Cheyne Walk
Encyclopedia
Chelsea, London
Chelsea is an area of West London, England, bounded to the south by the River Thames, where its frontage runs from Chelsea Bridge along the Chelsea Embankment, Cheyne Walk, Lots Road and Chelsea Harbour. Its eastern boundary was once defined by the River Westbourne, which is now in a pipe above...
, the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea is a central London borough of Royal borough status. After the City of Westminster, it is the wealthiest borough in England....
. It takes its name from William Lord Cheyne
William Cheyne, 2nd Viscount Newhaven
William Cheyne, 2nd Viscount Newhaven was an English Tory politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1681 until 1707 when as a viscount in the Peerage of Scotland he was required to sit in the House of Lords....
who owned the manor of Chelsea
Chelsea Manor
Chelsea Manor, is a former royal residence acquired by Henry VIII of England in 1536. It was home to Elizabeth I of England, as Princess, between 1536 and 1548, and then to Anne of Cleves, who died there in 1557. Other famous owners included James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Hamilton, Charles Cheyne,...
until 1712. Most of the houses were built in the early 18th century. Before the construction in the 19th century of the busy Embankment
Thames Embankment
The Thames Embankment is a major feat of 19th century civil engineering designed to reclaim marshy land next to the River Thames in central London. It consists of the Victoria and Chelsea Embankment....
, which now runs in front of it, the houses fronted the River Thames
River Thames
The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
. The most prominent building is Carlyle Mansions
Carlyle Mansions
Carlyle Mansions is a block of flats located on Cheyne Walk, in the Chelsea area of London, England. Built in 1886, it was named after Thomas Carlyle, himself a resident of Chelsea for much of his life....
.
Today, Cheyne Walk forms part of the A3212 and A3220 trunk roads; it extends eastwards from the southern end of Finborough Road past the Battersea
Battersea Bridge
Battersea Bridge is a cast-iron and granite five-span cantilever bridge crossing the River Thames in London, England. It is situated on a sharp bend in the river, and links Battersea south of the river with Chelsea to the north...
and Albert Bridge
Albert Bridge, London
Albert Bridge is a Grade II* listed road bridge over the River Thames in West London, connecting Chelsea on the north bank to Battersea on the south bank...
s, after which the A3212 becomes the Chelsea Embankment
Chelsea Embankment
Chelsea Embankment is part of the Thames Embankment, a road and walkway along the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England.The western end of Chelsea Embankment, including a stretch of Cheyne Walk, is in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea; the eastern end, including...
.
It marks the boundary of the, now withdrawn, extended London Congestion Charge Zone
London congestion charge
The London congestion charge is a fee charged for some categories of motor vehicle to travel at certain times within the Congestion Charge Zone , a traffic area in London. The charge aims to reduce congestion, and raise investment funds for London's transport system...
.
East of the Walk is the Chelsea Physic Garden
Chelsea Physic Garden
The Chelsea Physic Garden was established as the Apothecaries’ Garden in London, England in 1673. It is the second oldest botanical garden in Britain, after the University of Oxford Botanic Garden, which was founded in 1621.Its rock garden is the oldest English garden devoted to alpine plants...
with its cedars. To the West is a collection of residential houseboats which have been in situ since the 1930s.
Famous residents
Many famous people have lived (and continue to live) in the Walk:
- Keith RichardsKeith RichardsKeith Richards is an English musician, songwriter, and founding member of the Rolling Stones. Rolling Stone magazine said Richards had created "rock's greatest single body of riffs", and placed him as the "10th greatest guitarist of all time." Fourteen songs written by Richards and songwriting...
lived at number 3, which in 1945 became a National TrustNational Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural BeautyThe National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, usually known as the National Trust, is a conservation organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland...
property housing the Benton Fletcher collection of keyboard instruments. - George EliotGeorge EliotMary Anne Evans , better known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist, journalist and translator, and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era...
spent the last three weeks of her life at number 4. - David Lloyd GeorgeDavid Lloyd GeorgeDavid Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor OM, PC was a British Liberal politician and statesman...
