November 9, 2023 • 37 mins
Welcome to episode 124 of the London History Podcast. I'm Hazel, your navigator through the winding lanes of London's rich tapestry of time. Today, we're peeling back the layers of history in one of Chelsea's most renowned streets — Tite Street with City of Westminster tour guide Dr Stephen King.
A street synonymous with cultural luminaries and architectural beauty, Tite Street is a prism through which we can explore the artistic soul of Chelsea. Once the stomping ground for the likes of Oscar Wilde and James McNeill Whistler, Tite Street has long been a magnet for those who dare to dream and dare to disrupt the status quo.
In this episode, we'll amble through the Victorian era when Tite Street became the epicentre of an aesthetic revolution, housing a tapestry of artists and thinkers who would leave an indelible mark on the art world. We'll discover the hidden narratives of the street's residents, the stories behind the iconic facades, and the spirit of a community that thrived on creativity and rebellion.
So, whether you're a lifelong Londoner or an admirer of history from afar, join us as we take a journey down the cobblestones of Tite Street and unravel the stories that have made it an enduring emblem of London's artistic heritage. Let's step back in time together on the London History Podcast.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:02):
Hello and welcome to our London History Podcast where we share
our love of London. It's people, places and history.
It's designed for you to learn things about London that most
Londoners don't even know. I am your host Hazel Baker,
qualified London Tour guide, andCEO and Founder of London
(00:22):
guidedwalks.co.uk. Each episode is supported by
show notes, transcripts, photos and further reading, all to be
found on our website. Click on londonguidedwalk.co.uk
podcast and then select the episode that you fancy.
And if you enjoy what we do thenyou'll love our guided walks and
private tours that we offer throughout the year.
(00:46):
So get that cup of tea, put yourfeet up and enjoy This week we
delve into the enchanting tale of Tite St. a venerable Ave. in
the heart of Chelsea that servesas a living gallery to the
artistic and literary greats of bygone days.
(01:09):
Before we wander through the history that permeates every
brick and cobblestone of Tite St., let us orientate ourselves
with a brief journey there. Should you wish to follow in the
footsteps of the iconic figures we're about to discuss, you
should start from Sloane Square Tube station.
Upon exiting the station, take aleft onto Lower Sloane St. and
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continue as it merges into Sloane Gardens.
Then bear right onto Holbein. Place a gentle stroll down and
turn left onto Chelsea Bridge Road, and soon after a right
turn you'll guide you onto RoyalHospital Rd.
As you proceed, a left turn ontotide street is where your
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historical adventure would begin.
Now back to our episode and the esteemed presence of our guest
Doctor, Stephen King, a City of Westminster tour guide offering
walking tours on behalf of London guided walks.
Stephen brings with him a trove of knowledge, particularly about
(02:14):
Tite St. which was a nucleus of London's athletic movement.
And that's because he also offers a walking tour in
Chelsea. Tite St.
TITE was once a simple footpath bordering market gardens and
it's transformed into an Ave. Where the avant-garde of
Victorian society convened iconslike Oscar Wilde and James
(02:39):
McNeill. Whistler brought a flourish of
creativity and non conformity tothe street, which became a
byword for artistic excellence and innovation.
As I talk with Stephen, will traverse the timeline that we
saw Tite St. evolve from the 18th century origins to the 19th
century haven for artists and further into its modern day
(03:02):
incarnation. 2 Our discussion will touch upon the
architectural splendour that rose from its foundations in the
1870s, the illustrious lives of its residents, and the cultural
and social tides that have washed over it through the
decades. Tite St. story is interwoven
with the broader historical fabric of Chelsea, reflecting
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the District's transformation and the indomitable spirit of
the city itself. It's a tale of continuity and
change, resilience and renewal. Hello, Stephen.
Hello, Hazel. How are you?
Yeah, really good. Thank you.
Getting ready for our Christmas walks, which are going to be
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good. So I think it might be worth
starting off, Stephen, with how Tide St. got its name, because
it's not an obvious word that weuse, is it?
Well, that's a very good point. So there was a guy called
William Tight who was, I've got his dates written down here
1798701873 and he was one of these kind of illustrious
(04:11):
Victorians that you often hear about.
He ended up, he was an architect.
He ended up being president of the Royal Institution of British
Architects RIBA, but he also wasthe MP for Bath until he he for
about 20 years. But the reason it's called Tight
Street is because he was on the board of the Metropolitan Board
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of Works. You probably noticed you know
them, their most famous with baseljet and the drains.
But the Metropolitan Board of Works were doing various things
and one of which was the the Embankment, which is obviously
Baseljet's drains, sit famously underneath the Embankment and
when they were about to build and extend it out to Chelsea.
(04:55):
With the Embankment going along the Thames there, they basically
ran out of money and William Tight was one of the people
instrumental in raising the money to build the Chelsea
Embankment and also the the famous lovely Albert Bridge
there, the that beautiful bridge.
(05:15):
Tite is is not really that famous.
I think he's he's famous for twothings very much about the the
architecture of the time he's he's famous for having built the
the Royal Exchange, that that thing that looks like a Greek
temple opposite the Bank of England in the in the heart of
the city. He's famous for doing that in
the 1840s, but he's also also famous for vehemently objecting
(05:40):
to Gilbert Scott's design for the Foreign Office.
Even though the the Royal Exchange is very much a
classical building, Tyte believed that the the Foreign
Office should be in the Gothic style and he he objected very
much to Gilbert Scott's classical Foreign Office.
But what you can see now on the on Whitehall, you can see that
(06:00):
obviously Scott won and and Tytedidn't.
So and those are the kind of thetwo things that he he's most
famous for and when William Tidedied in the in 1873 the
embankment being built out. Tide St.
Gets developed in the in the later 1870s, and as a fitting
monument for Sir William, they decided to name the street after
(06:23):
him so that that's the origin ofof why it's called Tide St.
Yeah, perhaps it'll be worth giving a little bit of
background as to Chelsea itself.Yeah, of course.
So Chelsea obviously as you as you know, sits about two miles
down river from from Whitehall and Westminster.
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So if you're travelling back towards Hampton Court kind of
going upstream to to there, that's where Chelsea sits.
So it's on the Thames, but it's a very ancient place.
Chelsea. The name Chelsea is Anglo-Saxon.
Meaning white landing, referringto the chalk outcrops there.
(07:04):
And just by Bassey Bridge, if you know the area, that's where
King Canute, the guy who famously tried to turn back the
tide, that's where he had one ofhis palaces.
And you know, when Bassey Bridgewas being built, they actually
found a an Anglo-Saxon shield which you can go into the
(07:25):
British Museum. And see, so you know it's it's a
long history Chelsea Old Church first noted in 1175.
But then he he kind of sits the countryside for for for many
centuries big Manor houses were were built there.
One of the most famous ones was built by Henry the Eighth.
He had an enormous Manor house there of which played an
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important role in in in Tudor Britain.
Elizabeth the first lived there,as you can see there.
There was a long history of there, but it kind of sits there
in countryside close to London, but far enough away to be to be
a nice kind of country retreat almost, and a nice distance of
London to stay away from the plague, I guess.
(08:10):
Precisely ideal for getting awayfrom the play.
