THE ROYAL HOSPITAL AND RANELAGH GARDENS.
Chelsea College originally stood on the site of the present Royal
Hospital, and was founded by Matthew Sutcliffe, Dean of Exeter in 1610,
as a school for polemical discussion. It was nicknamed by Laud
"Controversy College." King James I. called it after himself, and gave
all the timber required for building purposes from Windsor Forest free of
charge, and, according to the manner of Princes in those days, issued
royal letters inciting his subjects to contribute to his own scheme.
Sutcliffe spent L3,000 on the portion of the building which was
completed. The original intention was to have two large quadrangles
ornamented by towers and cloisters, but only one eighth of this was ever
completed--one side only of the first quadrangle, "which," remarks
Fuller, "made not of free stone, though of free timber, cost--oh the
dearness of church and college work!--full three thousand pounds!"
An Act of Parliament, secured by the King as an endowment for the
college, empowered the authorities to raise water from the Hackney
Marshes to supply the City of London; but this was rendered useless by
the success of Sir Hugh Middleton's scheme for supplying London with
water in the same year. The constitution of the college included a
Provost and twenty Fellows, of whom eighteen were to be in Holy Orders.
Dean Sutcliffe himself was the first Provost. In 1616 the building
stopped altogether for want of funds.
The King issued a letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury exhorting him to
stir up the clergy to incite the people to contribute. This had little
effect. Probably collections then going on for repairs at St. Paul's
militated against it. Sutcliffe died in 1628, leaving to the College four
farms in Devonshire, the benefit of an extent on Sir Lewis Stukeley's
estate, valued at between three and four thousand pounds, a share in the
_Great Neptune_ (a ship at Whitby), a tenement at Stoke Rivers, his books
and goods in the College, and part of his library at Exeter, all subject
to the proviso "that the work of the college be not hindered."
In 1669 the King presented the buildings to the newly-incorporated Royal
Society, but they were in such a ruinous condition that the society could
make no use of them, and after thirteen years resold the site to Sir
Stephen Fox, for the use of the King. The buildings were then destroyed
to make way for the present Royal Hospital.
THE ROYAL HOSPITAL.
The solid and yet harmonious building designed by Sir Christopher Wren is
the nucleus of Chelsea. Indeed, the inhabitants locally call the hospital
itself "Chelsea." In all prints later than the end of the seventeenth
century the central cupola rising above the two great wings forms a
conspicuous landmark. In the days of William and Mary the gardens sloping
down to the Thames were laid out in the stiff, formal Dutch style.
Canals, in the shape of a capital L, with the foot reaching to the river,
intersected prim gardens, and rows of little limes, pollarded like
willows, edged the banks. It was only in 1852 that these canals were
finally filled in, and the limes transplanted in the avenue bordering
Ranelagh Gardens, where they still flourish. The Court favourite of
Charles II., Nell Gwynne, whose name is strongly associated with Chelsea,
is said to have suggested the idea of this home for aged and infirm
soldiers. Evelyn evidently considers the merit to belong to Sir Stephen
Fox, who certainly was a great benefactor. It has been suggested that
the latter persuaded the favourite to use her influence with the King,
which seems probable. The idea, at all events, commended itself to
Charles, who accordingly set about getting his subjects' money to carry
it out. He gave L6,787 odd from unsupplied secret service money. To this,
Tobias Rustat, an under-keeper of the Royal Palace of Hampton Court, and
yeoman of the robes to Charles II., described by Evelyn as "page of the
back stairs, a very simple, ignorant, but honest and loyal creature,"
contributed L1,000. However simple this man was, his simplicity
manifested itself in a commendable direction. He is said to have given
away his whole fortune in charity. It is to him we owe the statue of
Charles II. in Roman dress which stands in the centre of the Hospital
court. This statue is made of bronze, and there is a companion one of
James II., a gift from the same benefactor, in Whitehall. Walpole
attributes one of these to Grinling Gibbons, but which one is uncertain.
Sir Stephen Fox had been faithful to King Charles II. during his exile,
and at the Restoration he received the reward of his services. He sat in
the House of Commons from then until his death, twice representing
Westminster. He was made Paymaster-General of the Forces and one of the
Lords of the Treasury. He seems to have been an active-minded man, with
considerable business propensity. He devised a scheme for paying the
troops out of his private purse, and levying a certain percentage on them
for the convenience. As the pay of the army was much in arrears, and at
all times irregular, this arrangement was thankfully accepted. The King
saw in it the germ of an idea by which he might raise money for the
Hospital. Accordingly, in 1683 he directed by letters of Privy Seal that
one third of the money raised by imposing a poundage on the troops should
go to the Hospital. He also added a clause to the effect that this was to
be retrospective, to take effect from 1681. Hence the first haul amounted
to over L20,000. Emboldened by success, Charles in the following year
added to his demands one day's pay from every man in the army.
