COMMUNICATIONS
THE RIVER THAMES
The Thames, central to Chelsea's development, was
probably its earliest means of communication with
London and other settlements along the Thames valley,
and the river's importance to Chelsea was marked by the
number of wharves belonging to private residents, which
allowed them to use their own barges to travel along the
river. The rector had a wharf next to his rectory in 1388, (fn. 2)
and in 1399 Master Nicholas Stoket had a wharf in front
of his dwelling, formerly that of John Stoket, a local
landholder and brewer. (fn. 3) Sir Thomas More had acquired
a wharf c.1525 and kept a barge to travel to Westminster, (fn. 4) and the body of John, Lord Bray, was taken by
barge to Chelsea church for his funeral in 1557. (fn. 5) In
1543-4 the wharves of the queen and the rector both
needed repair. (fn. 6) Watermen were available for hire for
those without a boat of their own, and in 1705 the
journey to London by water or by coach took less than
an hour. (fn. 7)
Ferries
To cross the Thames before 1771, when Battersea Bridge
was opened, (fn. 8) travellers were carried by watermen or
used the ferry. The passage over the Thames at 'Cenlee'
mentioned in 1292-3 was perhaps Chelsea, (fn. 9) but the
earliest positive reference to a passage across at Chelsea
was in 1550, named as Chelsea ferry in 1564, when the
owners in both cases were William Wylkyns and his wife
Alice. (fn. 10) Chelsea was included in a list of horse ferries
across the Thames in 1592. (fn. 11) The ferry was held freely of
the manor of Chelsea, and in 1587 the heirs of Francis
Bowes owed a quitrent of 10s. a year to the manor for the
ferry. (fn. 12) It seems likely that the ownership of the ferry
escheated to, or was bought by, the Crown as lord of the
manor, as prior to 1618 the Crown granted away
Chelsea ferry and its landing place, with 9 a. meadow
called Thames mead and 47 a. in Kensington, to hold of
the king in chief. The grant was probably to Thomas
Fiennes, 3rd earl of Lincoln, John Eldred, and Robert
Henley, as the three were granted a licence in 1618 to
alienate all the property to William Blake. (fn. 1) In 1623
William Blake and his wife Mary sold Chelsea ferry and
its appurtenances in Chelsea to Oliver St John, 1st
Viscount Grandison (d. 1630), (fn. 2) who in 1607 had
acquired the manor of Battersea, also served by the ferry,
through his wife. (fn. 3) The ferry and the lands, but not the
title, passed to his nephew, Sir John St John, Bt (d. 1648),
and to Sir John's grandson Sir John, Bt (d. 1657), whose
heir was his uncle Sir Walter St John, Bt (d. 1708). The
ferry continued to pass with the estates to Sir Walter's
son Sir Henry, created Viscount St John in 1716, to the
latter's son Henry, created Viscount Bolingbroke in
1712, and to Bolingbroke's nephew Frederick, 2nd
Viscount Bolingbroke, who in 1763 sold the Battersea
estate including the ferry to John Spencer, Viscount
Spencer (Earl Spencer from 1765). (fn. 4)
Figure 3:
Chelsea Communications, 2002
The right to operate the ferry was leased out by the
owners. In 1665 Thomasina Cootes, widow of a waterman, left the ferry and boats to her father Laurence
Chase, (fn. 5) and in 1668 the lessee was Samuel Chase. (fn. 6) In
1696 and 1704 Bartholomew Nutt paid rates for the
ferry; John Medley paid in 1735, and George Ludlow in
1750. (fn. 7)
By statute the Corporation of the City of London
appointed watermen to oversee all wherrymen and
watermen on the Thames as far as Windsor, and in 1668
Sir Walter St John and Samuel Chase brought a suit
against the City's appointees and about 34 watermen of
Chelsea, who claimed that the plaintiffs' exclusive rights
to operate the ferry from Chelsea's 'Ferry Place', opposite Danvers Street, to Battersea only extended to the
horseboat and not to footboats. They also claimed that
the ancient ferry was near the Crown on the Chelsea side,
and that long before the ferry there was a dock for
dredging and trimming boats used by watermen,
perhaps referring to the public draw dock at the east end
of Cheyne Walk. The charges at that time were 1d. for
every horse or beast and horseman in the horseboat, and
½d. for everyone on foot. (fn. 1) A ferrymen's petition in 1726
for compensation for loss of business to the proposed
Putney Bridge was rejected. (fn. 2) In 1808 and 1812 plying
places on the river where watermen could pick up
passengers included a stretch under the trees opposite
the Yorkshire Grey by Manor Street, where there were
wooden stairs and a good causeway, opposite Lawrence
Street where there were small stairs, and the original
ferry place opposite Danvers Street and the White Hart,
where there were 8-ft wide brick stairs alongside a brick
wall and a 20-ft wide dock. (fn. 3)
Steam and Motor Boat Services
A steamboat service serving Chelsea seems to have operated by 1816, and boomed in popularity in the 1830s. (fn. 4)
Chelsea was served by the London and Westminster
Steamboat Company c. 1835, the Iron Steamboat
Company from 1837, the Chelsea Steamboat Company
from 1841, and the City (or Citizen) Steamboat
Company from 1845. Traffic peaked in the early 1840s,
with intense competition between the companies: in
1844 eight steamboats travelled between London Bridge
and Chelsea, four times an hour, and traffic was
increasing. Chelsea vestry saw steamboats - quick,