You can see why Henry the eighthliked it because you know it was
halfway between Hampton Court and Whitehall and yet in the
countryside and you could, you know, you could hide out there
and you can put your children there quite safely in the
countryside with with the the fresh air and the and the fresh
water. So it kind of sits there.
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And then we get the one of the first famous names along the
time, Sir Han Sloane, who gives his name to large areas of this
part of the world, Sloane Square.
For example. So he's in the in the 18th
century and he buys basically the manner of Chelsea and we
could, we could talk about the origin and where his money gets
in comes from Sir Han Sloan, famously the man who who
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invented hot chocolate. So they claim.
But he dies, his his estate goesto Elizabeth, and then she
marries the second Baron of Cadugan, another name you see
all over Chelsea. And the Cadugans still own
Chelsea to this day and and theyown, you know, large swathes of
(09:16):
Chelsea to this day. I think they own.
I'm just checking my notes. They own about 3000 flats, 200
houses. 300 shops and 15 acres of a Parkland still in Chelsea's
and not not not not doing badly the cadogans and but then like I
say the the real change comes inthe 1860s so and two things
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drive the development of of Chelsea.
One is the opening the tube station.
Slade Square tube station opens up in the late 1860s.
And then we get the the the building of the Chelsea
Embankment we mentioned earlier at the same time.
So suddenly it becomes prime development land.
(10:01):
You you've got the connections into the West End.
And suddenly that muddy swamp that was the edge of the River
Thames becomes this beautiful kind of Parisian thoroughfare.
But it's still empty land and Tight St.
The land in Tight Street is owned by the Metropolitan Board
of Works. And they are selling off little
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parcels of land to develop and and build them.
And one of the first parcels of land that's sold is bought by
the American painter Whistler. Or or he's and and he wants to
develop it out as as very much an artist studio.
Now James Whistler comes he's American and spends hardly any
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time like a lot of the people we're going to meet in this
discussion they they they may beAmerican but they hardly ever
live in America and he gets a anarchitect to design in the
house. Godwin.
And Godwin is very artistically minded as well.
It designs as wonderful house and basically the Metropolitan
Board of Work say no, we're not having it, we don't like the
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design and there's a massive argument Godwin basically, well,
should we say, is a little open with the truth.
In terms of what the design looks like and eventually gets
it past the Metropolitan Board of Works.
But it does get voted down by the number of times.
So the eventually this, this, this house is built the White
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House and that's one of the first buildings along Tite St.
for James Whistler. James Whistler then decides he's
quite cantankerous person. There's no bedding away.
He does like an argument as James Whistler and he has.
He basically then ends up havinga massive argument.
With the art critic Ruskin, theygo to court over libel.
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Whistler wins, but he gets a massive award of 1 pound.
He's basically made himself bankrupt by this legal activity.
And he then never actually gets to live in the White House, in
this wonderful house that Godwin's built for him, he
basically has to go to. To Italy bankrupt, though he
(12:15):
does return at later times to toTite Street.
So that's that's the kind of thethe kind of origin of the area,
so not a great start for the beginnings of Tite Street then.
Not a great start no. You can you can claim but that
is kind of the marker and and then it it it rap Godwin rapidly
develops a number of houses bespoke kind of artist studios.
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Four people along there and so we can see some wonderful
buildings developed there. And then you get little, little
sides like the son of Mary Shelley actually has a house
built for him along Tite St. as well and that is one of those
kind of eccentric little houses that not that little.
It actually has a 200 seat theatre tucked away on Tite St.
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And that house was there for a number of years and like I said,
the son of Mary Shelley has plays put on in in there and
eventually one of his neighboursends up taking him to court and
he ends up having to close down his theatre as well.
So it was. It was kind of like lots of
artistic activities, quite bohemian from the start.
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And always popular with with Americans travelling in Europe
as well And John Singer Sargent pops up in the 1880s again to be
associated with this road and and you can see his house to
this day. Interesting Whistler's house.
The White House got demolished in the 1960s.
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And so that no longer exists. But the one of thing about Tye
Street is you can see all these amazing houses still that were
developed for all these artists who lived along it.
So as you mentioned, Chelsea's alittle bit further out of from
the West End. So what was it about Chelsea
specifically that was attractivefor the artistic types?
(14:12):
Yeah, I mean that. That's a really good question.
Why Chelsea? Whole range of reasons.
Partly it was just a bit cheaperbecause it was being developed
out, so it was new. Partly it was quite close to the
West End and to the the rich people of Belgravia.
So basically your clients so they could ease people like
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Sargent made his name by painting the affluent.
Individuals of Edwardian Britainand they would travel to Tight
St. to get painted. He Sergeant paints over 900 oil
paintings in his time and and some of the most famous names
turn up at at Tight Street. So one of the reasons Tight St's
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popular is you can get to it quite easily, but it was also
quite cheap. And one of the other
attractions, interestingly enough, was that was the River
Thames. Turner at the end of his life a
little earlier actually kind of hides out as an old man in in
Chelsea because he just wants tobe by the Thames and he he loves
watching the colours change on the Thames.
(15:16):
Whistler was always drawn to theto the Thames as well.
You can go into the Tate Britainand see a wonderful painting of
what was the old Bassie Bridge when Bassie Bridge was was a
wooden bridge. And actually if you go to Bassie
Bridge now, there's a painting of Turner standing there by
Bassie Bridge, easel in hand. And then it, just as you said it
got there was a domino effect. There was it it was known as a
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bohemian area and it was where people of a bohemian kind of
background went to. There's a lovely story and that
kind of lasts into the post war period in into the 1950s.
There's a lovely story of of somebody saying, you know.
The thing about Chelsea is, you know, I can leave my front door
in my dressing gown and wander, and I know I've left Chelsea.
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When people start looking at me strangely when I'm in my
dressing gown, it was just that kind of bohemian, relaxed kind
of atmosphere. You mentioned some of the big
artistic names associated with Tight St., and what impact did
they have on the street's reputation?
The the reputation of Tight St. was very much like a bohemian.
(16:23):
Area to hang out so and people like a bit like Mamarta in
Paris. Yes, exactly, exactly.
And and in fact, people would often come from Paris.
So Whistler initially started his career in Paris.
Sargent actually comes to Tide St. having to having had to flee
Paris because he does this infamous painting of this young
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society Lady Madame X. It's called.
And it's so scandalous that he has to basically flee Paris and
another American Henry James thethe writer basically convinces
him that Chelsea is the place tobe and where you can hang out.
But it was also interesting. You know the the you had a
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certain degree of respectabilityaround it.
You know you couldn't be completely bohemian because you
were you were selling your your paintings to the.
To the to the wealthy. But there was always this
tension with say the Royal Academy.
People like Whistlow steadfastlyrefused to be to join the Royal
Academy. You know he just he just saw
them as old duffers that had nothing to do with him.
(17:30):
So yeah it it was a wonderful artistic melee of people.
I think you can write a whole kind of book and thesis on on
whistlers approach to women. There was a lot of.
There was a lot of affairs goingon, a lot of general, you know,
kind of activity that wouldn't be seen as particularly
(17:53):
respectable by Victorians and perhaps the the distance from
the West End was advantageous aswell.
