Chelsea Old Church is almost 900 years old

Chelsea Old Church

Kensington & Hyde Park


This beautiful and original church stands behind a bronze monument to Thomas More (1477–1535), who had a close association with it. Original features of the largely rebuilt church (it was badly bombed in 1941) comprise more than 100 monuments dating from 1433 to 1957, including Thomas More (1532) and Henry James (1916). Don't miss the chained books at the western end of the southern aisle, the only ones of their kind in a London church.

The central tome is a 'Vinegar Bible' from 1717 (so-named after an erratum in Luke, chapter 20), alongside a Book of Common Prayer from 1723 and a 1683 copy of Homilies. Also look out for fragments of 17th-century Flemish stained glass, of exceptional clarity and artistry.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Kensington & Hyde Park attractions

1. Carlyle’s House

0.09 MILES

From 1834 until his death in 1881, the eminent Victorian essayist and historian Thomas Carlyle dwelt in this three-storey terrace house, bought by his…

2. Chelsea Physic Garden

0.39 MILES

You may bump into a wandering duck or two as you enter this walled pocket of botanical enchantment, established by the Apothecaries’ Society in 1673 for…

3. National Army Museum

0.51 MILES

This inventively redesigned museum vibrantly relates the history of the British Army, from the perspective of its servicemen and servicewomen. Reopening a…

4. Peace Pagoda

0.51 MILES

Erected in 1985 by a group of Japanese Buddhists to commemorate Hiroshima Day (6 August), the pagoda in Battersea Park displays the Buddha in the four…

5. King’s Road

0.57 MILES

At the counter-cultural forefront of London fashion during the technicolour '60s and anarchic '70s (Ian Fleming's fictional spy James Bond had a flat in a…

6. Battersea Park Children’s Zoo

0.57 MILES

The small Children’s Zoo in Battersea Park is full of animal magic for young zoologists and wildlife tykes. Consult the website for feeding times of…

7. Battersea Park

0.66 MILES

These 50 hectares of gorgeous greenery stretch along the riverside between Albert and Chelsea bridges, and trails leading to surprising hidden finds criss…

8. Royal Hospital Chelsea

0.67 MILES

Designed by Christopher Wren, this superb structure was built in 1692 to provide shelter for ex-servicemen. Since the reign of Charles II, it has housed…