Chelsea Walk - Kings Road
Our walk begins at the junction of the King's Road and Old
Church Street, situated half way between Sloane Square and Stanley
Bridge. Before leaving the noise and bustle of the King's Road here
is some background information about historic Chelsea which may be
helpful.
Chelsea is mentioned in Anglo-Saxon chronicles, but it was the
arrival of Sir Thomas More in the 1520s that put Chelsea firmly on
the map. During the 16th and 17th centuries, large mansions
dominated the riverside. Our walk will take us through the streets
that replaced these great houses in the 18th and 19th
centuries.
We will also discover the extraordinary mix of people who lived
there, from Kings to eccentrics, aristocrats to bohemians and the
very rich to the poorest. But above all the riverside acted as a
magnet to artists such as Holbein, Turner and Whistler and writers
such as Tobias Smollett, Henry James and Ian Fleming.
Looking down the busy King's Road it is hard to imagine that
before 1830 only those with a special copper token with the King's
head on could use it. Charles II had it constructed as a private
roadway between his palaces at Whitehall and Hampton Court. The
added advantage was that it passed Sands Manor the home of his
mistress Nell Gwynne.
But it was in the 1960s that the King's Road acquired
international fame when it came to symbolise the Swinging Sixties.
The opening of Mary Quant's shop, Bazaar, in 1955 was to
revolutionise the area. By the mid 1960s the street was lined with
boutiques and restaurants and became the haunt of the beautiful
people. In the 1970s the Punks arrived led by Vivian Westward and
Malcolm McLaren.
Old Church Street, originally known as Church Lane is one of the
oldest streets in Chelsea and leads to the first parish church of
All Saints, better known today as Chelsea Old Church. Offices and
new buildings have replaced most of the old houses and businesses
but, if you look carefully, many vestiges of bygone years can be
seen.
Directions: Walk down Old Church Street towards the river.
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Introduction