|
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.
Sir
Hans Sloane
It
has been said of Chelsea Old Church that it has the finest
collection of church monuments outside Westminster Abbey and
they are especially valued because of the painstaking reconstruction
of the church after its destruction in the Second World War.
A
new monument was erected recently in the church in honour
of Sir Hans Sloane, whose collections formed the basis of
the British Museum , the British Library, the Natural History
Museum and the Chelsea Physic Garden .
A
handsome tablet, carved by Lida Cardozo Kindersley, is now
fixed to the North wall of the chancel. It was paid for by
the Friends of the British Museum and it was unveiled by Earl
Cadogan, patron of the parish of Chelsea and a descendant
of Sir Hans Sloane.
Speaking
at the ceremony, the vicar said "We have given this great
man the best spot we could find. The new plaque is beside
the tomb of the family of the squire who picked up the crown
at the battle of Bosworth and presented it to the knight who
then handed it to the new Tudor King. The tablet is within
a few feet of the tomb which Thomas More prepared for himself
and his wives and opposite the capitols designed here in Chelsea
by Holbein himself. It's near the spot where Henry VIII stood
with Jane Seymour, where Lady Jane Gray received communion
every Sunday, where the "illegitimate" and endangered
Princess Elizabeth said her private prayers and where James
1 stood as godfather. It's a handshake away from the pulpit
where Wesley preached when Anglican pulpits were closed to
him."
The
unveiling ceremony began with Morning Prayer according to
the Book of Common Prayer, spectacularly sung by the choir
of Chelsea Old Church and concluded with a reception in Petyt
Hall.
Among
those present were the Mayor of the Royal Borough of Kensington
and Chelsea, the Deputy Mayor, Her Majesty's Vice-Lord Lieutenant
for London , Michael Portillo MP and more than 220 representatives
of London 's learned institutions.
|
