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Sir Thomas More settled in Chelsea in about 1520
and built himself a house there. It stood on the site of the
present Beaufort Street, in spacious, formal grounds which
stretched from the river, where his barge was moored to take
him to Westminster or Hampton Court on state business, to
the present King's Road. No traces of the house remain, other
than parts of the original orchard wall, which now border
the gardens of the houses on the west side of Paultons Square.
Sir Thomas rebuilt one of the chapels in the Old Church when
he moved to Chelsea and his association with the church was
close and devout. He and his family worshipped there regularly.
The Old Church was largely destroyed an an air-raid in 1941
and subsquently restored in 1949/1950; however, the More Chapel
and Monument were happily rescued almost intact.
The statue of Sir Thomas More (left) which sits outside the
Church, is by L. Cubitt Bevis and was erected in 1969.
Thomas More's links with Chelsea Old Church are commemorated
each year in the Thomas More Commemoration Service,
at which a distinguished guest preacher is invited to give
a sermon on a topic linked to Thomas More or any aspect of
his life.
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