lived at number 10. Gerald ScarfeGerald ScarfeGerald Anthony Scarfe, CBE, RDI, is an English cartoonist and illustrator. He worked as editorial cartoonist for The Sunday Times and illustrator for The New Yorker...
now lives there. - Ralph Vaughan WilliamsRalph Vaughan WilliamsRalph Vaughan Williams OM was an English composer of symphonies, chamber music, opera, choral music, and film scores. He was also a collector of English folk music and song: this activity both influenced his editorial approach to the English Hymnal, beginning in 1904, in which he included many...
lived at number 13 from 1905 to 1928. There he wrote works including his first three symphonies, the Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis, The Lark AscendingThe Lark AscendingThe Lark Ascending is a work by the English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams, inspired by George Meredith's 122-line poem of the same name about the skylark. The work was written in two versions: violin and piano, written in 1914; and violin and orchestra, written in 1920. The orchestral version...
, and Hugh the DroverHugh the DroverHugh the Drover is an opera in two acts by Ralph Vaughan Williams to an original English libretto by Harold Child. According to Michael Kennedy, the composer took first inspiration for the opera from this question to Bruce Richmond, editor of The Times Literary Supplement, around 1909–1910:"I...
. - The landscape painter Cecil Gordon LawsonCecil Gordon LawsonCecil Gordon Lawson , was an English landscape painter.The youngest son of William Lawson of Edinburgh, a well-regarded portrait painter, and of a mother also known for her flower pieces, he was born in Fountain Place, Wellington, near Shrewsbury...
lived at number 15 (a number of his works still hang there) … - as did the engraver Henry Thomas RyallHenry Thomas RyallHenry Thomas Ryall was an English line, stipple and mixed-method engraver and later used mixed mezzotint.Ryall was appointed the royal engraver by Queen Victoria. Forty of his works appear in the National Portrait Gallery in London.-Life:...
… - and the Allason family, well-known for their political and literary influence.
- Dante Gabriel RossettiDante Gabriel RossettiDante Gabriel Rossetti was an English poet, illustrator, painter and translator. He founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in 1848 with William Holman Hunt and John Everett Millais, and was later to be the main inspiration for a second generation of artists and writers influenced by the movement,...
lived at number 16 (where he was banned from keeping peacocks due to the noise) from 1862 to 1882 … - and so did Algernon Charles SwinburneAlgernon Charles SwinburneAlgernon Charles Swinburne was an English poet, playwright, novelist, and critic. He invented the roundel form, wrote several novels, and contributed to the famous Eleventh Edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica...
. - Sir Hans SloaneHans SloaneSir Hans Sloane, 1st Baronet, PRS was an Ulster-Scot physician and collector, notable for bequeathing his collection to the British nation which became the foundation of the British Museum...
’s manor house, demolished in 1760, stood at numbers 19–26. - James Clerk MaxwellJames Clerk MaxwellJames Clerk Maxwell of Glenlair was a Scottish physicist and mathematician. His most prominent achievement was formulating classical electromagnetic theory. This united all previously unrelated observations, experiments and equations of electricity, magnetism and optics into a consistent theory...
lived at 41 while lecturing at King's College London in the early 1860s. He used the iron railings outside his home in two experiments on electro-magnetic fields, much to the dismay of friends and foreigners. - James Abbott McNeill Whistler lived at numbers 21 (1890–92), 72 (? to his death there in 1903), 96 (1866–78) and 101 (1863) at different times.
- Edward Arthur WaltonEdward Arthur WaltonEdward Arthur Walton was a Scottish painter of landscapes and portraits. Edward was one of twelve children of Jackson Walton, a Manchester commission agent and a competent painter and photographer...
lived at number 21. - Erskine ChildersRobert Erskine ChildersRobert Erskine Childers DSC , universally known as Erskine Childers, was the author of the influential novel Riddle of the Sands and an Irish nationalist who smuggled guns to Ireland in his sailing yacht Asgard. He was executed by the authorities of the nascent Irish Free State during the Irish...
lived at 20 Carlyle MansionsCarlyle MansionsCarlyle Mansions is a block of flats located on Cheyne Walk, in the Chelsea area of London, England. Built in 1886, it was named after Thomas Carlyle, himself a resident of Chelsea for much of his life....