cheap, and comfortable - as potentially the common
transport of residents of the densely-populated shore,
but by the 1850s improved railways and roads had
begun the decline in both commuter and recreational
traffic on the river. Despite benefits to navigation and the
improved access to riverside thoroughfares for steamboat passengers brought about by the creation of the
embankment in the 1870s, (fn. 5) winter services were gradually withdrawn in the 1880s, and commuting was
negligible. Successive companies failed to maintain the
service, which was minimal by 1900, although a summer
service continued. (fn. 6) Under the Thames River Steamboat
Service Act the LCC operated a service from 1905, but
no winter service was offered in 1906-7 and the service
was not restarted in 1908. Subsequently river travel was
sporadic and recreational, primarily by private initiative. (fn. 7) In 1914 steamers, presumably privately operated,
called at Cadogan and Carlyle piers. (fn. 8) A request in 1933
for a service by the London Passenger Transport Board
was unsuccessful, (fn. 9) and river services ran only in summer
in 1952. (fn. 10) In the 1990s, however, the rediscovery of the
Thames as a public highway through London led to the
introduction of regular motorboat services. In 1992 a
private service between Chelsea Harbour (Fulham) and
Canary Wharf (Poplar), which called at Cadogan pier
every 20 minutes, proved more successful than the
Festival of Britain boats had been in 1951 which, underpowered, could not fulfil a timetable. Even so, the
backers soon failed, (fn. 11) but another service from Cadogan
pier to Westminster and the City began in 2000.
Figure 4:
Cadogan Pier with a passenger steamboat with the Pier Hotel (left)
Piers
There was insufficient accommodation on the riverbank
for the boats in the 1840s and piers were built into the
Thames to accommodate them. Cremorne Gardens had
its own landing place, with a regular service from
London. (fn. 12) In 1840 Old Swan pier and Chelsea Mall pier
served the steamboats, but by 1841 Earl Cadogan had
erected Cadogan pier in Cheyne Walk, designed by N.
Handford, catering for a large number of summer
passengers. (fn. 13) In 1846 Chelsea improvement commission
believed that additional piers were still needed, (fn. 14) but
provision for piers in plans for the embankment c. 1852
was not put into effect. (fn. 1) Another pier was built east of
Battersea Bridge by 1865, (fn. 2) known as Chelsea and later as
Carlyle pier; it was presumably rebuilt following
completion of the embankment in 1874. (fn. 3) Cadogan pier
was also rebuilt c. 1875 to accommodate Albert Bridge. (fn. 4)
By 1894 Victoria pier had been put up near the Royal
Hospital, just outside the parish's eastern boundary, (fn. 5) but
was disused in 1901. (fn. 6) The LCC acquired Cadogan pier
from the Thames Conservancy Board and Carlyle pier
from the Thames Steamboat Company and repaired
them in 1905; passengers travelling higher up the river
changed boats at Cadogan pier, but services operated
from Carlyle for only a few months. (fn. 7) All three piers
survived in 1963, (fn. 8) but only Cadogan pier still stood in
1996 when it was bought by Cadogan Pier (Chelsea)
Limited from the Port of London Authority. (fn. 9) Public and
private charter services operated from it in 2000.
THE MAIN ROADS AND THEIR BRIDGES
Royal Hospital Road
Chelsea village was reached from the east by a road from
Ebury and Westminster, presumably that mentioned in
1433. (fn. 10) It ran to the riverside, then turned northward by
Chelsea church by 1620 before resuming a western
course to Fulham; that latter part was later taken over by
the King's Road. (fn. 11) After the Royal Hospital was built, the
route in front was diverted northward, westward, and
southward around Burton's Court in 1687-8: (fn. 12) the
diversion was unpopular and inhabitants claimed a right
of way across the Court. When that footway was closed
at night in 1761, it added half a mile for pedestrians, and
from 1762 Burton's Court was periodically perambulated. There were concerns about the danger of the
longer route in 1785, and the Colonnade of the south
front of the hospital was used as a public thoroughfare at
night, to the annoyance of the Royal Hospital in 1804. In
1816 a new footpath across Burton's Court replaced the
existing one, and public use by night of the Colonnade-
which the vestry considered safer - was discontinued.
However, the desire for a carriage road on that route was
not fulfilled until the 1840s. (fn. 13) The closure of the road
across Burton's Court in the 1680s meant that by 1836
much traffic to London used the longer route via Sloane
Street and Knightsbridge. (fn. 14) The Metropolis Improvements Commission recommended re-opening a route
between Royal Hospital Row and Paradise Row, and this
was undertaken by Chelsea improvement commission
in 1846: the road was called Queen's Road, later changed
to Royal Hospital Road. (fn. 15)
Bridges The road from Westminster to Chelsea village
was carried over the boundary by a stone bridge, documented from 1587; (fn. 16) it is probably the stone bridge
which the vestry paid to mend in 1682. (fn. 17) By the early
19th century a single-arch brick bridge in Grosvenor
Row (later Pimlico Road) had replaced the stone one.