But the building of the Hospital was more expensive than he had
anticipated. It cost altogether L150,000, and when finished it would need
an endowment. Charles had, therefore, recourse to the Stuart device of
stirring up the people to give, by means of letters to the clergy, but
without result, and in 1686 he directed that two-thirds of the army
poundage should go to the continuance of the building, and finally that
the whole should be devoted to this purpose after deductions for
necessary expenses.
James II. carried on the design of his predecessor during his short
reign, but the building was not completed until 1694, under William and
Mary. Sir Stephen Fox became chairman of the first Board of
Commissioners, an office which has been ever since attached to the
Paymaster-Generalship.
Some legacies have been bequeathed to the Hospital since the foundation,
and various sums of unclaimed prize-money were also applied to this
object, amounting in the aggregate to nearly L600,000. The income at
present drawn from the above sources is a mere trifle in comparison with
the expenditure, only amounting to little over L3,000 yearly.
The building--which is wonderfully well adapted for its object, being, in
fact, a barracks, and yet a permanent home--was, when completed, just as
it is at present, without the range of outbuildings in which are the
Secretary's offices, etc., and one or two outbuildings which were added
in the beginning of the present century. The out-pensioners were not
included in the original scheme, but when the building was ready for
occupation, it was round that nearly one hundred applicants must be
disappointed owing to want of room. These men received, accordingly, a
small pension while waiting for vacancies. From this small beginning has
sprung an immense army of out-pensioners in all parts of the world,
including natives who have served with the British flag, and the roll
contains 84,500 names. The allowances vary from 5s. to 1-1/2 d. a day, the
latter being paid to natives. The usual rate is about 1s. for a private,
and 2s. 6d. for a sergeant. The in-pensioners, of whom 540 are at Chelsea
and 150 at the sister hospital of Kilmainham in Ireland, receive sums
varying from one shilling to a penny a day for tobacco money, and are
"victualled, lodged, and clothed" in addition. They have rations of cocoa
and bread-and-butter for breakfast; tea and bread-and-butter in the
evening; mutton for dinner five days in the week, beef one day, and beef
or bacon the remaining one. The allowance of meat is thirteen ounces, and
the bread one pound, per diem. Besides this they have potatoes and
pudding. They are clothed in dark blue in the winter, the coats being
replaced by scarlet ones in the summer. Peaked caps are worn usually, and
cocked hats with full dress. H. Herkomer's picture "The Last Muster" is
too well known to need more than a passing comment. The scene it
represents is enacted every Sunday in the Hospital at Chelsea. Twenty
thousand men have ended their days peacefully in the semi-military life
which in their long service has become second nature to them, and 500,000
have passed through the list of out-pensioners.
The establishment is now kept up by annual Parliamentary grants, of
which the first vote, for L550, was passed in 1703. Up to 1873 sums
varying from L50,000 to L100,000 were voted annually, but these were
embodied with the army votes. Since that year the Hospital grants have
been recorded separately. They amount to three and three-quarter
millions, but part of this is repaid by the Indian Government in
consideration of the men who have served in the Indian Army. In 1833 the
levies from the poundage of the army ceased.
The annual expenditure of the Hospital now equals L1,800,000, and 98 per
cent. of this goes to the out-pensioners. In 1894 the question was raised
as to whether the money now supplied to the in-pensioners could not be
better used in increasing the amount of the out-pensions. A committee was
appointed to "inquire into the origin and circumstances attending the
formation of Chelsea and Kilmainham, and whether their revenues could not
be more advantageously used for the benefit of the army." Numbers of the
old soldiers themselves, as well as the Governor and all the Hospital
officials, were examined. One or two of the old men seemed to imagine
that they would prefer a few pence a day to spend as they pleased instead
of shelter and food, but the majority were decisive in their opinion that
on no attainable pension could they be so comfortable as they were at
present. Consequently the committee embodied their resolution in the
following words: "That no amount of increased pension that it would be
practicable to give would enable the men to be cared for outside the
Hospital as they are cared for at present."
The life led by the old men is peculiar, partaking as it does somewhat of
a military character. The side-wings of the Hospital, built of red brick
faced with stone, and darkened by age, are 360 feet in length and four
stories in height. Each story contains one ward, which runs the whole
length of the wing. The wide, shallow old staircase, the high doors, the
wainscot, are all of oak coloured by age. The younger men and the least
infirm occupy the highest wards, which look out upon the quadrangles by
means of windows on the roof. Each ward contains about five-and-twenty
men, including two sergeants, who have rather larger apartments than the
rest, one at each end. An open space, like the between-decks of a ship,
occupies half the longitudinal space, and the other half is partitioned
off into separate cubicles containing a bed and a box, and these are open
at the top and into the room. There is a large stove and one or two
high-backed settles in each ward. Here the old fellows sit and smoke and
warm up any food they have reserved from the last meal. One or two have
attempted to furnish their cubicles with pictures cut from the
illustrated papers, but they do not seem to care much, as a rule, for
anything but warmth and a pipe.
