Chelsea Hospital was built by Sir Christopher Wren in 1682-92. This famous and interesting refuge for old and disabled soldiers occupies the site of an unsuccessful theological college, founded about 1618, and is still occasionally referred to as 'Chelsea College.' The foundation stone of the hospital was laid by Charles II.; the real originator of the scheme was Sir Stephen Fox (died 1716), paymaster-general since 1661, and not Nell Gwynn. The central portion of the building, containing the Hall and the Chapel (see below), has a Doric portico flanked by a low colonnade with coupled columns, and is surmounted by a small tower and cupola. In the projecting wings, each enclosing a court, are the pensioners' dormitories and, at the south ends, the houses of the Governor (east wing) and Lieutenant-Governor (west wing). Visitors approaching from the south, through the gardens, follow the east walk, passing the entrance to Ranelagh Gardens, and enter the East Court by a door opposite the Secretary's Office. Thence they pass by the colonnade on the north into the Central Court. Those approaching from the north enter the Hospital by the east gate in Royal Hospital Road.
Visitors are admitted to the Hospital on week-days from 10 to 12 & 2 till dusk, and on Sunday may attend the services in the chapel at 11 a.m. and 6.30 p.m. (seats not very numerous; doors open + an hour before the service begins). The pensions of all old soldiers in Great Britain were, before the Great War, awarded by the Commissioners of Chelsea Hospital, who selected the most suitable cases from among the many thousands of out-pensioners for residence in the Hospital. The in-pensioners, about 480 in number, are boarded, lodged, clothed, nursed when ill, and receive a small weekly allowance. In summer (from May 29th, Royal Oak Day) they wear picturesque long scarlet coats, exchanged in winter for dark blue ones. The cost of the building and (for the first century of its existence) its endowment were largely defrayed by deductions from the pay of the army, but now it is almost entirely supported by parliamentary grants. Since the Act of 1916 all military and naval disability pensions except in-pensions at Chelsea) granted by Parliament have been under the control of the Minister of Pensions. Retired pay and 'service pensions' are in a different category.
From the colonnade of the Centre Court, in which are some memorial inscriptions, we enter the vestibule off which open the Chapel (east) and Hall (west), in each of which a pensioner acts as guide (gratuities). The Chapel, on the right, is almost as Wren left it, with its elaborate oak carving. The beautiful reredos and altar-rail should be specially noted, also the barrel-vaulting of the roof. The painting in the apse, representing the Resurrection, is by Sebastian Ricci. Round the chapel hang captured flags and French eagles. The Hall, formerly the dining-room, is now the recreation room of the pensioners, a number of whom are usually to be found here, reading the newspapers or playing games and smoking. Here likewise is fine oak carving, and on the walls are portraits and pictures of military heroes. Over the dais at the west end are an equestrian portrait of Charles II., by Verrio, and a case of unclaimed medals. Between the windows are trophies of arms. The body of Wellington lay in state here before his funeral. Among the flags are some captured from the Americans in 1812-15 and a Rumanian standard presented in 1921. In the middle of the Centre Court is a statue of Charles II., by Grinling Gibbons, which is wreathed with oak on May 29th, when, after a ceremonial parade, the pensioners receive double rations in honour of Founders' Day. Beyond the West Court is the Infirmary (admission by special permission only), an old house of which a glimpse may be obtained through the gateway. It incorporates part of Walpole House, which was occupied by Sir Robert Walpole from 1723 to 1743.
We may return along the south side of the three courts to visit RANELAGH GARDENS, which now form part of the grounds of the Hospital and are entered from the east walk. Nothing now remains of the spacious Rotunda, which was erected here in 1742 and speedily made Ranelagh the most fashionable and frequented place of amusement in London. This gaily decorated structure, 185 feet in diameter and not unlike the present Albert Hall in appearance, was lined with boxes in which refreshments were served, while the brightly lit area was an animated promenade. Balls, masquerades, illuminations, and fetes of all kinds attracted crowds to the rotunda and the surrounding gardens, which, however, gradually lost their vogue towards the end of the 18th century and were finally closed in 1804.
Adjoining, on the north, are the Pensioners' Gardens, where the visitor may buy a bunch of flowers. To the north again (but entered from beside the east gate) is the Cemetery, where Dr. Burney (1726-1814), organist at the Hospital for thirty years, is buried.
Mary Somerville, the mathematician, lived at Chelsea Hospital in 1819-38, while her husband was physician there.
Near the north-east corner of Burton Court, the large open space opposite the north front of the Hospital, the County of London Territorial Forces have their main depot in the Duke of York's Headquarters, a building occupied until 1909 by the Duke of York's Military School, or Royal Military Asylum (now at Dover), founded in 1801 for the sons of soldiers.
Royal Hospital Road , formerly Queen's Road, the west part of which still earlier was known as Paradise Row, leads south-west from the north front of the Hospital. The first turning on the left is Tite Street, by which we return to the Embankment, passing the Victoria Hospital for Children. J. S. Sargent (1856-1925) died at No. 31 Tite St.; E. A. Abbey lived at No. 42 in 1899-1911, and, on the left, beyond the hospital, is the White House, built for J. McN. Whistler, but occupied by him for a few months only. Farther west, on the Embankment, is the old Chelsea Physic Garden, established about 1676 by the Apothecaries' Society. Sir Hans Sloane, whose statue by Rysbrack (1733) stands in the picturesque old-world garden, presented the site to the Society in 1722, on condition that 2000 specimens of distinct plants grown in the garden should be sent to the Royal Society, 'well dried and preserved,' in annual instalments of 50, a condition that has been amply fulfilled. In 1899, the garden was transferred to the Trustees of the London Parochial Charities, who maintain it as a garden of botanical research for students and teachers, without especial regard to medicinal botany. Tickets of admission may be obtained from the Clerk to the Trustees, 3 Temple Gardens, E.C.
