Long-time London resident and avid museum and theatre-goer. I started this blog in 2014, and got serious about it in 2020 when I realised how much I missed arts and culture during lockdowns. I go to a lot more events than anyone would think is sensible, and love sharing my thoughts in the forms of reviews, the occasional thought piece, and travel recommendations when I leave my London HQ.
Along the Thames Part I: London Curiosities From Chelsea to Westminster
9 mins
An illustrated walk along the Thames from Chelsea to Westminster, exploring various London curiosities along the way.
Our guide on this walk is an old friend we haven’t seen for a while: Discovering London Curiosities by John Wittich, 1973.
Exploring Further Along the Thames: Chelsea to Westminster
Those of you who regularly read my blog posts will be getting well-acquainted with the Docklands and City of London by now. We have been on walks around Wapping, Rotherhithe, Greenwich, London’s Roman walls; followed the Walbrook and Neckinger Rivers, and so on. There is only so much exploring even I can do in the same area, however. So a recent cycle ride to the Chelsea Physic Garden offered the opportunity to walk part of the way back and see some new sights a little further afield. To accompany me, I chose John Wittich’s 1973 book Discovering London Curiosities. It’s a fun book, and I enjoy seeing what has changed or stayed the same since the 1970s. Today’s post follows the first half of an extremely long walk, ‘Along the River Thames’. I picked up the second half of the walk on a separate occasion, so that post will be coming soon.
This stretch of the river Thames is not one I am particularly familiar with. I have spent plenty of time at Tate Britain or passing through Westminster. But when I walk along the river it tends to be closer to home, or around the Southbank. I haven’t had much call to go to Chelsea, and to be honest the river walk is not at its most beautiful here. It’s not leafy and green, or bedecked with historic warehouses. There has been a lot of development, and the Chelsea Embankment is a fairly major traffic artery in and out of London to the West. Wittich’s book helps us to find the historic oddities amongst it all. It’s a great way to learn those strange facts about London that I still love so much after more than a decade living here.
Along the Thames: Physic Gardens and Pleasure Gardens
The first stop on our walk is the Chelsea Physic Garden. I recently wrote a full blog post on it with lots more info; in a nutshell it was founded in 1673 by the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries, and is London’s oldest botanic garden. In 1973 when our book was written the Chelsea Physic Garden was closed to the public – it only opened in 1983 when it became a registered charity. So we are luckier than John Wittich in being able to explore it fully!
The streets around the Physic Garden have lots of lovely homes to admire. Like these, which are presumably former mews buildings.
Across the Chelsea Embankment and the river, we can just spot the pagoda in Battersea Park. Battersea Park opened in 1858. Our book tells us this is the first place in England that we know asparagus was cultivated. To be honest I didn’t know it was such a recent import that this would have been recorded! In 1951 the Festival of Britain set up an outpost here with a pleasure garden and funfair. There’s a very extensive blog post here where you can read more. The funfair and gardens were maintained in some format right up until the writing of our guidebook; they closed in 1974 due to low visitor numbers, just a year after Wittich’s book.
Along the Thames: Royal Chelsea Hospital to Grosvenor Canal
Next up is the Royal Chelsea Hospital. Charles II founded it in the 17th Century at Nell Gwyn’s instigation. As it was back then, it is a place of retirement for former soldiers, or Chelsea Pensioners. Our book says it is open to visitors daily – I’m not sure what is currently open in non Covid times, but it’s just the grounds for now. The Duke of Wellington lay in state here, and there is a statue of Charles II which the book says is decked in ivy once a year to commemorate his escape from the Battle of Worcester in 1651, when he hid in an oak tree.
Through those trees is Ranelagh Gardens, another former pleasure gardens. The gardens were very popular in the 18th Century, with daily musical performances. They closed in 1805, and became part of the gardens of the Royal Chelsea Hospital.
Somewhere just along here is where the river Westbourne flows into the Thames. I hope to do a post in future following the path of this lost river from Hampstead down to here.
Victoria Station stands on piles above the former Grosvenor Canal, the entrance to which we see here. It was still in use when Wittich wrote his book; until 1995 refuse barges took their loads out of the city from here. This makes it London’s latest commercially operating canal.
Along the Thames: Battersea Power Station to Vauxhall Bridge
A glimpse now of Battersea Power Station across the river. It is continuing the multi-year process of becoming luxury flats, presumably further slowed down by Covid after overruns and a lack of buyers. It isn’t mentioned in our guidebook as it was still a working power station at that point. Decommissioning took place between 1975 and 1983. It is one of the world’s largest brick buildings, and has a great Art Deco look.
