Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 61, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 March 1919 — CHURCH STREET CHELSEA [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

CHURCH STREET CHELSEA

A GREAT statesman, himself resident in Church street, Chelsea, once said that it was “one of the most interesting streets in the whole world!” Be that as it may, says Christian Science Monitor, many who wander far afield in search of the quaint and old-fash-ioned might with profit wander down it as it is today, though most of the landmarks have disappeared^-and rumor says that many of the oldhouses left are soon to make way for the broad road that is to take the place of what was once known as Church lane —the only street in Chelsea. Starting at the Queen’s Elm, a somewhat grotesque reminder of the famous tree under which Queen Elizabeth took shelter from a storm, and in royal language commanded, “Let this henceforth be called the Queen’s tree,” and also the site of'the Chelsea turnpike where, in 1643, a court of guard was established when the common council of London, “alarmed by the near approacji of the king’s forces, ordered London to be fortified,” —it Stretches like a link between the past and the present, to the King’s road, once the King’s highway, where it cuts through and narrows down to the veritable lane that once it was, at the corner of which the old church stands guard by the waters of the Thames. Fine Old Houses. Though little more than a slum, this end of Church street is full of Interest, for there ar? many old Georgian houses left, and some red roofs in Justice walk speak of when Fielding, the novelist, dwelt here, while Lawrence street near by reminds one of how often Dr. Johnson, in his broadbrimmed hat. must have wended his way aloflg this very spot, followed by his housekeeper, bearing the covered basket, on his way to the china factory. A little farther oh stands the rectory, one of the finest old houses of which Chelsea boasts. Here, as far back as 1694, Dr. John King, rector and wrote his manuscript on Chelsea, speaking of it as “A sweet and pleasant village situated on the north side of the noble river Thames next to Westminster,” and here Elizabeth "Tudor planted a mulberry tree, under the boughs of which the Duke of Wellington often used to sit with his brother, the rector. Almost opposite to the rectory is a low-roofed Georgian— building, — now used as motor works, once the stables of the old Chelsea stage coaches, while beyond, where a picture palace stands, is said to be the site of the ancient village stocks. Has Character Ail Its Own. Crossing the King’s road, we come to the more fashionably part of Church street, or to speak accurately, the part which the well-meant efforts of jnany architects have failed to make fashionable —for despite some fine red buildings of a modern character, and rows of sedate houses in such ruralsounding spots as Mulberry walk, and The Vale, Church street remains what it always has been, “a little bit of everything and all sorts, belonging neither to a time nor a period, but possessing a character all its own.” These are little houses and big houses in Church street, short houses and tall houses, new houses trying to look' old, and old houses trying to look new. Little shops, and large gardens in whose fine old trees the song of the thrush and 'the starling is heard. Truly, for a London street, Church street is a veritable home of birds, and perhaps it is that which helps to give it the old world charm of which neither time nor change has entirely robbed it. Church street re-echoes to the footsteps of many of the great ones of history. Dr. Atterbury, distinguished in wit, learning and poetical talent, dwelt here In 1695; Dr. Arbuthnot, Queen Anne’s witty physician, had a house at the lower end, and was often visited by his friends. Swift, Pope, and the poet Gay. Sir John Shadwell, son of the poet laureate, wfis also a resident, and Swift, who lodged here for a time, comments in his journal to Steild on his “one silly room, coarse sheets, and awkward bed.”

Not to the casual passerby, perhaps, is Church street beautiful, but it has the charm which grows with knowledge, for the men who have dwelt here and culled their flowers of wit, eloquence and poetry, have left their memory in it. Today, it seems as if the world, thundering in its onward rush along the broad thoroughfare at either end of it, has passed it by, leaving it a quiet memento of the Chelsea of the past.