There was also a bridge over the watercourse at the
Cheshire Cheese public house; to the south, a bridge
built by the proprietors of Ranelagh gardens was by 1826
inaccessible for public use. (fn. 18)
Another stone bridge, recorded from 1409, is
identified as carrying the highway across the western
boundary, later Bull bridge or Stanley bridge on the
King's Road. (fn. 19) A new bridge stood there at Sandy End by
1717, (fn. 20) in 1826 a single-arch brick bridge said to have
been built by the Crown, who had maintained it to that
date. (fn. 21) Under its Act Kensington Canal Company
completed a new brick bridge in 1826. (fn. 22) In 1908-9
Chelsea MB contributed to the LCC's reconstruction of
Stanley Bridge, which by then also crossed the railway. (fn. 23)
Fulham Road
London's major route westward bypassed Chelsea's
northern tip at Knightsbridge, (fn. 24) but was connected to
the parish by the Fulham Road, which coincided with all
but the easterly stretch of the northern parish boundary
and ran through the settlement of Little Chelsea. (fn. 25) The
way from Fulham to London, presumably that road, was
mentioned in 1372. (fn. 26) Parts of the road had various names,
for example Little Chelsea Street in 1671, (fn. 27) while the
section near Stamford bridge was Bridge Street in
1811. (fn. 28) The highway was connected to Chelsea village by
one principal north-south route, Church Lane, and its
continuation to Kensington (later Old Church Street)
mentioned in 1566. (fn. 1) By 1717 another route (later
Milman's Street and Park Walk) also extended from the
highway at Little Chelsea to the river, and an irregular
route ran from Fulham Road to the Royal Hospital via
Blacklands. (fn. 2)
In 1672 the Fulham road had long suffered neglect,
but in 1673 Chelsea's inhabitants claimed they could not
make repairs owing to the wet season. (fn. 3) In 1687 two
surveyors were amerced for not mending the highway
from Queen's Elm, presumably to Stamford bridge. In
1689 the inhabitants repaired the highway between
Queen's Elm and the King's Gate (presumably between
Fulham Road and King's Road) and between Queen's
Elm and the Dog Kennel after being presented. (fn. 4) By 1829
the high road had 'become a great thoroughfare', (fn. 5)
presumably reflecting increased traffic on this route of
long-standing importance.
Stamford Bridge 'Samfordbregge', mentioned in 1410
and referring to a sand ford, carried Fulham Road over
Chelsea's western boundary. From 1590 the spurious
Stamford and variants occur, and it was sometimes
known as Little Chelsea bridge. Repair of the bridge was
to be shared equally by the bishop of London and the
lord of Chelsea in 1582. (fn. 6) In the early 17th century Sir
Walter Cope, who lived in Kensington, enlarged the
waterway, (fn. 7) and Stamford bridge (or 'two bridges') was
widened. In 1635 inhabitants of Fulham and Chelsea
were ordered to repair the bridge but thought that the
lord of Kensington and the bishop were responsible,
having repaired it for some 40 years; (fn. 8) in 1718 inhabitants complained of its condition. (fn. 9) It was rebuilt with a
single arch of brick and stone in 1762 by Kensington
turnpike trust, with contributions from the manorial
lords of Fulham and Earl's Court, and was maintained
thereafter by the trust. The Kensington canal proprietors
failed to secure a contribution for rebuilding the ruinous
bridge in 1824 as it was not a county bridge, (fn. 10) but it was
rebuilt when the canal was made in 1828. (fn. 11) Stamford
bridge was rebuilt again in 1860-2 and later partly
reconstructed. (fn. 12)
The King's Road
In 1590 a causeway was to be made at Bloody Gate, a
footway into the parish from the east. Under Charles II
the king's private road, later simply known as King's
Road, was formed from Westminster via Chelsea to
Hampton Court along the route of this footpath through
the fields, taking over an existing road to Fulham at the
western end of Chelsea. King's Road was briefly opened
to the inhabitants in 1718 while Stamford Bridge was
under repair. (fn. 13) In 1719 Sir Hans Sloane led property
owners in successfully petitioning for access via King's
Road, which had been agreed when the road was formed
but denied some years before. The Surveyor of the King's
Private Roads argued that 50 to 60 vehicles using the
road daily without right had inconvenienced 'persons of
quality' under his predecessor; the inhabitants
disclaimed knowledge of these 'foreigners'. (fn. 14) Tollhouses
built in 1720 included three in Chelsea (north of the
