Chelsea Manor

File:Old and new London - a narrative of its history, its people, and its places (1873) (14778355285).jpg

File:Swan Court Chelsea Manor Street Chelsea London SW3 5RT (1).jpg, site of Chelsea Manor]]

Chelsea Manor House was once the demesne of the main manor of the medieval parish now roughly commensurate with the district of Chelsea, London. It was a residence acquired by Henry VIII of England in 1536, and was the site of two subsequent houses. Today, the area is covered by residential streets.

Owner-occupiers

In 1536 or 1537, timber frames were moved from Whitehall to Chelsea for the King's and Queen's new closets. Records indicate ongoing maintenance work in the 1540s. In November 1538, plants like bay and rosemary were sent from the Charterhouse to the King's gardener for his Chelsea garden. The property featured gardens on the north side and, by the mid-16th century, a walled 'great garden' on the east side. The garden records for Chelsea, particularly one from 1545–6, detail Queen Katherine Parr's gardener, John Colman, receiving 8d. a day, while two women weeders earned 4d. a day; he was also paid for sowing seeds. Another record highlights the creation of the privy garden, involving five women weeders working for 32 days and a person hired to mow the paths. A gardener from Westminster provided two rosemary banks and six lavender borders; within that year, 29 gardeners and six women weeders were employed, with orders placed for 29 cherry trees, five filbert trees, five damson trees, and two peach trees. 200 damask roses, 11,000 whitethorn bushes, and 64,000 privet plants for hedges were acquired.

In May 1541 Queen Katharine Howard and Princess Elizabeth were oftentimes travelling by barge to and from Chelsea together.

In 1544, Chelsea was bestowed on Queen Katherine Parr as a lifetime grant, included in her jointure.{{Cite book |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/middx/vol12/pp108-115 |title=A History of the County of Middlesex |publisher= |year=2004 |editor-last=Croot |editor-first=Patricia E. C. |volume=12 |location=London |pages=108–115 |chapter=Landownership: Chelsea Manor |access-date=17 February 2024}} Katherine was reportedly passionate about gardens and took a keen interest in the gardens of her dower estates, especially those in Chelsea. Following the King's death, she relocated from the court, and she spent a significant amount of time at Chelsea, both as a widow and later as the wife of Sir Thomas Seymour. She died in 1548 at Sudeley, and in her will she left everything to her fourth husband, Thomas Seymour.

It was home to Elizabeth I of England, as Princess, between 1536 and 1548,{{Cite web |title=Settlement and building: Chelsea up to 1680 {{!}} British History Online |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/middx/vol12/pp14-26 |access-date=2025-02-05 |website=www.british-history.ac.uk}} and then to Anne of Cleves, who died there in 1557.

Following Queen Katherine's death in 1548, the manor was inhabited by Crown lessees or individuals granted residence by the sovereign until 1638. Among them was John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, who occupied the manor from 1551 to 1553 and conducted meetings of the King's council in Chelsea.

Jane Guildford, Duchess of Northumberland, successfully petitioned for a grant of Chelsea to her for life, after it had been confiscated by the Crown after her husband, John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland’s attainder.{{Cite web |title=Landownership: Chelsea manor {{!}} British History Online |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/middx/vol12/pp108-115 |access-date=2025-02-05 |website=www.british-history.ac.uk}}

Other notable Crown lessees were Anne, Duchess of Somerset, until her death in 1587; and from 1591 the Lord High Admiral, Lord Howard of Effingham (later the Earl of Nottingham). His wife, Katherine Carey, was a close friend and relative of the Queen, and, as the Nottinghams resided at Chelsea, Queen Elizabeth made frequent visits to dine with them.

Other famous owners included: the 1st Duke of Hamilton; the 1st Viscount Newhaven; Sir Hans Sloane; and the Lord Bishops of Winchester.{{Cite book |last=Blunt |first=Reginald |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vm1nAAAAMAAJ |title=The Wonderful Village; A Further Record of Some Famous Folk and Places by Chelsea Reach |date=1918 |publisher=Mills & Boon, Limited |location=London |pages=40 |language=English |access-date=}} Three houses in turn existed, the last of which was demolished in 1825 by the 2nd Earl Cadogan and replaced with fashionable residential streets – the Cadogan family and its enterprises have kept ownership of some of these properties.

As a Crown possession for a hundred years, the house served as a residence for members of the Royal Family, high-ranking courtiers, and royal ministers, thus establishing Chelsea's prominent status in the area.