All the Waterloo veterans have died out, but Crimea and Indian Mutiny men
there are in plenty. At each end of the wings are the staircases, which
lead into passage halls. At the extreme end of the eastern wing is the
Governor's house, built in exactly the same style as the rest of the
wing, and looking like part of it.
In the Governor's house there is a magnificent state-room, 37 feet in
length and 27 in width. It has the immense height of 27 feet, occupying
two complete stories. The effect of height within the room is, however,
diminished by a cornice which projects quite a foot all round, about
two-thirds of the way up. The ceiling, which has been frequently alluded
to by writers on Chelsea, but never fully described, has an immense oval
in the centre, surrounding a circle of acorns and oak-leaves, from the
middle of which the chandelier is suspended. On either side of this are
two smaller circles, containing the letters G.R. and C.R. intertwined.
The oval does not quite touch the walls of the room, and at either end
there are the letters J.R., surrounded by a semicircular device of
leaves, surmounted by a crown. At each side of the oval are the national
arms. In every one of the four corners is a wreath of roses,
passion-flowers, and fruit in very heavy relief, and the interstices are
filled by guns, arms, and accoutrements. The proportions of the room may
be best understood by the statement that there are three windows at the
end and four at the sides. The walls are all panelled and disfigured by
hideous light pink paint, done, probably, in the same period of taste
when an attempt was made to whitewash the statue of bronze in the court
to make it look like marble! This disfigurement extends even to the
magnificent trophy of arms and accoutrements carved round the great
mirror over the mantelpiece, and, of course, supposed to be the work of
the great Gibbons. The fireplace and mantelpiece are of white marble,
with an inner setting of veined marble. The edges of many of the panels
on the walls are also carved. The magnificent series of pictures give
character and dignity to the room. Occupying almost two-thirds of the
north end is an oil-painting of King Charles I. and his family, by
Vandyck, in 1632. There is a mournful expression on all the faces, even
those of the two small children in the front. On the east wall, on one
side of the fireplace, are large oil-paintings of George III. and his
consort, Caroline, by Allan Ramsay; and on the other a copy of
Winterhalter's picture of Queen Victoria as Empress of India, by Hanson
Walker, R.A.
Between the southern windows are portraits of King James II. and King
Charles II., by Sir Godfrey Kneller and Sir Peter Lely respectively. As
the windows are set very deeply in the walls, the light is bad, and these
magnificent pictures are not seen to advantage. Occupying similar
positions on the west are life-size portraits of George I., by Sir
Godfrey Kneller; George II. and his consort, Caroline, by Enoch Seeman.
Thus the fair, placid Caroline smiles down from the wall not many hundred
yards from the house where she so often came to consult with the potent
Sir Robert Walpole on the affairs of the nation and the liaisons of the
King.
All the pictures in the room are the official property of successive
Governors. The last three mentioned were bequeathed by William Evans in
1739. We can pass from this room through the vestibule, and along the
wards, and thus reach the central wing, and pass under the colonnade into
the hall beneath the cupola, without once going into the outer air. From
this central hall open off the chapel and great hall on the east and west
sides respectively. In this central hall it is possible to look right up
into the hollow interior of the cupola at an immense height. Both hall
and chapel are considerably raised above the ground-level, and are
reached by a flight of steps. They are of the same dimensions--108 feet
by 37 feet--but, as the roof of the hall is flat, and that of the chapel
hollowed out, the former looks much larger.
In the 'History of the Diocese of London' Newcourt gives the following
quotation from the Bishop of London's Registry: 'The chappel of this
Hospital (which is a very large and stately one, as is also the hall,
which is of the same dimensions) is 108 feet long, and 37 feet and 9
inches wide ... consecrated by the Right Reverend Father in God, Henry,
Lord Bishop of London, on Sunday, August 30, 1691.' The prelate here
referred to was Bishop Compton.
The chapel is paved with black and white marble, and all the fittings and
wainscoting are of oak. The altar-rails and the side of the wainscot
compartments are carved by Grinling Gibbons. Over the altar is an immense
painting, made to fit the apse-like end. It represents the Resurrection,
and was executed by Sebastian Ricci. The altar itself is heavy and
ugly--a great oak canopy supported by Corinthian columns in oak. The
feature of the chapel is, however, the number of standards which are
suspended from either wall all down the nave. The greater number were
transferred here from the Chapel Royal, Whitehall, and India House, by
order of King William IV., in 1835. Captain J. Ford, to whose laborious
and painstaking work is due the record of the tombstones in the old
burial-ground, made also a list of these flags, and drawings of those
recognisable. This collection was purchased by Queen Victoria, who caused
it to be made into a book, and presented it to the Hospital, adding an
autograph inscription. The flags are chiefly American and French. There
are also several French eagles and some native Indian flags. On the
latter the mark of a hand, supposed by the natives to be the impress of
their chief's hand, recorded by supernatural agency, can be clearly seen.
Every Sunday all the veterans who are not disabled by ill-health or
infirmity take their places in the body of the chapel, almost filling it.