Royal Hospital; at Church Lane, later Old Church Street;
and at World's End); three years later the keepers petitioned for payment. (fn. 15) Passes to use the road were
issued, (fn. 16) and many counterfeits made, so that by 1783
the road was hardly private: the king had also granted
permission for local roads to be cut into it, usage could
not be limited to gentlemen ticket-holders, and
commercial traffic increased, including hackney and
stage coaches in the early 19th century. Scuffles between
travellers and gatekeepers occurred frequently at junctions between royal and public routes. (fn. 17) A proposal to
straighten the line of the road by Millman Row and
otherwise improve it in the early 1820s was not carried
out, and the three bars also remained. (fn. 18) From c. 1827 the
road went unrepaired, and as it was recognized that the
road had become public, responsibility was transferred
from the Crown to the parish in 1830, which resulted in
heavy expense. Controversial attempts by the Grosvenor
Place trustees (Westm.) to limit commercial traffic
(including omnibuses and stagecoaches) by a bar just
outside the eastern boundary of Chelsea, inconveniencing the inhabitants, continued until 1836. (fn. 19) The
gatehouse of 1720 north of the Royal Hospital was
demolished in 1833, (fn. 20) and from 1843 the vestry, and
from 1845 to 1855 the Chelsea improvement commission, solicited funds from the Crown to widen the
stretch near the Royal Military Asylum which was too
narrow for carriages to pass and lacked a footway: the
resulting tendency of pedestrians to keep on the opposite side was said to disadvantage shopkeepers along the
entire south side. The work was in progress in 1861. (fn. 21) By
1869 the formerly narrow King's Road had been
transformed by numerous improvements. (fn. 1) The road,
occupied in the early 19th century by few businesses
except nurseries, (fn. 2) became the centre of building and
commercial development in the parish, (fn. 3) altering the
focus of the settlement away from the river. (fn. 4)
Figure 5:
Old Battersea Bridge and Chelsea's riverside houses, before the embankment was built. The buildings and trees of Cremorne Gardens can be seen in the distance (right)
Bloody or Grosvenor bridge (fn. 5) The existing Blandel or
Bloody bridge, presumably so-called by 1590, was
reconstructed to carry the King's Road over the Westbourne. The single-arch brick structure built by the
Office of Works before 1723 survived in 1826; it was
later known as Grosvenor bridge. (fn. 6)
Turnpike Trust
An Act of 1725 formed a trust, usually known as the
Kensington trust, which from 1726 maintained
Chelsea's roads from Knightsbridge to Fulham ferry
(Fulham Road); Westminster to Chelsea ferry (later
Royal Hospital Road); and Chelsea church to
Kensington (later Old Church Street); (fn. 7) turnpike gates
were erected at Queen's Elm. (fn. 8) In 1728 the trust maintained almost two miles in Chelsea and around a quarter
of a mile at the Royal Hospital, leaving over a mile of
Chelsea's roads outside its care. The trustees
compounded with Chelsea for £50 and with the Royal
Hospital for £8 in lieu of statute work on the roads. (fn. 9) The
trust's attempts to dig gravel on Chelsea Common, in
dispute from 1726, were thwarted in 1736 by Sir Hans
Sloane and other proprietors. (fn. 10) A further Act renewed
the trust from 1741 and added Blacklands Lane (later
Draycott Avenue), because of its poor condition caused
by increased use by carriages. (fn. 11) The trust did not meet all
the needs of the parish regarding the roads however. In
1770 the vestry had to get the trust to remedy the bad
condition of the turnpiked roads, and in the 1780s Hans
Town residents were unsuccessful in getting the trust to
take over Sloane Street, though from 1795 the trust paid
a composition to the Hans Town commissioners for its
repair. (fn. 12) In 1794 the parish considered demanding
concessions including watering to counter a feared
increase in tolls, but in the event did not oppose the
trust's Bill. (fn. 13) In 1825 the trust had gates at Chelsea
Bunhouse, Queen's Elm, and Little Chelsea, and under
its Act of 1825 set up a new gate in Royal Hospital Row
(later part of Royal Hospital Road). (fn. 14) A proposal to
replace the trust in 1821 was opposed by Chelsea vestry
which was satisfied with its management, (fn. 15) but under an
Act of 1826 the Metropolitan Roads Commission
(MRC) succeeded the trust. (fn. 16) A Kensington trust post
survived in Godfrey Street in 2000.
