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The Church
There has probably been a Church on this site ever since
Christianity came to England. It used to be the Parish Church
of the Village of Chelsea before this village became part
of London. The building, as it stood before the war, consisted
of the Chancel, dating probably from the 13th century, with
Chapels on the North and South (about 1325), and the Nave
and Tower (1670).
Both Chapels were private property, that on the North, now
known as the Lawrence Chapel, belonging to the Lord of the
Manor of Chelsea. The present arch leading from the Chancel
is a reproduction of the original 14th century one, which
collapsed in 1784 and was only partly restored.
To the East of this arch is a "squint", probably
intended to enable worshippers in the Chapel to see the Altar;
this purpose was interfered with by the raising of the floor
of the Chapel and the placing of the Bray Tomb on the North
of the Chancel.
The Chapel on the South was rebuilt in 1528, as his private
Chapel, by Sir Thomas More. This date is inscribed on one
of the capitals of the pillars leading to the Chancel. These
capitals are alleged to have been designed by Holbein and
represent the symbols of More's offices in Church and State.
Of the whole Church, the More Chapel was the least heavily
blasted by the bombing in 1941. For 9 years the congregation
carried on its worship in a ward of the adjoining hospital.
In 1950 the More Chapel, with extensions, was reopened for
service; the Chancel and Lawrence Chapel were restored and
rededicated in May 1954; and the whole Church reconsecrated
in May 1958 by the Lord Bishop of London in the presence of
H.M. Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother.
The Consistory Court having granted a Faculty,the Stanley
monument was transferred to the Lawrence Chapel, and the More
Chapel was furnished and dedicated in July 1964, being thus
brought into use again as a Chapel for weekday services for
probably the first time in 408 years.
The Church has been restored in its entirety on its old foundations
and looks substantially as it did before, with its square
Nave built in the classical style from which the mediaeval
Chancel and Chapels can be seen through the three arches.
The King Post at the West end of the More Chapel, which had
been plastered over, was revealed by the bombing and has been
left uncovered as an example of pre-Tudor building.
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