London Guide
Chelsea
Until the sixteenth century, Chelsea was nothing more than a tiny fishing village on the banks of the Thames. It was Thomas More who started the upward trend by moving here in 1520, followed by members of the nobility, including Henry VIII himself. In the eighteenth century, Chelsea acquired its riverside houses along Cheyne Walk, which gradually attracted a posse of literary and intellectual types. However, it wasn't until the late nineteenth century that the area began to earn its reputation as London's very own Left Bank.
In the 1960s, Chelsea was at the forefront of "Swinging London", with the likes of David Bailey, Mick Jagger, George Best and the "Chelsea Set" hanging out in the boutiques and coffee bars. Later King's Road became a fashion parade for hippies, as well as witnessing the birth of punk. These days, Chelsea is very far from the cutting edge, with franchise fashion rather than avant-garde fashion the order of the day. The area's other aspect, oddly enough considering its reputation, is a military one, with the former Chelsea Barracks, the Royal Hospital (home of old soldiers known as the Chelsea Pensioners) and the National Army Museum.