Visitors and the Hospital officials sit in transverse pews of an
old-fashioned shape, which run down the sides of the walls. The organ,
presented by Major Ingram in 1691-92, is in a gallery at the west end,
and immediately beneath the gallery on the right-hand side is the
Governor's pew.
The Chaplain is the Rev. J. H. S. Moxley. The service is short and
simple, and at its conclusion the old men all march out together before
the visitors leave. The service of plate presented by James II. is valued
at L500. It includes three flagons, four chalices, six salvers, and a
pair of candlesticks, all of silver-gilt. After service dinner is the
order of the day, and a visit to the kitchens, fitted with all the latest
modern improvements, is necessary. It does not seem as if the regimen
were very strictly adhered to. Great savoury pies of mutton and kidney,
roast sirloin, and roast pork, with baked potatoes, are allotted to the
various messes, to be followed by steaming plum-puddings.
The men do not dine in hall, as they used to do, but those who are on
orderly duty wait there to receive the rations, and then carry them up to
their comrades in the wards to be divided. The messes vary in number;
some contain eight, some ten, some even fourteen. On either side of the
central gangway in the hall are tables where the old men can sit and
smoke, and play dominoes, cards, and bagatelle. There is a raised dais at
the western end, in the centre of which, facing the door, is a bust of
Queen Victoria, and right across the end of the room, and continuing for
the width of the dais, on the sides is an immense allegorical painting of
Charles II., with the Hospital in the background. This was executed by
Antonio Verrio and Henry Cooke. All round the panels of the hall hang
portraits of military commanders, with the dates and names of the battles
in which they have taken prominent parts. These were collected by a
former Governor of the Hospital, General Sir J. L. Pennefather, G.C.B.
Above them are other standards tattered beyond recognition and hanging
mournfully over the heads of the men below. At the east end is a large
painting of the Duke of Wellington in allegorical style. The
court-martial on the conduct of General Whitelock was held in this hall;
here the Duke of Wellington lay in state for seven days from the 10th to
the 17th of November, 1852; and several courts of inquiry have been held.
For some years it was used as a place of examination for military
candidates, but this was rightly considered to be an abuse, and was
discontinued in 1869. Formerly a dining-room, the hall is now a
recreation-room, and must be a great boon to those whose wards lie up
four flights of stairs.
Passing down the steps, through the vestibule, and under the colonnade on
the south front, we see two monuments to the men of the _Birkenhead_ and
the _Europa_. The loss of the former in 1852 has often been quoted as an
heroic instance of self-command; when the ship struck, the men went down
standing shoulder to shoulder as if on parade. Their names are all
inscribed here. The _Europa_ was burnt at sea, and the twelve private
soldiers who lost their lives with it are here also commemorated. There
are other memorials, brasses, and a marble slab, to the memory of various
officers. But the most striking monument, in the centre of the grounds,
near the Embankment gate, is that of the Battle of Chillianwallah, at
which nearly 30 officers and more than 700 privates were killed. The
monument takes the form of a great obelisk, with the names inscribed on
the sides. Two of the guns which stand beside it were captured on the
same occasion. A little higher up, between the bronze Charles and the
Chillianwallah obelisk, is a cross to commemorate 243 officers and
privates who were killed in suppressing the Sepoy Mutiny. The veterans
are thus surrounded by a halo of gallant deeds; on every hand the memory
of their comrades in arms greets them.
Further on down the colonnade we pass westward, through the west wing, to
a continuation of the main building, in which is the library. This faces
the next court, which, like the east, is filled in the centre with
evergreen shrubs. The library contains 4,000 volumes, including Captain
Ford's Manuscripts. There are two rooms, and here the men can see the
daily papers, which are afterwards passed on into the great hall. In the
west court is the Chaplain's house, and immediately across the road is
the infirmary. In 1808 it was suggested that an infirmary for the
pensioners should be established, and for this purpose the Commissioners
fixed upon Sir Robert Walpole's old house, which was conveniently near.
The land on which this stands was leased to William Jephson in 1687 for
sixty-one years. Some years later the lease was passed on to Edward
Harley, Earl of Oxford, who lived here in 1707. Apparently he assigned it
to Sir Richard Gough, who paid the rent from 1714 to 1719. In 1723 Sir
Robert Walpole, the great statesman who virtually ruled England for more
than twenty years, became the lessee. He had had some connection with the
Hospital since 1714, when he had been made Paymaster-General, and had
held a seat on the Board of Commissioners by virtue of his office. His
influence in the reign of George II. still continued, and while the King
was absent on the Continent, Walpole House was the seat of power in the
kingdom. Here came office-seekers and busy flatterers. L'Estrange says
"it was thought remarkably convenient that state documents should only
have to travel from Chelsea to Kensington Palace."
The grottos, which, according to the fashion of the time, were built in
the garden, and richly decorated, must have seen some interesting sights.