In 1838 the vestry wanted the MRC to remove the toll
gate in Royal Hospital Row, (fn. 17) in 1841 claiming that
traffic avoiding the gates there and at Queen's Elm
increased the cost of highway repairs. (fn. 1) The Hans Town
commission argued in 1844 that the Royal Hospital Row
bar diverted traffic onto its roads. (fn. 2) Turnpike gates were
removed throughout the parish in 1845. (fn. 3)
RIVER CROSSINGS
Battersea Bridge
Battersea Bridge, the first road to cross the Thames from
Chelsea, was built after an Act was obtained in 1766
under John, Earl Spencer. (fn. 4) After a delay apparently
caused by disputes among riparian landowners, (fn. 5) a
wooden bridge 28 ft wide, paid for by subscription, was
built by Mr Phillips, carpenter to George III, to Henry
Holland's designs, opening in 1771 for foot passengers
and in 1772 for carriages. (fn. 6) A commentator opined in
1771 that a toll-free stone bridge constructed by the
Crown would be preferable to the 'mean' wooden bridge
of an 'avaricious' proprietor. (fn. 7) The site, west of the ferry
landing near Church Lane (later Old Church Street), was
thought preferable for river navigation, (fn. 8) though in 1842
Punch thought that the bridge had been built with little
regard to those passing under it. (fn. 9) Two piers were later
removed to improve navigation. (fn. 10) The Battersea proprietors were compensated when Vauxhall Bridge
(1811-16) was constructed, and they opposed proposals
to remove tolls on Chelsea Bridge in the 1850s. (fn. 11) They
secured a requirement that the Albert Bridge company
acquire and maintain Battersea Bridge when Albert
Bridge opened (1873). (fn. 12) Under the Metropolis Toll
Bridges Act the MBW freed bridges including Battersea
in 1879. (fn. 13) In 1883 vehicular use was discontinued. (fn. 14)
Under Acts of 1881 and 1884 the MBW was empowered
to erect a new bridge: (fn. 15) following demolition of the old
bridge, construction began in 1887 of the new five-arch
structure 40 ft wide, of iron on granite piers, designed by
Sir Joseph Bazalgette; it opened in 1890. (fn. 16) It remained
vulnerable to damage from shipping because of strong
currents. (fn. 17)
Beaufort Street The Act of 1766 also authorized the
creation of approaches to the bridge, probably leading to
the building of Beaufort Row c. 1766, as the bridge was
planned in line with it. (fn. 18) In 1839 proposed completion
of the route between Battersea Bridge and Kensington
was to include a road between Camera Street and
Fulham Road. (fn. 19) In 1845 the bridge proprietors and
improvement commission supported that improvement, the latter blaming the inanimate state of some
neighbourhoods on its absence. (fn. 20)
Chelsea Bridge
Although Chelsea Bridge lay just outside the parish
boundary, (fn. 21) it is treated here because of its name and
significance for parochial communications. (fn. 22) Its site may
have been an ancient ford. (fn. 23) The embankment and
connecting road proposed in 1845 stimulated a private
initiative for a Thames crossing, (fn. 24) also recommended by
the Metropolis Improvements Commission, to make
Battersea park (Surrey) more accessible. However, an
Act of 1846 authorized construction by the Commission
of Woods and Forests of a suspension bridge, as being
compatible with river navigation. Work on Thomas
Page's ornate iron bridge, begun under the Commission
of Works in 1851, suffered various interruptions, (fn. 25) and
Chelsea Bridge, 47 ft wide, opened in 1858. An attempt
in 1857 to prevent the imposition of tolls, thought to
negate its usefulness, was unsuccessful, (fn. 26) but an Act of
1858 for the abolition of foot passenger tolls after
payment of the capital and interest was amended in 1875
to allow their abolition on Sundays and certain holidays; (fn. 27) all tolls were abolished in 1879. (fn. 28) Doubts about
the bridge's strength resulted in modifications in
1863-4, (fn. 29) and periodic repairs included fixing additional
chains in 1880; weight restrictions were imposed. The
pinnacles on the towers were removed in 1921-2. Usage
almost doubled between 1914 and 1929 to over 12,600
vehicles in one day's survey. The royal commission on
cross-river traffic in 1926 recommended rebuilding to
accommodate all traffic: in 1931 the LCC improvements
committee advised reconstruction to give six lanes, and a
Ministry of Transport contribution was eventually
agreed for a four-lane bridge. Demolition proceeded in
1935. The new self-anchoring steel suspension bridge,
83 ft wide, opened in 1937, a plain design engineered by
Rendel, Palmer, & Tritton, with the LCC architect G.
Topham Forrest (succeeded by E.P. Wheeler in 1935);
the Royal Fine Art Commission was also consulted. (fn. 1)
Circa 1961 the bridge carried c. 16,000 vehicles a day. (fn. 2)
Chelsea Bridge Road Following the Metropolis
Improvements Commission's recommendation in 1845
for a road to the proposed embankment, (fn. 3) an Act of 1846
empowered the Commissioners of Woods and Forests to
form it, (fn. 4) but the line was only prepared in 1854, to join
the embankment at Chelsea Bridge, and the road, originally called Bridge Road, was laid out in 1857-8 to James
Pennethorne's designs. (fn. 5) The vestry took over its section
of the road in 1862 following unsuccessful demands that
the Office of Works pave the footpath. (fn. 6)
Albert Bridge
Proposals for a bridge between Cheyne Walk and
Battersea were made from at least 1842, (fn. 7) but a scheme of
1843 was apparently transferred to form the original
proposal for Chelsea Bridge. (fn. 8) The proposal to build
Albert Bridge eventually secured its Act in 1864,
although further Acts were necessary in 1869, 1871, and
1873; (fn. 9) construction was delayed by arrangements for the
embankment. (fn. 10) Work progressed from 1870 on an
earlier plan for an ornate three-span iron bridge by R.M.
Ordish, supported by rigid bands radiating from the
towers, according to his patented system; it opened in
1873. (fn. 11) Tolls were abolished in 1879. (fn. 12) Alterations
planned by Sir Joseph Bazalgette, which involved adding
new chains, were carried out by the MBW in 1887. (fn. 13) A
five-ton weight limit was imposed in 1935 and a two-ton
limit c. 1970. Proposed replacement by the LCC met
opposition in 1957, and the GLC's proposal to prop the
central span provoked debate about whether the bridge
should be replaced, maintained for motor traffic, or
reserved for pedestrians. Supporting piers were inserted
in 1972. (fn. 14) A public inquiry of 1974 considered closure to
vehicles, (fn. 15) but the bridge stayed open.
