London: Kensington & Chelsea

Kensington and Chelsea are two of the most famous parts / boroughs of London. They were originally two independent areas of London, before they joined up and became “The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea”.

Both of the names – Kensington and Chelsea are Anglo-Saxon in origin. Both settlements originally started around their local parish churches, due to the importance of religion in older times. There is evidence of churches as early as 1175 (All Saints) and 1242 (St. Mary Abbots). As the times passed and the locations took place and settled on their current names, in 1086 the Manor of Chelsea was owned by the Earl of Salisbury and Kensington by Aubrey de Vere.

By 1520, during the rule of King Henry VIII, the then Lord Chancellor - Sir Thomas More built his residence in Chelsea, which is commonly known as Beaufort house. When his demise came round he was escorted from his Chelsea residence to be beheaded. Unfortunately the Beaufort House was demolished in 1740 and 26 years later replaced by Beaufort Street which still stand there today. Even after his death, his private chapel which he built in 1528, which was part of the Chelsea Old Church survived the WW II German blitz London bombings. His tomb is still located there.

During king Henrys VIII rule, Chelsea became known as the “Village of Palaces” due to nearly all the royalty having built spectacular homes there. Even King Henry VIII had a residence there, which was located at the current address of 19-26 Cheyne Walk until 1712, when it was bought by Sir Hans Sloane.

Kensington also grew in stature, due to be location and the reputation for having clean air. A lot of the then London gentry obtained homes there, such as Sir Walter cope and his Cope’s Castle which was built in 1604. The land has been passed through the years and from generation to generation until today, where the remains of the house, which were damaged by WW II bombing were bought in 1952 by the London Country Council and the grounds were opened as a public park, which is still here today and owned by the Royal Borough.

Another important residence was the Nottingham House, which was acquired by William III in 1689 as a country residence, since Kensington was still a good distance away from the central London. The house was redeveloped and enlarged to the Kings request and his standard by Christopher Wren, due to the size of the king’s entourage. This caused Kensington Square to become a popular residential area, due to his residence. The Palace was regularly used by future monarch and the royal family, with even Queen Victoria being born there in 1819 and her living there until taking the thrown in 1837.

With the influx of royalty and wealth residence to the area, trade was not far off. It started to look a lot more like the bustling London rather than a quiet country village. Also with the rise in trade, a lot of residence demanded an increase in the gardens that were available to them. This in turn cased a lot of work on the local landscape, by councils and royalty as well. Even councils like the Chelsea Physic Garden were established to maintain and look after the gardens and in the case of the Chelsea Physic Garden and the establishment of the first greenhouse and rock gardens a lot of botanical research was being carried out.
Both districts Chelsea and Kensington, since they were very high in stature due to their residence and visitors, needed exquisite entertainment. Everyone loved the gardens at their disposal, especially the Ranelagh Pleasure Gardens, located in the south of the Royal Hospital, which included a lot of work in the form of a large rotunda as a center piece surrounded by an arcade, Chinese bridge and ornamental gardens. Also within the gardens there were many forms of entertainers and entertainments like dancers, fireworks, masquerades, concerts,…

As the population grew so did the demand for inns and taverns and eve tea gardens. Here many forms of beverages and forms of entertainment occurred inside the inns and the gardens that they were linked to.

Also with the growth in the population, transport to the boroughs was forced to improve and modernize, from the long distance coach rides to boats on the Grand Junction Canals, steamboat rides down the Thames and then to railways, with everyday new roads developing.
With all the improvements in transport between Chelsea / Kensington and London, there was a large increase in demand for land and in turn caused the creation on Knightsbridge. Other areas followed not long after, like World End, London Notting Hill, Earls Court and so forth.