One in which Queen Caroline was royally entertained in 1729 was taken
down in 1795. The entertainment was extremely sumptuous. The last of
these grottos disappeared only when the Embankment was being made. In
1741 the Minister retired with the title of Earl of Orford, which
afterwards descended to his well-known son, Horace, and a pension of
L4,000 a year.
The house afterwards passed through the hands of John, Earl of Dunmore,
and George Aufrere, and we find it in 1796 assigned to Charles, Lord
Yarborough, who was living here in 1808. The building being then required
by the Hospital, he consented to give up the remainder of his lease, a
period of seventeen years, upon compensation being paid to the amount of
L4,775 15s. Sir John Soane, the architect, who had all through been
strongly in favour of adding on to Walpole House instead of purchasing
new ground, designed the necessary additions. The building, like the
Hospital itself, consists of two wings, east and west, abutting out from
a connecting flank, with a vestibule in the front. The eastern wing is
Walpole House. The room which was originally the dining-room is now one
of the wards, and contains eight beds. It is strange to see the worn,
homely faces of the infirm pensioners, in contrast with the magnificent
white marble mantelpiece and the finely moulded ceiling. The connecting
wing holds the Matron's room in addition to the wards. The patients
suffer from the complaints of old age, rheumatism, blindness, paralysis;
few of them are permanently in the infirmary, and with the season of the
year the numbers vary. In the summer it is found possible to close one
ward entirely. There is a staff of nurses, and the old men are well
looked after. Besides Walpole House, it was considered advisable to have
a supplementary infirmary. So when the lease of Gordon House fell in, it
was adapted for the purpose. It stands in the southwest corner of the
grounds, about 150 yards from the infirmary, and will be familiar to
those who visited the Military and Naval Exhibitions, at which period it
was used as a refreshment-house. The first recorded lease of the land on
which it was built was in 1690.
The charity is directed by Royal Commissioners, who include
representatives of the War Office, Horse Guards, Treasury, and the
Hospital itself, through its Governor and Lieutenant-Governor.
The Governor is Sir Henry Norman. The officers who reside at the
Hospital, under the authority of the Governor, are: Mayor and
Lieutenant-Governor; six Captains of Invalids; Adjutant; Quartermaster;
Chaplain; Physician and Surgeon; Deputy Surgeon.
Besides these there is a large staff, including Matron, Dispenser,
Organist, etc. The pensioners themselves are formed into six companies,
and their pension varies according to their rank, from the
colour-sergeants at a shilling a day to privates of the third rank at a
penny. The grounds of the Hospital were originally only twenty-eight
acres, but have been added to by purchase from time to time; they now
amount to between sixty and seventy. A portion in the south-western
corner was let on building leases not long ago.
The large open space exactly opposite to the Hospital, on the north side
of the Queen's Road, is known as Burton's Court. How it came by the name
is a matter of doubt. In Hamilton's Survey it is called College Court.
Lysons refers to it as follows: "To the north of the college is an
enclosure of about thirteen acres, planted with avenues of limes and
horse-chestnuts." Its dimensions have since been reduced by the land
given up to the parish for road-making. In 1888 it was decided to allow
the soldiers quartered at the adjacent barracks to use it as a
recreation-ground. Through the centre of it runs an avenue of trees in
direct continuation from the Hospital gates. This opens on to St.
Leonard's Terrace in two fine iron gates with stone pillars, surmounted
by military arms in stone. Beyond these gates, still in the same straight
line, runs the Royal Avenue, formerly known as White Stiles. It is
mentioned very early in the Hospital records, payments for masonry and
carpentry work being noted in 1692. Faulkner repeats a tradition to the
effect that Queen Anne intended to have extended this avenue right
through to the gates of the palace at Kensington, and was only prevented
from carrying it out by her death. At present the avenue intersected by
Queen's Road and St. Leonard's Terrace is disjointed and purposeless.
RANELAGH GARDENS.
The site of Ranelagh Gardens, which in their zenith eclipsed even the
Vauxhall Gardens as a place of entertainment, is now included in the
grounds of the Royal Hospital.
Richard, Earl of Ranelagh, Paymaster-General of the Forces in the reign
of James II., was a thoroughly unscrupulous but an able man. He was three
times censured for appropriating the public money to his own private use,
and was finally expelled from his office in the fourth year of Queen
Anne's reign. Notwithstanding this, he obtained a grant of some land
belonging to the Royal Hospital in 1690, when the building was nearly
completed. This land lay to the south of the burial-ground, and between
the Hospital and what is now known as Bridge Road. This was leased to him
for sixty-one years at an annual rent of L15 7s. 6d. He built a house on
it, and soon after obtained fifteen acres more at L30 4s. per annum, and
finally a third grant, which in 1698 was confirmed to him with that
portion he already held, to be held in fee on condition of his paying an
annual rent of L5 to the Hospital. This Earl, described by Swift as the
"vainest old fool I ever saw," seems to have had great delight in
landscape-gardening. He laid out his land with fastidious care, and thus
paved the way for the public gardens of the future. His grounds are
described in "Views of the Gardens near London, December, 1691," by
Gibson:
"My Lord Ranelagh's garden being but lately made, plants are but small;
but the plats, borders, and walks are curiously kept and elegantly
designed, having the advantage of opening into Chelsea College walks. The
kitchen-garden there lies very fine, with walks and seats, one of which
being large and covered was then under the hands of a curious painter.