NEW MAJOR ROUTES
Thames Embankment
The riverbank was an uncertain responsibility in 1685.
Disputes between the manorial lord and tenants, parish,
turnpike trust, and neighbouring householders often left
the walls out of repair. In 1815 the vestry required the
lord and neighbouring freeholders to repair the
dangerous wall opposite Lindsey Row (later part of
Cheyne Walk) and Millman Row (later Milman's
Street). Although the turnpike trust's claim that the lord
of the manor was responsible for repairs was upheld in
1822, the question was not finally resolved. By 1829,
however, the walls were repaired and the trust had
improved the road and paved some footpaths. A
long-standing scheme to widen Cheyne Walk by
extending the embankment into the river, which would
include removal of buildings south of Lombard Street
and Duke Street (east of Battersea Bridge), was again
considered in 1829 but not carried out. (fn. 16) In 1836 the
vestry suggested improving the route from Battersea
Bridge via the riverside and Royal Hospital to Westminster, as communication from lower Chelsea was inconvenient and lowered property values, and also suggested
a new riverside route between Chelsea and Fulham,
proposals which had local support. (fn. 17)
A proposal was drawn up in 1839 for embanking the
north shore of the Thames between Vauxhall Bridge
and Battersea Bridge, which would aid navigation and
sanitation, provide a riverside road improving communications and opportunities for recreation, and benefit
neighbouring areas. This was considered by the
Metropolis Improvements Commission in 1843, and
plans prepared by its engineer, Thomas Page, in 1845.
Chelsea vestry supported the proposal, believing the
embankment, which it wanted continued to Fulham,
would stimulate other improvements. (fn. 18) The Commissioners of Woods and Forests were empowered to form
the embankment, but as agreement was not reached
with some proprietors the work was deferred. (fn. 1) The
Commissioners of Works were substituted in 1852, but
only empowered to construct an embankment as far as
Chelsea Hospital's western boundary. (fn. 2) Chelsea
improvement commission, however, campaigned for
the full scheme, highlighting the inadequacy of
communications, which were blamed for the defective
condition of much of Chelsea, and arguing that the
parish's improvement Act had been founded on the
expectation of the full embankment. (fn. 3) The partial
embankment was made c. 1853-7; foul mudbanks
remained west of Battersea Bridge in 1859. (fn. 4) The
embankment terminated with a turning place (which
survived in 2001) in front of the Royal Hospital, just
inside the parish boundary.
The MBW pressed to extend the embankment to
Battersea Bridge, resulting in the Thames Embankment
(Chelsea) Act, 1868. Engineered by Joseph William
Bazalgette, the new embankment was built 1871-4,
reclaiming 9½ acres from the river and extending three
quarters of a mile with a 70 foot-wide road and river wall
faced with hammer-dressed granite. The original route
survives as Cheyne Walk. It transformed the riverside,
involving the demolition of buildings south of Duke
Street and Lombard Street (including Arch House which
spanned the latter), and the removal of wharves and
stairs: the MBW made three new sets of stairs c. 1875 on
the river wall in lieu of former landing places. (fn. 5) When it
opened, the embankment became an agreeable promenade for carriages and pedestrians, (fn. 6) but in separating
Chelsea from the river it altered the focus of the parish
and by the early 20th century its creation had become a
source of regret. (fn. 7)
The vestry made several attempts to get the embankment extended still further: from 1872 they urged the
MBW to extend it to Cremorne, and from 1889 they
solicited extension by the LCC, to improve the narrow
thoroughfare west of Battersea Bridge and remove
unhealthy accumulations in the river. A vestry contribution was eventually agreed in 1896, but some inhabitants
opposed the plan, and a parliamentary committee
rejected it in the LCC (Improvements) Bill of 1897,
principally on aesthetic grounds. The vestry continued
to support the scheme. (fn. 8)
The growth in motor traffic in the 20th century led to
proposals for new or enhanced routes through Chelsea,
one of them along the riverside. By 1931 the Chelsea
Society was concerned by the volume of traffic on the
embankment which had become an arterial route
through London, (fn. 9) but the Bressey report in 1937 advocated its extension to Putney Bridge to relieve other
westbound routes in Chelsea and Fulham, a scheme
which would have had far wider effects than the one of
1889. The subject again featured in the LCC plan of
1943. In 1951 the borough council's proposal to
embank the stretch west of Battersea Bridge towards
Lots Road, and perhaps to Fulham, was opposed by the
Chelsea Society and others. The council rebuilt the river
wall along the existing alignment in 1953-4, (fn. 10) but in
1954 it was felt unfair that it should have to maintain
roads like Chelsea Embankment, which carried heavy
through traffic but were of little local use. (fn. 11)
West Cross Route
The growth in motor traffic also led to proposals for a
new route on Chelsea's western boundary. From 1951 a
west cross route for Greater London was proposed to
run north-south near the boundary to relieve
Kensington and Chelsea, and from 1965 this was to form
the western side of a larger motorway network (Ringway
I) projected by the GLC. However, without a Thames
crossing it was unacceptable to Chelsea residents, who
feared that the traffic would be decanted onto Chelsea
Embankment, and after a public inquiry in 1972
concluded that benefits would not justify the detrimental effects, planning permission was refused. A
