Stories of Church Life

Edward Lucas writes: Wherever we go on Sunday mornings, we have to arrive early to get a seat. At the 10 am children’s service at Chelsea Old Church, the language of the prayers is archaic, but that does not bother the scores of youngsters, from tots to teenagers, as they sing hymns, read and act […] Find Out More

However, the corner house, No. 64, was opened as a restaurant under the name of The Good Intent, a haunt of Chelsea artists particularly during the mid-20th century, including figures like Francis Bacon, Lucian Freud, Michael Andrews, and Frank Auerbach who were all known to frequent the pub while living and working in Chelsea.  64 […] Find Out More

Richard Stewart Jones, honorary secretary of the Chelsea Society, was very active in overcoming the decision not to rebuild. ‘But as War Damage Funds were allocated to Churches with parishes. Before the war the Old Church was not a Parish Church. There was never any doubt in the minds of anybody connected with the Old […] Find Out More

A story ran round Chelsea that Sir Thomas More’s ghost had been seen to emerge from his south wall monument and, crossing the sanctuary, disappear into the opposite wall. The figure was unquestionably that of the Chancellor, for besides being quaintly dressed, it was without a head-which clinchedthe matter. This news soon brought half London […] Find Out More

Where We Are Where the Bishop of London entertained Elizabeth I, Pink Floyd recorded Arnold Layne, and visitors to Chelsea Old Church believed they saw the ghost of Thomas More. The Anglo-Saxon settlement by the church and the river remained the heart of the only known area of settlement in Chelsea until the 17th century. […] Find Out More