The house here is very fine within, all the rooms being wainscoted with
Norway oak, and all the chimneys adorned with carving, as in the Council
Chamber in Chelsea College."
Lord Ranelagh died in 1712, and with him the earldom became extinct. The
Ranelagh property passed to his unmarried daughter, Lady Catherine Jones.
In 1715 King George I. was entertained by her at Ranelagh House, together
with a great number of lords and ladies. In 1730 the property was vested
in trustees by an Act of Parliament; the greater part of it was bought by
Swift and Timbrell, who afterwards leased it to Lacey, the patentee of
Drury Lane Theatre. They proposed to turn it into a place of public
amusement, but soon abandoned the idea, and relet it. In 1744 one
Crispe, who then held the lease, became bankrupt, and the property was
divided into thirty-six shares of L1,000 each.
It was in the time of Crispe that the great rotunda was built. This
rotunda was 150 feet in interior diameter, and was intended to be an
imitation of the Pantheon at Rome. The pillars which supported the roof
were of great magnificence, painted for half their height like marble,
and the second half fluted and painted white; they were crowned by
capitals of plaster of Paris. The orchestra was at first in the centre,
but was afterwards removed to one of the porticos, and the centre was
used for a fireplace, which, if the old prints are to be trusted, was
large enough to roast half a score of people at once. We have "A
Perspective View of the Inside of the Amphitheatre in Ranelagh Gardens,"
drawn by W. Newland, and engraved by Walker, 1761; also "Eight Large
Views of Ranelagh and Vauxhall Gardens," by Canaletti and Hooker, 1751.
The roof of this immense building was covered with slate, and projected
all round beyond the walls. There were no less that sixty windows. Round
the rotunda inside were rows of boxes in which the visitors could have
refreshments. The ceiling was decorated with oval panels having painted
figures on a sky-blue ground, and the whole was lighted by twenty-eight
chandeliers descending from the roof in a double circle. The place was
opened on April 5, 1742, when the people went to public breakfasts,
which, according to Walpole, cost eighteenpence a head. The gardens were
not open until more than a month later. The entertainments were at first
chiefly concerts and oratorios, but afterwards magnificent balls and
fetes were held.
Walpole, writing to Sir Francis Mann, says: "Two nights ago Ranelagh
Gardens were opened at Chelsea. The Prince, Princess, Duke, and much
nobility, and much mob besides, were there. There is a vast amphitheatre,
finely gilt, painted, and illuminated, into which everybody that loves
eating, drinking, staring, or crowding, is admitted for 12d. The building
and disposition of the gardens cost L16,000. Twice a week there are to be
ridottos at guinea tickets, for which you are to have a supper and music.
I was there last night, but did not find the joy of it. Vauxhall is a
little better, for the garden is pleasanter and one goes by water." The
doors were opened in the evening at six, and until the time of the
entertainment, some hours later, people seem to have had nothing better
to do than to walk round and stare at each other--a method of passing the
time described by the poet Bloomfield, in a poem which has been often
quoted in fragments but seldom in entirety. It appeared in _The
Ambulator_ (London and its Environs) in 1811, at full length, as
follows:
"To Ranelagh once in my life
By good-natur'd force I was driven;
The nations had ceased their long strife,
And Peace beamed her radiance from heaven.
What wonders were there to be found
That a clown might enjoy or disdain?
First we traced the gay ring all around--
Ay, and then we went round it again.
"A thousand feet rustled on mats,
A carpet that once had been green;
Men bow'd with their outlandish hats,
With corners so fearfully keen!
Fair maids who at home in their haste
Had left all clothing else but a train
Swept the floor clean as slowly they paced,
And then walk'd round and swept it again.
"The music was truly enchanting!
Right glad was I when I came near it;
But in fashion I found I was wanting,
'Twas the fashion to walk and not hear it!
A fine youth, as beauty beset him,
Look'd smilingly round on the train;
'The King's nephew!' they cried, as they met him,
Then we went round and met him again.
"Huge paintings of heroes and Peace
Seem'd to smile at the sound of the fiddle,
Proud to fill up each tall shining space
Round the lantern that stood in the middle.
And George's head, too--Heaven screen him!
May he finish in peace his long reign;
And what did we when we had seen him?
Why, went round and saw him again.
"A bell rang announcing new pleasures,
A crowd in an instant pressed hard;
Feathers nodded, perfumes shed their treasures,
Round a door that led into the yard.
'Twas peopled all o'er in a minute,
As a white flock would cover a plain;
We had seen every soul that was in it,
Then we went round and saw them again.
"But now came a scene worth the showing,
The fireworks, midst laughs and huzzas;
With explosions the sky was all glowing,
Then down streamed a million of stars.