You could get away with a few things that you might not have
been able to in the West End, yes.
Indeed, indeed. You can get away with stuff in
Chelsea that you couldn't get away with in in in Saint
James's. Probably yes, exactly.
And how is the architecture of Tite St. evolved over time?
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Are there any buildings of particular historical or
architectural importance that have managed to survive the
1960s The? Architecture there is
surprisingly well kept. You can stand there and you can
look up at these buildings and you just see these enormous
windows and you can see that they were were very much
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designed as artist studios. And there's some which are kind
of layered on on top of each other in terms of the actual
studios. You can see a number of floors
where you've just got these great big open glass windows
that have have survived amazingly well over the over the
time. I don't think there are artists
studios anymore, sadly. Famously, though, right until
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the 1990s, actually in the house.
Where Sargent did so many of hispaintings, there were two
people. In 1994 there were two people
coming and arriving at 30 tight St. being painted by the
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American artist Nelson Shanks. One where he where he was
painting a painting of Princess Diana.
And that was apparently, you know, quite relaxed and you know
he was. He was.
He was. He was doing a Commission for
for that and the other one, he was commissioned by the by the
National Portrait Gallery to do a painting of Margaret Thatcher,
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which apparently was a she was, unsurprisingly enough, a very
different type of sitter. She would sit there, ramrod and
straight, and even when he went to like.
Clean his brushes or have a cup of tea, she would virtually not
move. So yes, it's amazing the the
continuity that has been seen through there from you know
these these paintings taking place in the in the mid 90s in
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the exact same studio that John Singer Sargent was, was was
painting. See that?
That is kind of what I love about the street is you can you
can imagine the history there because you can see the houses.
And there's a wonderful book written just about Tite St.
It's called The Street of Wonderful Possibilities by this
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American writer called Devon Cox.
And the title of The Street of Wonderful Possibilities comes
from the fact that Oscar Wilde, who lived on the street, was
kind of sitting in his in his window, looking at, sitting in
his library at the front of his house, looking out of his
window. And suddenly a carriage comes
along Tite St. And then the amazing actress
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Elaine Terry steps out of this carriage in full costume of Lady
of Lady Macbeth. She's wearing this amazing
costume. She's got kind of a wig, an
orbit wig that goes down to our ankles.
And she just steps out and walksinto Sargent's studio.
And he just says, you know, the this vision to to see Lady
(21:14):
Macbeth stepping out of the carriage, you know, in in Tide
St. this is the street of wonderful possibilities.
And if you want to see that painting of Elaine Terry, it
does, actually, it's now in the National Portrait Gallery and it
is quite, quite stunning. Oscar Wilde is one of Tide St's
most famous former residents. How did his life and works
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interact with the local community during his time there?
Well, Tight St. was kind of central to the Oscar Wilde story
Tide St. Oscar Wilde moves to Tight St.
initially as a bachelor after heleaves Oxford, although he has
an enormous row with his with his house mate.
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And there's a famous story how he he storms out, having thrown
a an enormous suitcase from the top floor down the stairs, which
then crashes onto a table, destroying it.
And then he he stalls out, but he returns to Tide St.
interesting enough as a married man, as a happily married man
with Constance, his wife. He has two sons there and in
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many ways it's it's a it's a it's an odd story because at
that stage he he's living at on on Tide Street with his two
sons. He gets up every morning or well
twice a week, gets up, walks to Sloane Square, gets the tube and
then oddly enough, edits of Women's Magazine.
He's the editor of Ladies World and Woman's World for a number
(22:46):
of months while he's living there.
But that doesn't go so go so well.
Him and the editor don't really get on, but but if you go,
there's a blue plaque to Oscar Wilde on Tight St.
And when you stand there, that'swhere you get the sense of
history because that blue plaqueis is next to the library.
And then that is the room where he basically over 10 years, he
(23:08):
wrote The Happy Prince in 1888, Dorian Gray 1891, and Lady well,
Lady Wyndham is Fan 1892. Then we have the ideal husband
and then finally the importance of being Ernest 1895.
And just to think, all on tight.Street all amazing.
Admittedly, some of those were may have been written in hotels,
(23:30):
but certainly towards the end when in when the marriage with
Constance wasn't going so well, shall we say.
But yes, no, a lot of the the that was written in that room
and that's an amazing sense of history from standing there.
But of course, that is where thesight of Oscar Wilde's downfall
was as well, because that is where and you can do, and this
(23:54):
is the amazing thing. You stand out there and you can
see the doorway, the room. And that is where the famously
the Marquis of Queensbury in 1894 barges in through the park
through past his his, his Butlerand storms in and confronts
Oscar Wilde in his in his library in that front room and
(24:18):
accuses him of having an affair with his son Bosey.
And and and again that that is what happened.
You know right there it's one ofthose places where you think you
know this is this is where it happened.
This is where the history was. It's kind of one of those times
where you you know it's you knowwhat it's like being a a tour
guide where you can say something to a guest and they
(24:40):
just kind of their breath goes in and they think wow that that
that was here and that's the amazing thing about about Tide
Street is is that history with Oscar and again it's you know we
we know the story Oscar Wilde takes the Marcus of Greensbury
to libel and the libel fails andthen we get the two other court
(25:00):
cases that the least the lies ofOscar Wilde and and again he
he's he's now by that stage leftTide St.
Constance and the two sons move move out and it's very tragic.
I mean Constance dies before Oscar Wilde does.
You know it's it's it's all a very a tragic story but you know
(25:23):
that that is where they they they lived and grew up and it's
interesting the two sons, there's a behind tight St.
There's a tiny little kind of it's not quite a muse but it
feels like it could be a muse called Paradise Walk and that's
a very dark name because a Paradise Walk was actually one
of the poorest areas of of Chelsea.
(25:43):
It was very much a slum and it'sinteresting that the the Oscar
wild boys would would go from Tide St. and literally walk 2
minutes around the corner and give food parcels to the poor
people or of of Paradise Walk. To a degree they got too famous
because the the poor of of Paradise walk would then return
(26:04):
the favour and walk back round and and knock on Oscar Wilde's
door and and Pester Constance for for food and and and money
as well. So it was an interesting mixture
of people that lived there. Now, of course, to to buy
anything on on on Paradise Walk,you'll need to be a millionaire.
But it's funny how things change.
Keep on at. Those walking tall, Stephen,
(26:24):
you'll get there. Well, I I think my main house
I'd like to buy in Chelsea is the one that overlooks the the,
the physic garden. I must admit, I stand and look
at that gorgeous house and the view of the of the Chelsea
Physic Garden. I think.
Yeah, that that's probably the one I'd like.
Could you? Discuss the social 9 Damics of
Tite St. during the late 19th and early 20th century.
(26:48):
Was it considered a fashionable location and if So, what were
the contributing factors? Chelsea never really at that
stage. I mean, it didn't have the size
of houses that you'd see in Belgravia, so it was never a
place where Marquis's would hangout.
(27:08):
The the houses were generally smaller and there were a lot of
flats developed in the area as well.
A lot of, you know, very nice flats, but they were flats.
And So what you got was maybe the sums of famous people moving
there or the sons of barons and and and and people there.
