),the famous actress and wife of actor andtheatre director Sir Lewis Casson, livedat 6 Carlyle Square. George BernardShaw wrote the play Saint Joan withher in mind for the title role, which sheperformed at theLondonpremiere in 1924. Theproduction was a huge success. Herremains are buried in WestminsterAbbey.<strong>Chelsea</strong> BarracksThe 12.8-acre <strong>Chelsea</strong> Barracks site wasa former British army barracks which hadbeen closed to the public for more than150 years. The Qatari Diar Real EstateInvestment Company, via its subsidiaryProject Blue Ltd, won planning permissionfrom Westminster City Council inJune 2011 to redevelop the land.The masterplan went through a 21-month consultation process and willsee the area turned into a residentialneighbourhood in a landscaped setting,featuring houses, apartments, localconvenience shops, restaurants, a multipurposecommunity and cultural centre,a public sports and fitness facility and amedical centre.The development will also feature fiveacres of new streets and gardens, andaround a third of the residential unitswill qualify as affordable housing. Thearchitects behind the successful plansare Dixon Jones, Squire and Partnersand Kim Wilkie Associates. Theplanning permission was granted twoyears after Prince Charles intervenedover a previous design, after whichthe planning application waswithdrawn.<strong>Chelsea</strong> Park Gardens• Artist and Royal Academypresident Sir Alfred Munnings(1878-1959), best known forhis paintings of horses and hiscriticism of Modernism, lived at96 <strong>Chelsea</strong> Park Gardens.However, the plaque to markthis fact is on the side of thebuilding, in Beaufort Street.<strong>Chelsea</strong> Reach and <strong>Chelsea</strong>Yacht and Boat CompanyThe <strong>Chelsea</strong> Yacht and Boat Company,established in 1935, owns the residentialhouseboat moorings that stretch betweenBattersea Bridge and Lots Road, closeto Cheyne Walk. Celebrities includingLaurence Olivier and Nick Cave haveowned houseboats there and thecommunity is tight-knit and bohemian.The <strong>Chelsea</strong> Reach Residents’Association – which represents 59 boatowners, with high-profile membersRoyal Borough of Kensingon & <strong>Chelsea</strong>, Family & Children’s Service<strong>Chelsea</strong> Embankment<strong>Chelsea</strong> Embankment was built to improve thesewer and drainage system in the area, protectit from floods and provide a thoroughfare. Itchanged the look of the riverside and somestreets were lost in the process, including someof the scenes painted by Turner and other artists.Joseph Bazalgette’s design for the embankmentwas completed in 1874 as part of theMetropolitan Board of Works’ plans to combatthe days of ‘the Great Stink’, when the smell ofraw sewage in the Thames became unbearablein the hot summer of 1858.Gardens were planted to soften the look of thenew embankment (see Green Spaces).George Frederick Samuel Robinson (1827-1909), 1st Marquess of Ripon and Viceroy ofIndia, lived at 9 <strong>Chelsea</strong> Embankment. He wasborn at 10 Downing Street, the son of PrimeMinister Frederick John Robinson. Despite hisfather being a Tory, he was a Whig and a Liberal,serving in the cabinet and as Leader of theHouse of Lords. He pushed for more legal rightsfor native Indians while he was Viceroy of India.<strong>Chelsea</strong> Reach houseboatsincluding artist Damien Hirst and YO!Sushi founder Simon Woodroffe – aretrying to buy the <strong>Chelsea</strong> Yacht andBoat Company after it was put up forsale in 2011.Cheyne WalkNamed after one of <strong>Chelsea</strong>’s first landlords,Cheyne Walk has been home to aroll call of famous people.• Henry VIII’s manor house was on thesite of today’s 19-26 Cheyne Walk. Hebuilt the Manor of <strong>Chelsea</strong> in 1536, andresidents included Princess Elizabeth,Lady Jane Grey and Anne of Cleves atvarious times.• In 1655, Charles Cheyne marriedJane Cavendish, a wealthy lady whosefamily owned land in London. With herdowry, he was able to buy Henry VIII’sformer manor house, which the couplemodernised and renamed <strong>Chelsea</strong>Place. When Charles died in 1698, theirson William inherited the property andSir Hans Sloane bought it in 1712.• Number 6 Cheyne Walk was home toItalian physician Dr Dominiceti in 1795,who built a series of baths and claimedthat bathing in them would cure anyillness. Dr Samuel Johnson was notimpressed and said there was nothing atall in his ‘boasted system’.• Civil engineer Sir Marc IsambardBrunel (1769-1849) and his sonIsambard Kingdom Brunel (1806-1859), who worked together on thefirst tunnel under the Thames, lived atnumber 98 from 1808 until 1825.• One of the greatest English landscapepainters, Joseph Mallord WilliamTurner (1775-1851), lived at 119 CheyneWalk in his old age until his death. Hewas inspired by the view of the river fromhis <strong>Chelsea</strong> home and had a balconybuilt so he could see it better. MallordStreet is named after him.• The Pre-Raphaelite poet and artistDante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882)
Change language