This is the first in a series of posts, featuring old postcards of Chelsea, together with the same view today, and a brief description of each.
Kings Road
Sloane Square
Named after Sir Hans Sloane the Square was created in 1830ʼs as a village green surrounded by posts and chains where boys played cricket. Originally it was a crossing point of the River Westbourne, referred to as bloody bridge. In 1748 four gentlemen were attacked by highwaymen near the bridge. The area to the east, known as Five Fields and now Belgravia and Pimlico, was a robber infested swamp.
The River now passes over the platform of Sloane Square station in a large, very visible, pipe. The Square and surrounding area was extensiveley redeveloped following the falling in of leases in 1887; “delapidated and worn out properties principally occupied by the working classes were replaced by mansions and residential flats of a high class character” Estate Gazette 1904. The Beatles stayed at the Royal Court Hotel in 1962 prior to their first national TV show “Thank Your Lucky Stars”.