with his family, and wrote his novel The Riddle of the SandsThe Riddle of the SandsThe Riddle of the Sands: A Record of Secret Service is a 1903 novel by Erskine Childers. It is an early example of the espionage novel, with a strong underlying theme of militarism...
there as well. He also lived at 16 Cheyne Gardens for several years. - Nicolaus Ludwig, Imperial Count von Zinzendorf und Pottendorf, and the Brethren of the Moravian Church renovated Lindsey HouseLindsey HouseLindsey House is a Grade II* listed villa in Cheyne Walk, Chelsea, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is owned by the National Trust but tenanted and only open by special arrangement.-History:...
at numbers 99–100 in Cheyne Walk in the mid-18th century; it was for a number of years the headquarters of their worldwide missionary activity. Moravian Close nearby is still the London God's AcreGod's AcreGod's Acre is an ancient Germanic designation for a burial ground. In his poem "God's-Acre," Henry Wadsworth Longfellow attributes the term to ancient Saxons.-In Christianity:...
, where many famous Moravians are buried. - Mortimer MenpesMortimer MenpesMortimer Luddington Menpes , was an Australian-born artist, author, printmaker and illustrator.-Life:...
, the watercolourist and etcher, shared a flat with Whistler. - Henry JamesHenry JamesHenry James, OM was an American-born writer, regarded as one of the key figures of 19th-century literary realism. He was the son of Henry James, Sr., a clergyman, and the brother of philosopher and psychologist William James and diarist Alice James....
spent his last years at number 21. - Mick JaggerMick JaggerSir Michael Philip "Mick" Jagger is an English musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist and a founding member of The Rolling Stones....
and Marianne FaithfullMarianne FaithfullMarianne Evelyn Faithfull is an award-winning English singer, songwriter and actress whose career has spanned five decades....
lived at number 48 in 1968. - Elizabeth GaskellElizabeth GaskellElizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell, née Stevenson , often referred to simply as Mrs Gaskell, was a British novelist and short story writer during the Victorian era...
was born at number 93. - Diana MitfordDiana MitfordDiana Mitford, Lady Mosley , was one of Britain's noted Mitford sisters. She was married first to Bryan Walter Guinness, heir to the barony of Moyne, and secondly to Sir Oswald Mosley, 6th Baronet, of Ancoats, leader of the British Union of Fascists; her second marriage, in 1936, took place at the...
lived at number 96 with her first husband Bryan Guinness in 1932. - Sir Marc Brunel, who designed the Thames TunnelThames TunnelThe Thames Tunnel is an underwater tunnel, built beneath the River Thames in London, United Kingdom, connecting Rotherhithe and Wapping. It measures 35 feet wide by 20 feet high and is 1,300 feet long, running at a depth of 75 feet below the river's surface...
, lived at number 98 … - as did his son Isambard Kingdom BrunelIsambard Kingdom BrunelIsambard Kingdom Brunel, FRS , was a British civil engineer who built bridges and dockyards including the construction of the first major British railway, the Great Western Railway; a series of steamships, including the first propeller-driven transatlantic steamship; and numerous important bridges...
. - Hilaire BellocHilaire BellocJoseph Hilaire Pierre René Belloc was an Anglo-French writer and historian who became a naturalised British subject in 1902. He was one of the most prolific writers in England during the early twentieth century. He was known as a writer, orator, poet, satirist, man of letters and political activist...
lived at number 104, as did the artist Walter GreavesWalter Greaves (artist)Walter Greaves was a British painter, etcher and topographical draftsman.-Biography:The son of Charles William Greaves, a Chelsea boat builder and waterman, and his wife, Elizabeth Greenway, Greaves was born in 1846 at 31 Cheyne Walk, Chelsea, London. His father had been J. M. W. Turner's boatman... - John Tweed, sculptor and friend of Auguste RodinAuguste RodinFrançois-Auguste-René Rodin , known as Auguste Rodin , was a French sculptor. Although Rodin is generally considered the progenitor of modern sculpture, he did not set out to rebel against the past...
, lived at number 108. - Sir Philip Steer lived at number 109.
