A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume XII: Chelsea

By Patricia Croot

Like so much of Middlesex, Chelsea was swallowed up by Greater London. Here its history restores its lost identity.

Chelsea was a desirable riverside residence for wealthy merchants, lawyers, and courtiers from the fifteenth century, and a pleasure resort for all ranks of society from the eighteenth; it is now one of the most expensive and desirable places to live in London. This new volume relates all this and more, including a re-examination of the location of Sir Thomas More's house, a reassessment of Henry VIII's relationship with the manor house, the history of a major estate not previously identified, and a survey of the farm-gardening which gave prosperity to some local inhabitants. Facets of Chelsea's more recent history covered include the rebuilding of eastern Chelsea, which removed alarge lower middle- and working-class population and replaced their accommodation with houses for the well-off; the artistic community which grew up in the late nineteenth century from which Chelsea derived its bohemian reputation; and the cultural and commercial changes of the Swinging Sixties.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1904356249
• ISBN13: 9781904356240
• Release Date: September 2004
• Publisher: Victoria County History
• Length: 328 Pages
• Weight: 3.38 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 8.5" x 12.3"