I mean, interesting to my mind, one of the one of the famous
(27:30):
people that kind of intersects my interests is, is somebody
called John Collier, who was a painter there and he was the son
of a very wealthy. Yes.
He basically was, you know, one of these people that ends up
running half the empire kind of people.
And John Collier is a painter and he moves there.
Interesting enough, he marries somebody who's the the daughter
(27:54):
of Thomas Huxley. Thomas Huxley was one of Charles
Darwin's greatest advocates and they married in 1879 and they
lived there again on Tite Street.
But Marian the the the daughter sadly gets into post Natal
(28:14):
depression after they have theirfirst daughter and then and then
it's it's very tragic she dies in 1887 having lived there.
But what I find then is interesting about John Collier.
He he's then asked by the Linnaean society to go and paint
Darwin in 1881 and if you know that that amazing painting in
(28:39):
the National Portrait Gallery the elderly Darwin standing
there withholding his hat staring out at you that was John
Collier who did who painted thathe didn't paint it in tide St.
Darwin famously was was recluse so he had to go down to down
house to paint him but just thatintersection of people who who
who lived there and and and the way they related to the rest of
(29:02):
kind of what was happening in inin London the times fascinating
are there. Any lesser known figures who
resided on tide, St., whose contributions to.
History or culture may have beenoverlooked.
Oh, there's so many different people there.
There's there's there's a plaqueto somebody called Lord Haddon
(29:22):
Guest who he was a he was a Labour politician.
He was a a doctor and famously organised the evacuation of
school children from London. So people like that there was
somebody called Peter Warlock who was a composer who was as a
(29:44):
plaque there. If you're into kind of early
medieval music he was one of thepeople in the kind of Edwardian
period who kind of codified that.
Interesting enough Peter Warlockdidn't really not most famous
for living on Tide St. most famous were actually dying on
Tide St. he get he gassed himself sadly.
(30:06):
Actually where that blue plaque is there is the is the room
where he turned on the oven and gassed himself with coal gas.
So there's tragic stories there as well.
And and you know, there there's also some famous female artists
as well there, an American artist called Anne Lee Marriott
(30:27):
live there and you, I mean you recognize some of the paintings
and she was, she lived there again.
I think there's a whole interesting story about female
artists and also the female kindof muses and mistresses slash
(30:47):
models that lived on this area, which is another fascinating
year. Yeah, people like Whistler were
not great in terms of how they treated the parents of their own
children as well, but that's a that's a whole other story.
And what role did tight St. playduring significant historical
periods like the World Wars? Were there any notable incidents
(31:10):
or activities that occurred there?
Not so much in tight suit. What I find fascinating about
Chelsea that if we just step back a bit to the wider Chelsea
is it was a nest of spies. There were so many spies, both
fictional and real, who lived inin Chelsea in the Chelsea area.
(31:32):
I think the two kind of outstanding ones in terms of
fictional spies, there's a there's a spot on on the Kings
Rd. where you can add behind a view basically the square where
James Bond lived. So if you if you read the Bond
novelty Lee you know they he just they describe a square just
(31:52):
off off the Kings Rd. where likeI say James Bond probably lived
because it sounds a lot like this square.
But then directly opposite that on the other side of the Kings
Rd. is where Jean Le Carriere makes the home for George Smiley
as well. And you can actually go and go
(32:14):
and have a look at the house which you know George Smiley you
know lives in and actually if you look at some of the old BBC
programmes they actually film itoutside that house as well.
So you know, it is fascinating the the, the history there and
but in real life during the Second World War there were
(32:37):
yeah, definitely real spies, real safe houses being used all
during that period. One of the other things during
the Second World War is that it was known as bombers Alley
basically. So a lot of the V1 and V2
rocket, but they would generallyfly over Chelsea into into town.
(32:57):
And there's a number of of sitesacross Chelsea where V1 rockets
landed and part of the tour we visit one of those sites which
wiped out very sadly, a large number of American servicemen.
And yeah, and a couple of times if you know the the Chelsea
Hospital where the Chelsea Pensioners reside, which is
(33:19):
literally 5 minutes walk away from Tite St. that was bombed
not just during the Second WorldWar but it also got hit during
the First World War as well. It blew up the they had a
brewery in the cellar and sadly it blew up the brewery for the
for the for the Chelsea Pensioners during the First
World War. Don't worry, they still got a
bar there. And I I've been lucky enough to
(33:40):
visit the bar and they do actually have a nice pint called
the Chelsea Pensioner. A nice pint of bitter there and
for our listeners. Could you remind us of what this
tight St. book is called, please?
Yes, of course. It's called the The Street of
Wonderful Possibilities. It's Whistler Wild and Sergeant
in Tight St. and it's done by this writer historian, an
(34:00):
academic. I think he's an academic at
Oxford as well, called Devon andCox.
And yeah, just a great book because it just explained.
It gives you a real. You can sense his enthusiasm and
it gives you a real sense of of what it must have been like in
tight street from the kind of the, you know, the the late
(34:21):
1860s through to the to the beginning of the 20th century
when Sergeant Sergeant was there, and just how it would
have been filled with famous andnot so famous artists coming in
and in and out. Interesting enough.
Just round the corner from Tide St. there is still the London
Sketch Club. And I had a guest with me on one
(34:44):
of my tours and I said, oh, I I'm not sure whether it's still
the London Sketch Club. I I tried to look into it and he
said, Oh yes, no, it still is the London Sketch Club.
I went to a 60th birthday party there.
It was wonderful. And so these, these places still
exist. I don't think there's that many
artists left. I think it's probably been taken
over by bankers and oligarchs nowadays, but it's interesting.
(35:08):
After the Second World War, the old London County Council, as
was, did try and preserve as many artist studios using the
planning system as they could inthat area.
They there were well over 60 artist studios in in Chelsea at
the end of the Second World War.I don't, I don't think there's
that many. The Chelsea Art College of
(35:28):
course, which was on the Kings Rd. that moved out not too far.
Thankfully. It's opposite.
Take Britain now it what was theheadquarters of the Royal?
Well, it was the IT was the headquarters for the Royal
Medical Corps building, which isjust next door to Tate Britain.
So. But that was the Chelsea Art
(35:50):
College that used to be on the Kings Road.
And I'm, you know, I'm old enough to remember when there's
a really good art shop on the Kings Rd. but that that now has
sadly gone as well. But there is still, of course,
the Chelsea Art Club towards theFulham Rd., which still is
famous for its raucous New Year's Eve parties, and so there
(36:10):
must be some some artists still living around the area.
Fabulous. Thank you Stephen for that.
That was brilliant. Thank you.
It's been a joy. It really is.
I mean no I mean Tide St. it really is just such a
fascinating area and with all these kind of places that the
challenge that as you know Hazelwith our tours I always say this
(36:33):
you know this is an hour and a half tour.
It could easily be a four hour tour.
There is just so much that that you could you could say about
this area. We haven't even touched on the
on the other aspects of the of Hans Sloane and and The Tudors
in that area as well. So yeah, no fascinating area.