similar scheme in 1978 raised similar fears, but was
scrapped in 1981. (fn. 12)
PUBLIC ROAD TRANSPORT
Coach Services
In 1822 coaches operated from Chelsea to St Paul's, the
Strand, Charing Cross, Fleet Street, and Coventry Street
(Leicester Sq.). (fn. 13) The caricaturist Thomas Rowlandson
drew the Chelsea stagecoach at Paradise Row (later part
of Royal Hospital Road) in 1824. (fn. 14) In 1825 ten coaches
operated on the short stagecoach route from the City
which terminated at Chelsea, making 25 return journeys
a day. (fn. 15) In 1826-7 six operators ran coaches from
Chelsea, ranging from twice to five times daily. (fn. 1) The
stagecoaches started from Lawrence Street and Old
Church Street, where there was extensive stabling. (fn. 2)
Omnibuses
In 1835 two omnibus conductors on a Chancery
Lane-Chelsea route fought over the custom of two
servant girls. (fn. 3) In 1838-9 ten omnibuses were licensed to
run between Blackwall and Sloane Street and one
between West Ham and Sloane Street; two between
Bromley and Chelsea; one each to Bank, Leadenhall
Street, and Whitechapel church; and 27 to Mile End
Gate. (fn. 4) Traffic which in 1830 was carried on by 18
coaches (out and back) making 108 journeys daily was
by 1845 operated by 72 omnibuses making 694 journeys. (fn. 5) The removal of turnpike gates throughout the
parish in 1845 included that at Queen's Elm, enabling
omnibuses to proceed beyond Brompton to Little
Chelsea. (fn. 6)
The Man in the Moon was the starting place for the
Chelsea and Brompton omnibuses, also allowed to wait
at the Goat in Boots (Little Chelsea) and at the Cricketers
(Cheyne Walk). (fn. 7) In 1847 the improvement commission
allowed the Hoxton and Holborn omnibuses to start
from the Colvill tavern (King's Road). (fn. 8) By 1857 omnibuses to Chelsea ran every five minutes from Hoxton,
Bethnal Green, and Bank, via Fleet Street and Piccadilly;
and from Angel (Islington) via New (later Euston) Road
and Regent Street. (fn. 9)
In 1856 68 omnibuses were delivered to the London
General Omnibus Company (L.G.O.C.) for routes
having Chelsea or Sloane Street as a terminus. The
L.G.O.C. had a depot and stabling at Chelsea, where in
1857-8 large-scale processing of horse feed began, (fn. 10) and
also several cab-yards in Lawrence Street in 1900. (fn. 11)
L.G.O.C. premises at the east end of Lots Road dated
from 1894. (fn. 12) In 1952 it also had a training school and
catering department in Milman's Street. (fn. 13)
In 1911 the L.G.O.C. ran three routes along Fulham
Road (nos 5, 14, 15) and two along King's Road (nos 11,
19). In 1913 there were also buses along Edith Grove,
Sydney Street, Oakley Street, and along the
Embankment to Battersea Bridge, and by 1930 additions
ran along Royal Hospital Road. Nine daytime routes
served Chelsea in 1937. (fn. 14) From c. 1987 the C1 minibus
service between Westminster and High Street Kensington ran via Sloane Square and Knightsbridge. (fn. 15) Eleven
routes served Chelsea in 1993. (fn. 16)
Trams
Tramways were not introduced when first suggested, (fn. 17)
and in 1878 the vestry opposed proposals for various
routes through Chelsea: local opinion was particularly
against the Chelsea Embankment and Royal Hospital
Road route, fearing noise, damage to roads and annoyance to other users, and the impact on residences and
recreational use of the embankment. (fn. 18) Further abortive
proposals were made in the 1880s. (fn. 19) The LCC were
empowered to construct a tramway from Battersea to
the junction of Beaufort Street and King's Road in 1909:
lines were laid over Battersea Bridge and the electrified
route, no. 34, operated from 1911. In 1933 weekday
services to and from south London operated about every
four minutes. (fn. 20) In 1937 the London Passenger Transport Board sought powers to extend the route, for use by
trolleybuses, to Fulham Road, returning via residential
roads. Residents and Chelsea MB opposed the scheme,
but an alternative via Paultons Square and Danvers
Street was also unpopular and the scheme was
dropped. (fn. 21) Trams continued to operate until the no. 45
motorbus replaced route 34 in 1950. (fn. 22)
CANAL AND RAILWAYS
Kensington Canal
Counter's Creek, also known as Chelsea Creek, the New
Cut River, or Bull Creek, was the parish's western
boundary. (fn. 23) Sir Walter Cope widened the river, presumably while living at Kensington, 1607-14, to the inhabitants' benefit, (fn. 24) and in 1673 Chelsea landowners were
presented for failing to scour the watercourse, used by
vessels from the Thames. (fn. 25) Canalization of the creek by a
private company was authorized under Acts of 1824 and
1826, and the Kensington canal opened in 1828 with
capacity for craft of 100 tons. (fn. 26) However traffic was poor,
and the Birmingham, Bristol, and Thames Junction
(after 1840 the West London) Railway was incorporated
in 1836 to build a railway line over the northern stretch,
outside Chelsea. (fn. 1) The company took the canal over, its
muddy condition a source of concern. After the West
London Extension Railway company was formed in
1859 the canal was transferred to it, and the section
north of King's Road was used for the line in 1863
(below). The southern stretch remained in use by businesses with wharves along its banks. It passed to the
British Transport Commission after nationalization in
1947. Right of navigation from King's Road southward
to the gasworks dock in Fulham was extinguished in
1959, and a dam was formed. From 1963 the remaining
stretch was managed by the British Waterways Board,
but after 1967 traffic was minimal. The borough council's proposal in 1981 to fill in the derelict stretch
between King's Road and the dam provoked opposition, (fn. 2) but by 2001 a stretch south of King's Road had
been filled.