Dolphin Square, just a little further on, is an impressive edifice. At least in 1973, it was ‘one of the largest self-contained blocks of its kind in Europe’. We snuck through to look at the central courtyard – there are over 1,000 flats in there!
A blend of old and new architectural styles on the approach to Vauxhall Bridge.
Vauxhall Bridge is not particularly scenic but it is historic. This version dates to 1906 and was the first to carry trams over the Thames.
Along the Thames: Tate Britain to ICI House
A quick stop at Tate Britain, formerly the site of Millbank Penitentiary. From this spot, many prisoners bid farewell to England from ships headed to prison colonies abroad. The bright colours you can see on the neoclassical façade are a Tate winter commission from artist Chila Kumari Singh Burman. Entitled remembering a brave new world, the finishing date was extended through the gallery’s closure, helping us through the long winter of lockdown. It has since been taken down, so please don’t make a trip to see it!
The pineapples adorning Lambeth Bridge (1929-32) are a nod to John Tradescant the Younger, son of the famous gardener and proto-museologist. Tradescant was the first to cultivate the pineapple in England. He is buried in St Mary’s over the river, now the Garden Museum.
A view of Lambeth Palace , with St Mary’s Lambeth (the Garden Museum) just to the right. When our guidebook was written, St Mary’s had just ceased to be a working church. The last service was in 1972, and the museum was founded in 1977. Lambeth Palace is the London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and has been for many centuries.
I don’t know that I would have noticed the former Imperial Chemical House beneath the scaffolding, if it were not for the guidebook. Imperial Chemical Industries built this and another nearby building between 1929 and 1931. The reliefs on the doors depict man’s development from primitive to modern. Possibly not a very ‘woke’ theme these days, but interesting to see.
Along the Thames: St John’s Church and Victoria Tower Gardens, Westminster
St John’s Church on Smith Square is another former church. Today it is a classical music venue, as it already was in the 1970s judging from our guidebook. The story about this church is that, to demonstrate what she wanted the church to look like, Queen Anne kicked over a footstool. Hence the four towers, which do look a little unusual. Dickens described it as ‘like a petrified monster, frightful and gigantic on its back with its legs in the air.’ In fact, the towers help to keep the church from sinking into marshy ground beneath.
Here we are in Victoria Tower Gardens, with a good view of the Houses of Parliament. This is a welcome green space in the heart of the city.
One of the monuments in Victoria Tower Gardens is the Buxton Memorial Fountain. It is not immediately apparent, but the fountain commemorates Thomas Buxton, leader of the abolitionist movement. That is high Victorian Gothic right there!
The two other monuments in the Garden are Rodin’s Burghers of Calaisand this statue of Emmeline Pankhurst, complete with Suffragette ribbons. The former is one of four casts made by Rodin, who travelled to London to advise on its placement. The memorial to Emmeline Pankhurst dates to 1930.
Along the Thames: Jewel Tower to Westminster Bridge
Nobody quite knows the origins of the Jewel Tower next to Westminster Abbey. But calling it a Jewel Tower sounds nice. It may have been a monastic prison or storage for the crown jewels before coronations. It is normally open as a visitor attraction.
And here is Westminster Abbey itself. In the 1970s it seems it housed a waxworks museum. The church and surrounding lands were part of a Benedictine monastery until its dissolution in 1539. All royal coronations have happened here since William the Conqueror in 1066.
Next to Westminster Abbey, St Margaret’s Church almost goes unnoticed. Sir Walter Raleigh was buried here after his execution.
We round the other end of the Houses of Parliament as we head towards Westminster Bridge. It’s been years since we saw Big Ben (properly the Elizabeth Tower) without scaffolding!
A statue of Queen Boudicca adorns one corner of Westminster Bridge. Boudicca was leader of the Celtic Iceni tribe, and led a failed uprising against the Romans. Legend has it she is buried under King’s Cross Station, but this is unlikely. The sculpture is by Thomas Thornycroft.
And now to finish on a definite London curiosity. This copper structure on the steps from Westminster Bridge, according to my guidebook, contains a device for measuring the height of the tides. I can’t tell you how many times I have passed it by without really noticing it. Thanks John Wittich for pointing all of these things out!
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4 thoughts on “Along the Thames Part I: London Curiosities From Chelsea to Westminster”
4 thoughts on “Along the Thames Part I: London Curiosities From Chelsea to Westminster”