So if you've enjoyed this episode with Stephen then maybe
(36:54):
you'll enjoy his Chelsea WalkingTall public tours and also
private tours available. And if you want to listen to a
little bit more from Stephen, then I invite you to listen to
episode 46, Bear the Bard and historic Buildings of Bankside,
where he talks all about the wonderful history surrounding
(37:16):
Southwark Cathedral and Globe Theatre, Chaucer, Dickens and
Shakespeare thrown into the. And of course, that supports his
Southwark walking tour as well. That's all for now.
Until next time.
Hello and welcome to our London History Podcast where we share
our love of London. It's people, places and history.
It's designed for you to learn things about London that most
Londoners don't even know. I am your host Hazel Baker,
qualified London Tour guide, andCEO and Founder of London
(00:22):
guidedwalks.co.uk. Each episode is supported by
show notes, transcripts, photos and further reading, all to be
found on our website. Click on londonguidedwalk.co.uk
podcast and then select the episode that you fancy.
And if you enjoy what we do thenyou'll love our guided walks and
private tours that we offer throughout the year.
(00:46):
So get that cup of tea, put yourfeet up and enjoy This week we
delve into the enchanting tale of Tite St. a venerable Ave. in
the heart of Chelsea that servesas a living gallery to the
artistic and literary greats of bygone days.
(01:09):
Before we wander through the history that permeates every
brick and cobblestone of Tite St., let us orientate ourselves
with a brief journey there. Should you wish to follow in the
footsteps of the iconic figures we're about to discuss, you
should start from Sloane Square Tube station.
Upon exiting the station, take aleft onto Lower Sloane St. and
(01:32):
continue as it merges into Sloane Gardens.
Then bear right onto Holbein. Place a gentle stroll down and
turn left onto Chelsea Bridge Road, and soon after a right
turn you'll guide you onto RoyalHospital Rd.
As you proceed, a left turn ontotide street is where your
(01:53):
historical adventure would begin.
Now back to our episode and the esteemed presence of our guest
Doctor, Stephen King, a City of Westminster tour guide offering
walking tours on behalf of London guided walks.
Stephen brings with him a trove of knowledge, particularly about
(02:14):
Tite St. which was a nucleus of London's athletic movement.
And that's because he also offers a walking tour in
Chelsea. Tite St.
TITE was once a simple footpath bordering market gardens and
it's transformed into an Ave. Where the avant-garde of
Victorian society convened iconslike Oscar Wilde and James
(02:39):
McNeill. Whistler brought a flourish of
creativity and non conformity tothe street, which became a
byword for artistic excellence and innovation.
As I talk with Stephen, will traverse the timeline that we
saw Tite St. evolve from the 18th century origins to the 19th
century haven for artists and further into its modern day
(03:02):
incarnation. 2 Our discussion will touch upon the
architectural splendour that rose from its foundations in the
1870s, the illustrious lives of its residents, and the cultural
and social tides that have washed over it through the
decades. Tite St. story is interwoven
with the broader historical fabric of Chelsea, reflecting
(03:25):
the District's transformation and the indomitable spirit of
the city itself. It's a tale of continuity and
change, resilience and renewal. Hello, Stephen.
Hello, Hazel. How are you?
Yeah, really good. Thank you.
Getting ready for our Christmas walks, which are going to be
(03:46):
good. So I think it might be worth
starting off, Stephen, with how Tide St. got its name, because
it's not an obvious word that weuse, is it?
Well, that's a very good point. So there was a guy called
William Tight who was, I've got his dates written down here
1798701873 and he was one of these kind of illustrious
(04:11):
Victorians that you often hear about.
He ended up, he was an architect.
He ended up being president of the Royal Institution of British
Architects RIBA, but he also wasthe MP for Bath until he he for
about 20 years. But the reason it's called Tight
Street is because he was on the board of the Metropolitan Board
(04:33):
of Works. You probably noticed you know
them, their most famous with baseljet and the drains.
But the Metropolitan Board of Works were doing various things
and one of which was the the Embankment, which is obviously
Baseljet's drains, sit famously underneath the Embankment and
when they were about to build and extend it out to Chelsea.
(04:55):
With the Embankment going along the Thames there, they basically
ran out of money and William Tight was one of the people
instrumental in raising the money to build the Chelsea
Embankment and also the the famous lovely Albert Bridge
there, the that beautiful bridge.
(05:15):
Tite is is not really that famous.
I think he's he's famous for twothings very much about the the
architecture of the time he's he's famous for having built the
the Royal Exchange, that that thing that looks like a Greek
temple opposite the Bank of England in the in the heart of
the city. He's famous for doing that in
the 1840s, but he's also also famous for vehemently objecting
(05:40):
to Gilbert Scott's design for the Foreign Office.
Even though the the Royal Exchange is very much a
classical building, Tyte believed that the the Foreign
Office should be in the Gothic style and he he objected very
much to Gilbert Scott's classical Foreign Office.
But what you can see now on the on Whitehall, you can see that
(06:00):
obviously Scott won and and Tytedidn't.
So and those are the kind of thetwo things that he he's most
famous for and when William Tidedied in the in 1873 the
embankment being built out. Tide St.
Gets developed in the in the later 1870s, and as a fitting
monument for Sir William, they decided to name the street after
(06:23):
him so that that's the origin ofof why it's called Tide St.
Yeah, perhaps it'll be worth giving a little bit of
background as to Chelsea itself.Yeah, of course.
So Chelsea obviously as you as you know, sits about two miles
down river from from Whitehall and Westminster.
(06:44):
So if you're travelling back towards Hampton Court kind of
going upstream to to there, that's where Chelsea sits.
So it's on the Thames, but it's a very ancient place.
Chelsea. The name Chelsea is Anglo-Saxon.
Meaning white landing, referringto the chalk outcrops there.
(07:04):
And just by Bassey Bridge, if you know the area, that's where
King Canute, the guy who famously tried to turn back the
tide, that's where he had one ofhis palaces.
And you know, when Bassey Bridgewas being built, they actually
found a an Anglo-Saxon shield which you can go into the
(07:25):
British Museum. And see, so you know it's it's a
long history Chelsea Old Church first noted in 1175.
But then he he kind of sits the countryside for for for many
centuries big Manor houses were were built there.
One of the most famous ones was built by Henry the Eighth.
He had an enormous Manor house there of which played an
(07:47):
important role in in in Tudor Britain.
Elizabeth the first lived there,as you can see there.
There was a long history of there, but it kind of sits there
in countryside close to London, but far enough away to be to be
a nice kind of country retreat almost, and a nice distance of
London to stay away from the plague, I guess.
(08:10):
Precisely ideal for getting awayfrom the play.
You can see why Henry the eighthliked it because you know it was
halfway between Hampton Court and Whitehall and yet in the
countryside and you could, you know, you could hide out there
and you can put your children there quite safely in the
countryside with with the the fresh air and the and the fresh
water. So it kind of sits there.
(08:30):
And then we get the one of the first famous names along the
time, Sir Han Sloane, who gives his name to large areas of this
part of the world, Sloane Square.
For example. So he's in the in the 18th
century and he buys basically the manner of Chelsea and we
could, we could talk about the origin and where his money gets
in comes from Sir Han Sloan, famously the man who who
(08:55):
invented hot chocolate. So they claim.