Railways
The West London railway built 1844 between the Great
Western and London and North-Western lines in
Willesden and the canal basin at Kensington was not a
success, and in 1859 the two companies, with the
London and South-Western and the London, Brighton,
and South Coast Railway, promoted its extension to
Clapham Junction. The line built in 1863 along the canal
by the ensuing company, the West London Extension
Railway, ran close to Chelsea's western edge with a
stretch south of King's Road within the parish, but the
line diverged from the boundary towards the Thames;
Chelsea station, between Fulham and King's roads, was
mostly outside the parish. (fn. 3) It was served from 1863 but
the fabric apparently dated from 1866; (fn. 4) there may have
been rebuilding in 1883. (fn. 5) The station was renamed
Chelsea and Fulham from 1903. (fn. 6) The route, connecting
northern and southern lines, was important for freight
traffic; through passenger services operated only from
1904, and were not extensive. The line also catered for
suburban passengers, (fn. 7) but suffered from competition
with other modes of transport, and passenger services
ceased in 1940, when Chelsea and Fulham station
closed; (fn. 8) it was mostly demolished c. 1955. Freight traffic
continued and from the 1960s use of the line for through
passenger routes increased. (fn. 9)
Underground Railways
The Metropolitan District Railway Company opened
the South Kensington-Westminster stretch of the
District line in 1868, (fn. 10) with a station at Sloane Square on
Chelsea's eastern boundary. (fn. 11) The line was electrified in
1905. (fn. 12) The station, which served some 150,000 passengers a week, was remodelled in 1940 to include a new
ticket hall and escalators, (fn. 13) but was bombed later in 1940
and reconstructed in 1951. (fn. 14) The flats above ground
level, by R. Seifert & Partners, were added in 1965. (fn. 15) The
line was among London's busiest in 1985 with 24 trains
an hour rising to 36 in peak periods. (fn. 16)
Proposals for tube lines through Chelsea c. 1901
failed, (fn. 17) but the northern end of the parish was served by
the Piccadilly line's Knightsbridge station just outside
the parish boundary, which opened in 1906; an entrance
and ticket hall at the corner of Sloane Street opened in
1934. (fn. 18)
In 1989 the Central London Rail Study proposed a
scheme for a Chelsea-Hackney line, (fn. 19) which was still
awaiting financial backing in 2003.
Lots Road Power Station, on nearly 4 acres just east of
the mouth of Chelsea Creek previously occupied by
wharves, was built to supply the power which enabled
the electrification of the Metropolitan District Railway,
and also powered three other lines which formed the
Underground Electric Railways Company of London (in
2000 the Northern, Bakerloo, and Piccadilly lines),
controlled by the American financier Charles Tyson
Yerkes. When built (1902-4) it was the largest electric
traction station in the world. The 453-ft long structure
in neo-classical style, probably designed by the
company's engineer J.R. Chapman with its architect
Leslie Green, comprised a steel frame clad in brickwork
with terracotta detailing, enlivened by large glazed
arches and four 275-ft chimneys. Boilers, fed with coal
brought up the Thames and later also by rail, supplied
steam to turbo-generators in the adjoining turbine hall.
The station began supply in 1905. Current was distributed via Earl's Court station to substations in various
parts of London. Reconstruction from 1927 renewed the
machinery and increased capacity. Operated by the
London Passenger Transport Board, in 1937 Lots Road
supplied electricity to much of the Underground and to
trams and trolleybuses. Following nationalization in
1948 the power station was controlled by London
Transport. Further modernization (1963-9) included a
change from coal to fuel oil, and two of the chimneys
were removed in 1966. Gas replaced fuel oil in 1975. (fn. 1) In
2000 the power station was due to be decommissioned
in 2001, and it finally shut down in October 2002, its
output being replaced by electricity from the National
Grid. Conversion to residential use was planned for the
building. (fn. 2)