- J.M.W. Turner died at number 119 in 1851.
- Sylvia PankhurstSylvia PankhurstEstelle Sylvia Pankhurst was an English campaigner for the suffragist movement in the United Kingdom. She was for a time a prominent left communist who then devoted herself to the cause of anti-fascism.-Early life:...
lived at number 120 after leaving university. - John Paul GettyPaul GettySir John Paul Getty KBE , born Eugene Paul Getty, was a wealthy American-born British philanthropist and book collector. He was the elder son of Jean Paul Getty, Sr...
II lived here from the late 1970s to the early 1990s. - George WeidenfeldGeorge WeidenfeldArthur George Weidenfeld, Baron Weidenfeld, GBE is a British publisher, philanthropist, and newspaper columnist. He was born in Vienna, Austria.Weidenfeld attended the University of Vienna and the city's Diplomatic College...
, publisher, now Lord Weidenfeld of Chelsea, has lived here since the 1960s. - George BestGeorge BestGeorge Best was a professional footballer from Northern Ireland, who played for Manchester United and the Northern Ireland national team. He was a winger whose game combined pace, acceleration, balance, two-footedness, goalscoring and the ability to beat defenders...
once had a flat here. - Shapur KharegatShapur KharegatShapur Sorab Kharegat was an Anglo-Indian journalist, editor and former Asia Director of The EconomistKharegat was born in Bombay, at "Palm Land", the home of his maternal great-grandfather, the ship chandler magnat Kavasjee Dadabhoy Dubash , to Col. Dr. Sorabjee Merwanjee Kharegat *1900...
, journalist, editor and former Asia Director of The EconomistThe EconomistThe Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
lived at 17 Carlyle MansionsCarlyle MansionsCarlyle Mansions is a block of flats located on Cheyne Walk, in the Chelsea area of London, England. Built in 1886, it was named after Thomas Carlyle, himself a resident of Chelsea for much of his life....
from 1947 until 1964. - Lawrence Olivier and Jill EsmondJill EsmondJill Esmond was an English actress and first wife of Sir Laurence Olivier.-Early life:Esmond was born Jill Esmond Moore in London, the daughter of stage actors Henry V. Esmond and Eva Moore. While her parents toured with theatre companies, Esmond spent her childhood in boarding schools until she...
lived here in the 1930s. - Charles Edward MudieCharles Edward MudieCharles Edward Mudie , English publisher and founder of Mudie's Lending Library and Mudie’s Subscription Library, was the son of a second-hand bookseller and newsagent. In 1840 he established a stationery and book-selling business in Bloomsbury...
English publisher and founder of Mudie's Lending Library was born 1818 in Cheyne Walk; where his father owned a Circulating library, stationery & book binding business at No. 89. - Mary SidneyMary SidneyMary Herbert , Countess of Pembroke , was one of the first English women to achieve a major reputation for her literary works, poetry, poetic translations and literary patronage.-Family:...
lived at Crosby HallCrosby HallCrosby Hall is a historic building in Cheyne Walk, Chelsea, London, England. It is a Grade II* listed building.Part of the buildings architectural features are from the Great Hall, which is the only surviving part of the mansion of Crosby Hall, Bishopsgate which was built in 1466 by the wool...
from 1609 to 1615 - In July 1972, during a short-lived ceasefire, an IRA delegation that included Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness held talks in a house in Cheyne Walk with a British government team led by NI Secretary William Whitelaw.
Fictional residents
- In StormbreakerStormbreaker (novel)Stormbreaker is the first novel in the Alex Rider series by British author Anthony Horowitz. It was released in the United Kingdom on 4 September 2000 and in the United States on 21 May 2001...