But he dies, his his estate goesto Elizabeth, and then she
marries the second Baron of Cadugan, another name you see
all over Chelsea. And the Cadugans still own
Chelsea to this day and and theyown, you know, large swathes of
(09:16):
Chelsea to this day. I think they own.
I'm just checking my notes. They own about 3000 flats, 200
houses. 300 shops and 15 acres of a Parkland still in Chelsea's
and not not not not doing badly the cadogans and but then like I
say the the real change comes inthe 1860s so and two things
(09:41):
drive the development of of Chelsea.
One is the opening the tube station.
Slade Square tube station opens up in the late 1860s.
And then we get the the the building of the Chelsea
Embankment we mentioned earlier at the same time.
So suddenly it becomes prime development land.
(10:01):
You you've got the connections into the West End.
And suddenly that muddy swamp that was the edge of the River
Thames becomes this beautiful kind of Parisian thoroughfare.
But it's still empty land and Tight St.
The land in Tight Street is owned by the Metropolitan Board
of Works. And they are selling off little
(10:25):
parcels of land to develop and and build them.
And one of the first parcels of land that's sold is bought by
the American painter Whistler. Or or he's and and he wants to
develop it out as as very much an artist studio.
Now James Whistler comes he's American and spends hardly any
(10:47):
time like a lot of the people we're going to meet in this
discussion they they they may beAmerican but they hardly ever
live in America and he gets a anarchitect to design in the
house. Godwin.
And Godwin is very artistically minded as well.
It designs as wonderful house and basically the Metropolitan
Board of Work say no, we're not having it, we don't like the
(11:09):
design and there's a massive argument Godwin basically, well,
should we say, is a little open with the truth.
In terms of what the design looks like and eventually gets
it past the Metropolitan Board of Works.
But it does get voted down by the number of times.
So the eventually this, this, this house is built the White
(11:30):
House and that's one of the first buildings along Tite St.
for James Whistler. James Whistler then decides he's
quite cantankerous person. There's no bedding away.
He does like an argument as James Whistler and he has.
He basically then ends up havinga massive argument.
With the art critic Ruskin, theygo to court over libel.
(11:54):
Whistler wins, but he gets a massive award of 1 pound.
He's basically made himself bankrupt by this legal activity.
And he then never actually gets to live in the White House, in
this wonderful house that Godwin's built for him, he
basically has to go to. To Italy bankrupt, though he
(12:15):
does return at later times to toTite Street.
So that's that's the kind of thethe kind of origin of the area,
so not a great start for the beginnings of Tite Street then.
Not a great start no. You can you can claim but that
is kind of the marker and and then it it it rap Godwin rapidly
develops a number of houses bespoke kind of artist studios.
(12:39):
Four people along there and so we can see some wonderful
buildings developed there. And then you get little, little
sides like the son of Mary Shelley actually has a house
built for him along Tite St. as well and that is one of those
kind of eccentric little houses that not that little.
It actually has a 200 seat theatre tucked away on Tite St.
(13:04):
And that house was there for a number of years and like I said,
the son of Mary Shelley has plays put on in in there and
eventually one of his neighboursends up taking him to court and
he ends up having to close down his theatre as well.
So it was. It was kind of like lots of
artistic activities, quite bohemian from the start.
(13:28):
And always popular with with Americans travelling in Europe
as well And John Singer Sargent pops up in the 1880s again to be
associated with this road and and you can see his house to
this day. Interesting Whistler's house.
The White House got demolished in the 1960s.
(13:50):
And so that no longer exists. But the one of thing about Tye
Street is you can see all these amazing houses still that were
developed for all these artists who lived along it.
So as you mentioned, Chelsea's alittle bit further out of from
the West End. So what was it about Chelsea
specifically that was attractivefor the artistic types?
(14:12):
Yeah, I mean that. That's a really good question.
Why Chelsea? Whole range of reasons.
Partly it was just a bit cheaperbecause it was being developed
out, so it was new. Partly it was quite close to the
West End and to the the rich people of Belgravia.
So basically your clients so they could ease people like
(14:35):
Sargent made his name by painting the affluent.
Individuals of Edwardian Britainand they would travel to Tight
St. to get painted. He Sergeant paints over 900 oil
paintings in his time and and some of the most famous names
turn up at at Tight Street. So one of the reasons Tight St's
(14:56):
popular is you can get to it quite easily, but it was also
quite cheap. And one of the other
attractions, interestingly enough, was that was the River
Thames. Turner at the end of his life a
little earlier actually kind of hides out as an old man in in
Chelsea because he just wants tobe by the Thames and he he loves
watching the colours change on the Thames.
(15:16):
Whistler was always drawn to theto the Thames as well.
You can go into the Tate Britainand see a wonderful painting of
what was the old Bassie Bridge when Bassie Bridge was was a
wooden bridge. And actually if you go to Bassie
Bridge now, there's a painting of Turner standing there by
Bassie Bridge, easel in hand. And then it, just as you said it
got there was a domino effect. There was it it was known as a
(15:39):
bohemian area and it was where people of a bohemian kind of
background went to. There's a lovely story and that
kind of lasts into the post war period in into the 1950s.
There's a lovely story of of somebody saying, you know.
The thing about Chelsea is, you know, I can leave my front door
in my dressing gown and wander, and I know I've left Chelsea.
(16:02):
When people start looking at me strangely when I'm in my
dressing gown, it was just that kind of bohemian, relaxed kind
of atmosphere. You mentioned some of the big
artistic names associated with Tight St., and what impact did
they have on the street's reputation?
The the reputation of Tight St. was very much like a bohemian.
(16:23):
Area to hang out so and people like a bit like Mamarta in
Paris. Yes, exactly, exactly.
And and in fact, people would often come from Paris.
So Whistler initially started his career in Paris.
Sargent actually comes to Tide St. having to having had to flee
Paris because he does this infamous painting of this young
(16:46):
society Lady Madame X. It's called.
And it's so scandalous that he has to basically flee Paris and
another American Henry James thethe writer basically convinces
him that Chelsea is the place tobe and where you can hang out.
But it was also interesting. You know the the you had a
(17:07):
certain degree of respectabilityaround it.
You know you couldn't be completely bohemian because you
were you were selling your your paintings to the.
To the to the wealthy. But there was always this
tension with say the Royal Academy.
People like Whistlow steadfastlyrefused to be to join the Royal
Academy. You know he just he just saw
them as old duffers that had nothing to do with him.
(17:30):
So yeah it it was a wonderful artistic melee of people.
I think you can write a whole kind of book and thesis on on
whistlers approach to women. There was a lot of.
There was a lot of affairs goingon, a lot of general, you know,
kind of activity that wouldn't be seen as particularly
(17:53):
respectable by Victorians and perhaps the the distance from
the West End was advantageous aswell.
You could get away with a few things that you might not have
been able to in the West End, yes.
Indeed, indeed. You can get away with stuff in
Chelsea that you couldn't get away with in in in Saint
James's. Probably yes, exactly.
And how is the architecture of Tite St. evolved over time?
(18:17):
Are there any buildings of particular historical or
architectural importance that have managed to survive the
1960s The? Architecture there is
surprisingly well kept. You can stand there and you can
look up at these buildings and you just see these enormous
windows and you can see that they were were very much
(18:38):
designed as artist studios. And there's some which are kind
of layered on on top of each other in terms of the actual
studios. You can see a number of floors
where you've just got these great big open glass windows
that have have survived amazingly well over the over the
time. I don't think there are artists
studios anymore, sadly. Famously, though, right until
(19:03):
the 1990s, actually in the house.
Where Sargent did so many of hispaintings, there were two
people. In 1994 there were two people
coming and arriving at 30 tight St. being painted by the
(19:24):
American artist Nelson Shanks. One where he where he was
painting a painting of Princess Diana.
And that was apparently, you know, quite relaxed and you know
he was. He was.
He was. He was doing a Commission for
for that and the other one, he was commissioned by the by the
National Portrait Gallery to do a painting of Margaret Thatcher,
(19:45):
which apparently was a she was, unsurprisingly enough, a very
different type of sitter. She would sit there, ramrod and
straight, and even when he went to like.
Clean his brushes or have a cup of tea, she would virtually not
move. So yes, it's amazing the the
continuity that has been seen through there from you know
these these paintings taking place in the in the mid 90s in
(20:08):
the exact same studio that John Singer Sargent was, was was
painting. See that?
That is kind of what I love about the street is you can you
can imagine the history there because you can see the houses.
And there's a wonderful book written just about Tite St.
It's called The Street of Wonderful Possibilities by this
(20:31):
American writer called Devon Cox.
And the title of The Street of Wonderful Possibilities comes
from the fact that Oscar Wilde, who lived on the street, was
kind of sitting in his in his window, looking at, sitting in
his library at the front of his house, looking out of his
window. And suddenly a carriage comes
along Tite St. And then the amazing actress
(20:52):
Elaine Terry steps out of this carriage in full costume of Lady
of Lady Macbeth. She's wearing this amazing
costume. She's got kind of a wig, an
orbit wig that goes down to our ankles.
And she just steps out and walksinto Sargent's studio.
And he just says, you know, the this vision to to see Lady
(21:14):
Macbeth stepping out of the carriage, you know, in in Tide
St. this is the street of wonderful possibilities.
And if you want to see that painting of Elaine Terry, it
does, actually, it's now in the National Portrait Gallery and it
is quite, quite stunning. Oscar Wilde is one of Tide St's
most famous former residents. How did his life and works
(21:38):
interact with the local community during his time there?
Well, Tight St. was kind of central to the Oscar Wilde story
Tide St. Oscar Wilde moves to Tight St.
initially as a bachelor after heleaves Oxford, although he has
an enormous row with his with his house mate.
(21:59):
And there's a famous story how he he storms out, having thrown
a an enormous suitcase from the top floor down the stairs, which
then crashes onto a table, destroying it.
And then he he stalls out, but he returns to Tide St.
interesting enough as a married man, as a happily married man
with Constance, his wife. He has two sons there and in
(22:23):
many ways it's it's a it's a it's an odd story because at
that stage he he's living at on on Tide Street with his two
sons. He gets up every morning or well
twice a week, gets up, walks to Sloane Square, gets the tube and
then oddly enough, edits of Women's Magazine.
He's the editor of Ladies World and Woman's World for a number
(22:46):
of months while he's living there.
But that doesn't go so go so well.
Him and the editor don't really get on, but but if you go,
there's a blue plaque to Oscar Wilde on Tight St.
And when you stand there, that'swhere you get the sense of
history because that blue plaqueis is next to the library.
And then that is the room where he basically over 10 years, he
(23:08):
wrote The Happy Prince in 1888, Dorian Gray 1891, and Lady well,
Lady Wyndham is Fan 1892. Then we have the ideal husband
and then finally the importance of being Ernest 1895.
And just to think, all on tight.Street all amazing.
Admittedly, some of those were may have been written in hotels,
(23:30):
but certainly towards the end when in when the marriage with
Constance wasn't going so well, shall we say.
But yes, no, a lot of the the that was written in that room
and that's an amazing sense of history from standing there.
But of course, that is where thesight of Oscar Wilde's downfall
was as well, because that is where and you can do, and this
(23:54):
is the amazing thing. You stand out there and you can
see the doorway, the room. And that is where the famously
the Marquis of Queensbury in 1894 barges in through the park
through past his his, his Butlerand storms in and confronts
Oscar Wilde in his in his library in that front room and
(24:18):
accuses him of having an affair with his son Bosey.
And and and again that that is what happened.
You know right there it's one ofthose places where you think you
know this is this is where it happened.
This is where the history was. It's kind of one of those times
where you you know it's you knowwhat it's like being a a tour
guide where you can say something to a guest and they
(24:40):
just kind of their breath goes in and they think wow that that
that was here and that's the amazing thing about about Tide
Street is is that history with Oscar and again it's you know we
we know the story Oscar Wilde takes the Marcus of Greensbury
to libel and the libel fails andthen we get the two other court
(25:00):
cases that the least the lies ofOscar Wilde and and again he
he's he's now by that stage leftTide St.
Constance and the two sons move move out and it's very tragic.
I mean Constance dies before Oscar Wilde does.
You know it's it's it's all a very a tragic story but you know
(25:23):
that that is where they they they lived and grew up and it's
interesting the two sons, there's a behind tight St.
There's a tiny little kind of it's not quite a muse but it
feels like it could be a muse called Paradise Walk and that's
a very dark name because a Paradise Walk was actually one
of the poorest areas of of Chelsea.
(25:43):
It was very much a slum and it'sinteresting that the the Oscar
wild boys would would go from Tide St. and literally walk 2
minutes around the corner and give food parcels to the poor
people or of of Paradise Walk. To a degree they got too famous
because the the poor of of Paradise walk would then return
(26:04):
the favour and walk back round and and knock on Oscar Wilde's
door and and Pester Constance for for food and and and money
as well. So it was an interesting mixture
of people that lived there. Now, of course, to to buy
anything on on on Paradise Walk,you'll need to be a millionaire.
But it's funny how things change.
Keep on at. Those walking tall, Stephen,
(26:24):
you'll get there. Well, I I think my main house
I'd like to buy in Chelsea is the one that overlooks the the,
the physic garden. I must admit, I stand and look
at that gorgeous house and the view of the of the Chelsea
Physic Garden. I think.
Yeah, that that's probably the one I'd like.
Could you? Discuss the social 9 Damics of
Tite St. during the late 19th and early 20th century.
(26:48):
Was it considered a fashionable location and if So, what were
the contributing factors? Chelsea never really at that
stage. I mean, it didn't have the size
of houses that you'd see in Belgravia, so it was never a
place where Marquis's would hangout.
(27:08):
The the houses were generally smaller and there were a lot of
flats developed in the area as well.
A lot of, you know, very nice flats, but they were flats.
And So what you got was maybe the sums of famous people moving
there or the sons of barons and and and and people there.
I mean, interesting to my mind, one of the one of the famous
(27:30):
people that kind of intersects my interests is, is somebody
called John Collier, who was a painter there and he was the son
of a very wealthy. Yes.
He basically was, you know, one of these people that ends up
running half the empire kind of people.
And John Collier is a painter and he moves there.