With a rush the bright rockets ascended,
Wheels spurted blue fire like a rain;
We turned with regret when 'twas ended,
Then stared at each other again.
"There thousands of gay lamps aspir'd
To the tops of the trees and beyond;
And, what was most hugely admired,
They looked all upside-down in a pond.
The blaze scarce an eagle could bear
And an owl had most surely been slain;
We returned to the circle, and there--
And there we went round it again.
"'Tis not wisdom to love without reason,
Or to censure without knowing why;
I had witness'd no crime, nor no treason;
'Oh, life, 'tis thy picture,' said I.
'Tis just thus we saunter along;
Months and years bring their pleasure or pain.
We sigh midst the right and the wrong;
And then we go round them again!"
Though Bloomfield's metre can be scarce held faultless, yet his power of
detailed description has preserved us a living picture of Ranelagh in the
height of its glory. Balls and fetes succeeded each other. Lysons tell us
that "for some time previously to 1750 a kind of masquerade, called a
Jubilee Ball, was much in fashion at Ranelagh, but they were suppressed
on account of the earthquakes in 1750."
The masked balls were replaced by other festivities. In 1775 a famous
regatta was held at Ranelagh, and in 1790 a magnificent display of
fireworks, at which the numbers in attendance reached high-water mark,
numbering between 3,000 and 4,000 exclusive of free admissions. In 1802
an aeronaut ascended from the gardens in a balloon, and the last public
entertainment was a ball given by the Knights of the Bath in 1803. The
following year the gardens were closed. Sir Richard Phillips, writing in
1817, says that he could then trace the circular foundation of the
rotunda, and discovered the broken arches of some cellars which had once
been filled with the choicest wines. And Jesse, in 1871, says he
discovered, attached to one or two in the avenue of trees on the site of
the gardens, the iron fixtures to which the variegated lamps had been
hung. The promenades at Ranelagh, for some time before its end, were
thinly attended and the place became unprofitable. It was never again
opened to the public after July 8, 1803.
In 1805 Ranelagh House and the rotunda were demolished, the furniture and
fittings sold, and the organ made by Byfield purchased for the church of
Tetbury, in Gloucestershire. Lysons adds that the site was intended to be
let on building leases. This plan was, however, never carried out, and
the ground reverted to the Royal Hospital. The gardens are now quite
differently planned from what they were originally. The public is
admitted to them under certain restrictions. One or two massive elms,
which must have seen the Ranelagh entertainments blossom into life and
fade away, are the only ancient relics remaining.
With this account of the Ranelagh Gardens we close our description of
Chelsea, having wandered west and east, north and south, and found
everywhere some memento of those bygone times, which by their continuity
with the present constitute at once the glory and fascination of London,
the greatest city in the world.
INDEX
Addison, 54
Alston House, 30
Apothecaries' Garden, 22
Arthur Street, 59
Ashburnham House, 52, 53
Astell, Mrs. Mary, 19
Atterbury, 44
Attwood, Thomas, 28
Bartolozzi, 61
Beaufort Street, 46, 49
Blantyre Street, 52
Bowack, 44
Braganza, Catherine of, 27
Bramah, 51
Bramerton Street, 36
Bray, Sir Reginald, 5
Brunel, 51
Burial-ground, 8
Burnaby Street, 54
Burton's Court, 14, 87
Butler, Dr. Weedon, 27
Byron, 66
Cadogan Place, 66
Cadogan Square, 64
Cadogan Street, 63
Cale Street, 63
Carlyle, 35
Carlyle Square, 59
Caroline, Queer, 84
Chamberlayne, Dr., 45
Chelsea Barracks, 8
Chelsea china, 32
Chelsea College, 67
Chelsea Creek, 54
Chelsea Embankment, 24
Chelsea House, 66
Chelsea Public Library, 59
Chelsea Workhouse, 61
Cheyne, Charles, 6, 32
Cheyne House, 30
Cheyne, Lady Jane, 6, 32, 43
Cheyne Row, 35
Cheyne Walk, 24, 34
