56 Old Church Street

56 Old Church Street, early 20th century.

The Old Rectory, 56 Old Church Street is a grade II listed house in Old Church Street, Chelsea, London, with the largest private garden of any house in London apart from Buckingham Palace.

House and gardens

56 Old Church Street (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.[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] 1815's Battle of Waterloo was planned in the garden.[5]

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

Twentieth century and later

In 1990, it was bought by the Greek shipping magnate Theodore Angelopoulos, and was for many years London's largest and most expensive residential property.[7] In 1994, it was refurbished over a period of three years 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] Two "huge wings" were added, with ten bedroom suites and a "massive ballroom".[8] It was being marketed at around £35 million, and they were also developing the next-door 56 Old Church Street.[3] In February 1995, it sold for £22 million to "a Greek family for use as their principal residence", the most expensive property sale in the UK that year.[9] It had "a safe the size of the average living room."[9]

In 2001/02, the Cypriot-Norwegian shipping magnate John Fredriksen bought the property for about £38-40 million.[8][5][10] In 2004, it was reported in The Evening Standard that Roman Abramovich had offered £90 and then £100 million for the 30,000 square feet house, although it was unclear whether it was actually for sale.[8] In 2012, The Washington Post reckoned the property was "worth US$172 million".[10] In 2015, The Tatler included the Old Rectory in their list of "The best private ballrooms".[11]

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
  • 1860–?, A. Gerald W. Blunt MA, son of Henry Blunt
  • The Ven. Archdeacon Bevan

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. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  4. 1 2 "St Luke's - St Lukes and Christ Church". www.chelseaparish.org. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  5. 1 2 Chazan, Guy. "Billionaire Cashes In On Offshore Oil Rush". wsj.com. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  6. ↑ "Blunt, Henry (1794–1843), Church of England clergyman and writer - Oxford Dictionary of National Biography". oxforddnb.com. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-2719. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  7. ↑ Kollewe, Julia; Neate, Rupert (1 June 2012). "London property offers stable investment for wealthy Europeans". the Guardian. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  8. 1 2 3 "Chelsea chief eyes £100m house". standard.co.uk. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  9. 1 2 "A place on Millionaires' Row". independent.co.uk. 23 December 1995. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  10. 1 2 Robinson, Edward; Bockmann, Michelle Wiese (22 September 2012). "Shipping magnate John Fredriksen sticks to his 'gut feeling': Invest". Retrieved 14 March 2018 – via www.washingtonpost.com.
  11. ↑ "The best private ballrooms". tatler.com. Retrieved 14 March 2018.

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

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