Interesting enough, he marries somebody who's the the daughter
(27:54):
of Thomas Huxley. Thomas Huxley was one of Charles
Darwin's greatest advocates and they married in 1879 and they
lived there again on Tite Street.
But Marian the the the daughter sadly gets into post Natal
(28:14):
depression after they have theirfirst daughter and then and then
it's it's very tragic she dies in 1887 having lived there.
But what I find then is interesting about John Collier.
He he's then asked by the Linnaean society to go and paint
Darwin in 1881 and if you know that that amazing painting in
(28:39):
the National Portrait Gallery the elderly Darwin standing
there withholding his hat staring out at you that was John
Collier who did who painted thathe didn't paint it in tide St.
Darwin famously was was recluse so he had to go down to down
house to paint him but just thatintersection of people who who
who lived there and and and the way they related to the rest of
(29:02):
kind of what was happening in inin London the times fascinating
are there. Any lesser known figures who
resided on tide, St., whose contributions to.
History or culture may have beenoverlooked.
Oh, there's so many different people there.
There's there's there's a plaqueto somebody called Lord Haddon
(29:22):
Guest who he was a he was a Labour politician.
He was a a doctor and famously organised the evacuation of
school children from London. So people like that there was
somebody called Peter Warlock who was a composer who was as a
(29:44):
plaque there. If you're into kind of early
medieval music he was one of thepeople in the kind of Edwardian
period who kind of codified that.
Interesting enough Peter Warlockdidn't really not most famous
for living on Tide St. most famous were actually dying on
Tide St. he get he gassed himself sadly.
(30:06):
Actually where that blue plaque is there is the is the room
where he turned on the oven and gassed himself with coal gas.
So there's tragic stories there as well.
And and you know, there there's also some famous female artists
as well there, an American artist called Anne Lee Marriott
(30:27):
live there and you, I mean you recognize some of the paintings
and she was, she lived there again.
I think there's a whole interesting story about female
artists and also the female kindof muses and mistresses slash
(30:47):
models that lived on this area, which is another fascinating
year. Yeah, people like Whistler were
not great in terms of how they treated the parents of their own
children as well, but that's a that's a whole other story.
And what role did tight St. playduring significant historical
periods like the World Wars? Were there any notable incidents
(31:10):
or activities that occurred there?
Not so much in tight suit. What I find fascinating about
Chelsea that if we just step back a bit to the wider Chelsea
is it was a nest of spies. There were so many spies, both
fictional and real, who lived inin Chelsea in the Chelsea area.
(31:32):
I think the two kind of outstanding ones in terms of
fictional spies, there's a there's a spot on on the Kings
Rd. where you can add behind a view basically the square where
James Bond lived. So if you if you read the Bond
novelty Lee you know they he just they describe a square just
(31:52):
off off the Kings Rd. where likeI say James Bond probably lived
because it sounds a lot like this square.
But then directly opposite that on the other side of the Kings
Rd. is where Jean Le Carriere makes the home for George Smiley
as well. And you can actually go and go
(32:14):
and have a look at the house which you know George Smiley you
know lives in and actually if you look at some of the old BBC
programmes they actually film itoutside that house as well.
So you know, it is fascinating the the, the history there and
but in real life during the Second World War there were
(32:37):
yeah, definitely real spies, real safe houses being used all
during that period. One of the other things during
the Second World War is that it was known as bombers Alley
basically. So a lot of the V1 and V2
rocket, but they would generallyfly over Chelsea into into town.
(32:57):
And there's a number of of sitesacross Chelsea where V1 rockets
landed and part of the tour we visit one of those sites which
wiped out very sadly, a large number of American servicemen.
And yeah, and a couple of times if you know the the Chelsea
Hospital where the Chelsea Pensioners reside, which is
(33:19):
literally 5 minutes walk away from Tite St. that was bombed
not just during the Second WorldWar but it also got hit during
the First World War as well. It blew up the they had a
brewery in the cellar and sadly it blew up the brewery for the
for the for the Chelsea Pensioners during the First
World War. Don't worry, they still got a
bar there. And I I've been lucky enough to
(33:40):
visit the bar and they do actually have a nice pint called
the Chelsea Pensioner. A nice pint of bitter there and
for our listeners. Could you remind us of what this
tight St. book is called, please?
Yes, of course. It's called the The Street of
Wonderful Possibilities. It's Whistler Wild and Sergeant
in Tight St. and it's done by this writer historian, an
(34:00):
academic. I think he's an academic at
Oxford as well, called Devon andCox.
And yeah, just a great book because it just explained.
It gives you a real. You can sense his enthusiasm and
it gives you a real sense of of what it must have been like in
tight street from the kind of the, you know, the the late
(34:21):
1860s through to the to the beginning of the 20th century
when Sergeant Sergeant was there, and just how it would
have been filled with famous andnot so famous artists coming in
and in and out. Interesting enough.
Just round the corner from Tide St. there is still the London
Sketch Club. And I had a guest with me on one
(34:44):
of my tours and I said, oh, I I'm not sure whether it's still
the London Sketch Club. I I tried to look into it and he
said, Oh yes, no, it still is the London Sketch Club.
I went to a 60th birthday party there.
It was wonderful. And so these, these places still
exist. I don't think there's that many
artists left. I think it's probably been taken
over by bankers and oligarchs nowadays, but it's interesting.
(35:08):
After the Second World War, the old London County Council, as
was, did try and preserve as many artist studios using the
planning system as they could inthat area.
They there were well over 60 artist studios in in Chelsea at
the end of the Second World War.I don't, I don't think there's
that many. The Chelsea Art College of
(35:28):
course, which was on the Kings Rd. that moved out not too far.
Thankfully. It's opposite.
Take Britain now it what was theheadquarters of the Royal?
Well, it was the IT was the headquarters for the Royal
Medical Corps building, which isjust next door to Tate Britain.
So. But that was the Chelsea Art
(35:50):
College that used to be on the Kings Road.
And I'm, you know, I'm old enough to remember when there's
a really good art shop on the Kings Rd. but that that now has
sadly gone as well. But there is still, of course,
the Chelsea Art Club towards theFulham Rd., which still is
famous for its raucous New Year's Eve parties, and so there
(36:10):
must be some some artists still living around the area.
Fabulous. Thank you Stephen for that.
That was brilliant. Thank you.
It's been a joy. It really is.
I mean no I mean Tide St. it really is just such a
fascinating area and with all these kind of places that the
challenge that as you know Hazelwith our tours I always say this
(36:33):
you know this is an hour and a half tour.
It could easily be a four hour tour.
There is just so much that that you could you could say about
this area. We haven't even touched on the
on the other aspects of the of Hans Sloane and and The Tudors
in that area as well. So yeah, no fascinating area.
So if you've enjoyed this episode with Stephen then maybe
(36:54):
you'll enjoy his Chelsea WalkingTall public tours and also
private tours available. And if you want to listen to a
little bit more from Stephen, then I invite you to listen to
episode 46, Bear the Bard and historic Buildings of Bankside,
where he talks all about the wonderful history surrounding
(37:16):
Southwark Cathedral and Globe Theatre, Chaucer, Dickens and
Shakespeare thrown into the. And of course, that supports his
Southwark walking tour as well. That's all for now.
Until next time.
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