Churches
Finding Sanctuary
Chelsea and King's Road has more than its fair share of beautiful sacred spaces. No matter where you are on the mile long journey from Sloane Square to World's End you are never more than a few yards from a quiet space to catch your breath. The churches here range from the historic, the magnificent to the simple neighbourhood. Each one has its own distinctive ambience and offers its own stylish retreat. Nowadays with all the uncertainty there is tremendous comfort from being cocooned in a place that has stood the test of time. Whether you have a faith or are just in search of some peace and quiet - these spaces will speak to you in ways that no-one else can. Reflection always brings new sight.
Enjoy a walking tour of the historic churches in Chelsea…the walk takes approximately 2 hours. Click here to see the Google Map directions.
Holy Trinity, Sloane Square
Built in 1888 and known as the Arts and Crafts church. The poet John Betjeman was a great advocate for the rebuilding of the church by 5th Earl Cadogan.
holytrinitysloanesquare.com
Chelsea Old Church
The site of a church for centuries.
Sir Thomas More lived near and worshipped here in around 1520s using the river to go to Hampton Court and Westminster on state business.
chelseaoldchurch.org.uk
Moravian Church
The Fetter Lane Congregation of the Moravian Church was founded in 1742 by members of the Church who had come to London in search of passage to the British colonies in the Caribbean in order to take the Gospel to the slave communities.
St Luke's Church
The church where Charles Dickens married Catherine Hogarth in 1836. Far younger than Chelsea Old Church on the riverside it was consecrated in 1824. A Gothic Revival church.
chelseaparish.org
Christ Church
Consecrated on 26th June 1839. It was originally a ‘Chapel of Ease’ to the parish church of St Luke’s, Sydney Street, but was given its own parish in 1860.
St Andrew's
The first building on the site, built in 1718, was simple. It was only one storey with a small turret on the roof containing a single bell. This simple building was called Park Chapel. It was built by Sir Richard Manningham, a local landowner, to serve the growing population living in the neighbouring village of Little Chelsea.
St John's, Chelsea
For those who don't go to church this space offers a community spirit and generous welcome to all.
The Wren Chapel
The painting of the Resurrection in the half dome of the apse is by Sebastiano Ricci, assisted by his nephew Marco, and dates from 1714.
Saint Thomas More
In 1892, Canon Cornelius Keens, known as “the church builder”, obtained permission from the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster, Herbert Vaughan, to found a new parish in the central, older part of Chelsea, in territory taken from St. Mary’s Cadogan Street, the “Mother Church”. holyredeemerchelsea.org.uk
Methodist Church
Methodists first started meeting in Chelsea in a local woman's house in John Wesley's time. He preached several times to them. As numbers grew they rented a room, then a suite of rooms in the Ranelagh Pleasure Gardens (now part of the Royal Hospital grounds).