, Alex RiderAlex RiderAlex Rider is a series of spy novels by British author Anthony Horowitz about a 14-15 year old spy named Alex Rider. The series is aimed primarily at young adults. Nine novels have been published to date, as well as three graphic novels, three short stories and a supplementary book...
directs his cab to his home in Cheyne Walk, London. - Thomas CarnackiCarnackiThomas Carnacki is a fictional supernatural detective created by English fantasy writer William Hope Hodgson. Carnacki was the protagonist of a series of six short stories published between 1910 and 1912 in The Idler magazine and The New Magazine....
lived in a flat in Cheyne Walk. - Sâr DubnotalSâr DubnotalSâr Dubnotal is a fictional character and pulp hero who starred in 20 pulp magazines published in France in 1909.The Sâr Dubnotal stories were published anonymously...
owned a house in Cheyne Walk. - In the episode "The Constant" (Season 4, Episode 5) of LostLost (TV series)Lost is an American television series that originally aired on ABC from September 22, 2004 to May 23, 2010, consisting of six seasons. Lost is a drama series that follows the survivors of the crash of a commercial passenger jet flying between Sydney and Los Angeles, on a mysterious tropical island...
, Penelope Widmore lives in number 423. - In Elizabeth GeorgeElizabeth GeorgeSusan Elizabeth George is an American author of mystery novels set in Great Britain.Eleven of her novels featuring her lead character Inspector Lynley have been adapted for television by the BBC as The Inspector Lynley Mysteries.-Biography:George was born in Warren, Ohio to Robert Edwin and Anne ...
's Inspector Lynley series, Simon and Deborah St. James live and work on Cheyne Walk. - In Timothy FindleyTimothy FindleyTimothy Irving Frederick Findley, OC, O.Ont was a Canadian novelist and playwright. He was also informally known by the nickname Tiff or Tiffy, an acronym of his initials.-Biography:...
's Pilgrim, the eponymous main character is a former resident of Cheyne Walk. - In Iris MurdochIris MurdochDame Iris Murdoch DBE was an Irish-born British author and philosopher, best known for her novels about political and social questions of good and evil, sexual relationships, morality, and the power of the unconscious...
's A Word ChildA Word ChildA Word Child is the 17th novel by Iris Murdoch.First published in 1975 by Chatto and Windus, A Word Child charts the trials and tribulations of the title character, the "word child", Hilary Burde as he attempts to recover his soul from the misery of his troubled past...
, Gunnar Jopling and his second wife, Lady Kitty, lived here. - In Daniel Silva's The DefectorThe Defector (Daniel Silva novel)The Defector is Daniel Silva's 9th book in the Gabriel Allon series released on July 21, 2009. The cover depicts the House of Parliament and Big Ben in London indicating the next location for Gabriel's adventures...
, the Russian billionaire Viktor Orlov lives at number 43. - Margaret Prior, the protagonist of Sarah WatersSarah WatersSarah Waters is a British novelist. She is best known for her novels set in Victorian society, such as Tipping the Velvet and Fingersmith.-Childhood:Sarah Waters was born in Neyland, Pembrokeshire, Wales in 1966....
' AffinityAffinity (novel)Affinity is a 1999 historical fiction novel by Sarah Waters. It is the author's second novel, following Tipping the Velvet, and followed by Fingersmith.-Plot summary:...
lives on Cheyne Walk. - Katherine Hilbery, the protagonist of Virginia WoolfVirginia WoolfAdeline Virginia Woolf was an English author, essayist, publisher, and writer of short stories, regarded as one of the foremost modernist literary figures of the twentieth century....
's second novel, Night and Day (novel)Night and Day (novel)Night and Day is a novel by Virginia Woolf first published on 20 October 1919. Set in Edwardian London, Night and Day contrasts the daily lives and romantic attachments of two acquaintances, Katharine Hilbery and Mary Datchet...
lives on Cheyne Walk with her parents. - Sean Dillon a recurring character from author Jack HigginsJack HigginsJack Higgins is the principal pseudonym of UK novelist Harry Patterson. Patterson is the author of more than 60 novels. As Higgins, most have been thrillers of various types and, since his breakthrough novel The Eagle Has Landed in 1975, nearly all have been bestsellers...
has a home in Cheyne Walk. - Lady Celia Lytton and members of her family live in a house on Cheyne Walk for more than half a century in Penny Vincenzi's trilogy, The Spoils of Time.
The Old Cheyneans – former pupils of Sloane Grammar School, Hortensia Road, Chelsea – take their name from the association with Cheyne Walk and Sir Hans Sloane who lived there.