A picture of the 56 Old Church Street

The Old Rectory is a grade II listed house in Old Church Street, Chelsea, London.

House and gardens

The Old Rectory (2016)

The current house mostly dates to about 1725, the early Georgian period, but the site itself was given by the Marquis of Winchester in 1566.[1] The Old Rectory has two acres of gardens, the largest private garden in London apart from Buckingham Palace and Witanhurst.[2][3]

Nineteenth century

56 Old Church Street (centre) on an 1868 Ordnance Survey map.

It was formerly home to the rector of Chelsea parish church, which was Chelsea Old Church, which dates from 1157, until the larger St Luke's Church, Chelsea was consecrated in 1824, when the rector from 1805 to 1832 was George Valerian Wellesley, brother of the Duke of Wellington.[2][4]

From 1824 to 1830, Henry Blunt was George Wellesley's curate, then became the first rector of Trinity Church in Sloane Street, but turned down the post of rector of St Luke's offered to him by Lord Cadogan.[5]

Other notable rectors have included Charles Kingsley Sr (rector from 1836 to 1860), father of Charles Kingsley author of The Water Babies, and Henry Blunt's son[6] Gerald Blunt, father of Chelsea historian Reginald Blunt.[2][4]

Twentieth century and later

From 1990 to 1994, it was refurbished under the supervision of the South African developers Collett and Champion (Anthony Collett and David Champion), with funding provided by the Japanese businessman, Norikazu Nemoto, with all three being directors of Toyoko Metropolitan Company (TMC).[3][7] Two "huge wings" were added, with ten bedroom suites and a "massive ballroom".[8] It was being marketed at around £25 million, and they were also developing the next-door 58 Old Church Street.[3] In February 1995, it sold for £22 million to Greek shipping magnate Theodore Angelopoulos, and was for many years London's largest and most expensive property sale in the UK.[9]

In 2001, Norwegian shipping magnate John Fredriksen bought the property for £37 million.[8][10][11] In 2004, it was reported in The Evening Standard that Roman Abramovich had offered £100 million for the 30,000 square feet house even though it was not for sale.[8] In 2012, The Washington Post reported the property was "worth US$172 million".[11] In 2015, The Tatler included the Old Rectory in their list of "The best private ballrooms".[12] Country Life reported the house discreetly listed in 2020.[13]

List of rectors

The rectory has had the following rectors since it has been at its present location:[1]

  • 1566, Robert Richardson
  • 1569/70–1574, John Churchman
  • 1574–1585, Thomas Browne STB
  • 1585–1615, Richard Ward
  • 1615–1632, George Hambden STP
  • 1632–1669, Samuel Wilkinson STP
  • 1669/70–1694, Adam Littleton DD
  • 1694–1732, John King DD. King found the Rectory in very poor repair and lived in another house in Church Street until 1703.[1]
  • 1732–1766, Sloane Elsmere
  • 1766–1770, Reginald Heber, father of Reginald Heber (1783-1826), Bishop of Calcutta
  • 1770–1775, Thomas Drake LLD
  • 1775–1797, William Bromley Cadogan, second son of Charles Cadogan, 1st Earl Cadogan
  • 1797–1805, Charles Sturgess
  • 1805–1832, Hon. G. V. Wellesley
  • 1832–1836, John William Lockwood MA
  • 1836–1860, Charles Kingsley MA

References

  1. 1 2 3 "The Rectory - British History Online". www.british-history.ac.uk. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 "Chelsea Walk - Old Church Street". www.rbkc.gov.uk. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  3. 1 2 3 "Property: In the hands of modern masters: Collett and Champion houses". independent.co.uk. 19 February 1994. Archived from the original on 15 March 2018. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  4. 1 2 "St Luke's - St Lukes and Christ Church". www.chelseaparish.org. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  5. ↑ "Blunt, Henry (1794–1843), Church of England clergyman and writer". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/2719. Retrieved 14 March 2018. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  6. ↑ "The Rectory | British History Online".
  7. ↑ "The Old Rectory - Collett Zarzycki". www.collett-zarzycki.com. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  8. 1 2 3 "Chelsea chief eyes £100m house". standard.co.uk. 13 April 2012. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  9. ↑ "A place on Millionaires' Row". independent.co.uk. 23 December 1995. Archived from the original on 7 July 2016. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  10. ↑ Chazan, Guy (2 April 2008). "Billionaire Cashes In On Offshore Oil Rush". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  11. 1 2 Robinson, Edward; Bockmann, Michelle Wiese (22 September 2012). "Shipping magnate John Fredriksen sticks to his 'gut feeling': Invest". The Washington Post. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  12. ↑ "The best private ballrooms". tatler.com. 5 November 2015. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  13. ↑ "Old Church Street, Chelsea SW3 8 bed detached house for sale". OnTheMarket. Retrieved 8 October 2020.

51°29′07″N 0°10′21″W / 51.4853°N 0.1724°W / 51.4853; -0.1724

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