Church Lane, 44
Church Street, 37
Churches:
Christ, 17
St. Columba, 64
Holy Trinity, 65
St. Jude's, 10
Lawrence Chapel, 39
St. Luke's, 61
St. Mary's (Roman Catholic), 63
Old Parish, 37
Park Chapel, 57
St. Saviour's, 65
St. Simon Zelote's, 64
Cipriani, 61
Cleves, Anne of, 6
Clock House, 24
Cremorne Villa, 52
Cremorne Pleasure Gardens, 53
Dacre Tomb, 42
Dacres, The, 49
Danvers House, 46
Danvers, Sir John, 46
Danvers Street, 46
Doggett's Coat and Badge, 22
D'Orsay, Count, 29
Duke of York's School, 10
Durham House, 14
Durham Place, 15
Dyce, William, 26
Elgin marbles, 56
Eliot, George, 26
Elizabeth, Princess, 25
Emerson, 35
Faulkner, 16
Flood Street, 17, 29
Fox, Sir Stephen, 69
Franklin's Row, 10
Gordon, General, 58
Gordon House, 86
Gothic House, 29
Gough House, 20
Grey, Lady Jane, 25
Gwynne, Nell, 54, 69
Halsey Street, 64
Hamilton, Duke of, 6
Hamilton, Sir William, 56
Hans Place, 64, 65
Haweis, Rev. H. R., 27
Hazlitt, 28
Heber, Reginald, 45
Hoadly, Bishop, 25
Hoadly, Dr. Benjamin, 53
Hogarth, 27
Holbein Place, 7, 66
Hospitals:
Cancer, 62
Consumption, 59
Incurable Children, 36
Royal, 67
Victoria, 20
Howard, James, 6
Howard, Lady, 6
Hunt, Holman, 36
Hunt, Leigh, 35, 36
Jews' Burial-ground, 58
Johnson, Dr., 33
Jubilee Place, 63
Keats collection, 60
King, Dr. John, 45
Kingsley, Rev. Charles, 45
King's Road, 57, 60
Landon, Letitia Elizabeth, 64
Lawrence House, 37
Lawrence Street, 36
Lennox Gardens, 64
Letters of Junius, 34
Lindsey, Earl of, 51
Lindsey House, 50
Lindsey Row, 51
Linnaeus, 24
Lot's Road, 54
Lower Sloane Street, 9, 66
Lowndes Square, 66
Maclise, Daniel, 26
"Magpie and Stump," The, 34
Manor House, 15
Markham Square, 63
Markham Street, 63
Marlborough Road, 63
Martin, 51
Martineau, Harriet, 36
Mazarin, Duchess of, 18
Mendelssohn Gardens, 10
Meredith, 27
Miller, Mr., 24
Milman Street, 49
Milner Terrace, 64
Mitford, Miss, 65
Monmouth House, 37
Moore Street, 64
Moravian Burial-ground, 50
More, Sir Thomas, 46
Neild, James, 26
New Manor House, 24
Norman, Sir Henry, 86
North, Hon. Brownlow, 25
Northcote, R.A., Sir James, 34
Northumberland, Duke of, 5
Nottingham, Countess of, 6
Oakley Crescent, 30
Oakley Street, 30
Old Chelsea Bun House, 7
Old Swan House, 24
Ormond, Duke of, 20
Ormond Row, 14
Palace of the Bishops of Winchester, 25
Paradise Row, 18, 22
Paradise Walk, 22
Park Walk, 57
Parr, Queen Catherine, 5
Paulet, Sir William, 49
Pavilion Road, 65
Petyt's School, 44
Phene, Dr., 30
Pimlico Road, 7
Pont Street, 64
Prince's Cricket Ground, 64
Queen's Elm, 58
Queen's House, 27
Queen's Road, 8
Queen's Road West, 17
Radnor House, 16, 17
Radnor Street, 16
Ranelagh, Earl of, 88
Ranelagh Gardens, 67, 88
Rectory, The, 45
Redesdale Street, 16
Revelstoke, 10
Robinson's Street, 16
Rossetti, D. G., 27
Royal Avenue, 14, 87
Royal Military Asylum, 10
Ruskin, Mr., 13, 36
Saltero, Don, 28
Sandford Manor House, 54
Sandys, Lord, 5
Seaton Street, 52
Seymour, Lord, 5
Shadwell, Thomas, 44
Shawfield Street, 16
Shelley, 65
Shelley House, 22
Shrewsbury House, 31
Sloane Court, 10
Sloane Gardens, 66
Sloane, Sir Hans, 7, 22, 43, 49
Sloane Street, 65
Sloane Terrace, 66
Smith Street, 14, 16
Smith Terrace, 16
Smollett, Dr., 37
South Parade, 59
St. Albans, Duke of, 20
St. Leonard's Terrace, 10, 14, 37
St. Mark's College, 55
Stadium Street, 54
Stanhope, Lord, 6
Stanley House, 55
Steele, Sir Richard, 34
Suett, 20
Swift, Dean, 44
Swinburne, 27
Sydney Street, 61
Tedworth Square, 16
Tennyson, 36
Tite Street, 20
Trafalgar Square, 59
Tree, Mr. Beerbohm, 26
Tudor House, 27
Turk's Row, 9
Turner, 51
Tyndall, 36
Walpole House, 85
Walpole, Sir Robert, 14, 83
Walpole Street, 14
Walton Street, 65
Wellesley, Hon. and Rev. Dr., 45
Wellington Square, 14
Wentworth House, 22
Westbourne, The, 2
Whistler, Mr., 20, 51
Whitelands Training College, 13
Winchester House, 30
World's End Passage, 52
Zinzendorf, Count, 51
THE END
* * * * *
BILLING AND SONS, LTD., PRINTERS, GUILDFORD
* * * * *
[Illustration: CHELSEA.
Published by A. & C. Black, London.]