London - Walking tour - Fashionable Village Chelsea

London - Walking tour - Fashionable Village Chelsea

London - Walking tour - Fashionable Village Chelsea

event Thursday, May 19, 2022 schedule 6.00pm BST
event Thursday, May 19, 2022 schedule 6.00pm BST
  • Chelsea houses
Hoasted by the Cambridge Society of London
Open to: 
Alumni and guests
Location: 
in the pedestrianised centre of Sloane Square | View details

The Cambridge Society of London is excited to invite you, and your guests to their Walking Tour of Fashionable Village Chelsea.

Chelsea’s history goes back to the Tudors when Henry VIII and Sir Thomas More, his Lord Chancellor, owned manor houses in beautiful countryside bordering the river Thames. In the 17th century, Charles II built a road through the area, the King’s Road, and founded the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, for old, sick, and injured soldiers. Hans Sloane, physician, naturalist, and collector, left his mark in the 18th century and his legacy survives today in place names and unique gardens. Artists, writers, and philosophers flocked to bohemian Chelsea in the 19th century and by the 1960s it was at the centre of “Swinging London” and THE place to come to buy a mini skirt. Today the annual Chelsea Flower Show is a must for any gardener.

This walking tour of Chelsea concentrates on the fashionable shopping and residential areas, starting at Sloane Square with Peter Jones, the world’s largest workers’ co-operative! We will then explore some of the distinctive architecture of the Cadogan estate (which owns much of Chelsea) before strolling down the vibrant King’s Road. We’ll learn about its evolution from private royal road to a shopping icon. Along the way, we’ll meet some of the people who have called Chelsea home, including John Barry, PL Travers who wrote Mary Poppins, fictional spies James Bond and George Smiley, Vivien Leigh, and Bram Stoker. We’ll enjoy its gorgeous architecture, especially its rainbow coloured homes. We finish with the iconic Royal Hospital Chelsea, originally designed by Christopher Wren, home to the Chelsea Pensioners.

Note: this tour covers a different area to the tour Caroline gave the Society in 2021 which concentrated on riverside Chelsea

  • Meet time: at 17:45 for a prompt start at 18:00
  • Meet place: in the pedestrianised centre of Sloane Square, London, SW1W 8BB
  • End: approx 20:00 at the Royal Hospital Chelsea (from here it is a short walk back to Sloane Square tube)
  • Post-tour drinks: Caroline will not be booking a table for post-tour drinks, but there is a pub near the end of the tour that she can recommend

About Your Guide

Caroline Piper is a Downing College history graduate (1997) and a London Blue Badge Tourist Guide, the highest guiding qualification available. She is passionate about history, literature, architecture, films, and finding the “off the beaten track” London gems. You can find out more about her on her Piper Tours website where you can also find links to her Tripadvisor page, Facebook page and memberships of professional guiding bodies. She has led regular tours for the Society for 5 years.

Booking information

This is a ticketed event, to purchase your tickets please, book online using the link below. 

Price: 
£12.50 - £13 per person

Location

in the pedestrianised centre of Sloane Square London
SW1W 8BB
United Kingdom
Location: