These 19th century photographs of London’s Chelsea have shown how the exclusive suburb changed from a Victorian artists’ colony to a 21st century millionaires’ enclave.
Seven black-and-white images taken in the early 1870s, just before the Thames Embankment was built in 1974, have emerged for sale with an estimated price of between £1,000 and £2,000.
Taken by local photographer James Hedderly, the shots include iconic areas of west London at a time when it was a Victorian artists’ colony. They include Old Battersea Bridge, Chelsea Old Church, Cheyne Walk near Chelsea Physic Garden and the monument to Sir Hans Sloane.
The images belong to a private collector but are now being sold by auctioneers Sworders of Stansted Mountfitchet in Essex. The sale will take place on Tuesday, December 15.
A spokesman for Sworders said: ‘This collection by the Chelsea-born artist James Hedderly gives a fascinating insight to what Chelsea was like in the 1870s, before the building of the embankment which changed the landscape of London so fundamentally. Hedderly’s work focused on the Chelsea area and he did much to document the construction of the embankment.
‘It was a time when Chelsea was established as a major artistic centre and community in London based around places like Cheyne Walk, which in 1870 boasted Dante Gabriel Rossetti and James Abbott McNeill Whistler as residents.’
Cheyne Walk is pictured just a few years before the construction of the Chelsea Embankment, which was first proposed in 1854. Ramshackle housing stood in the place of a road and artists such as Dante Gabriel Rossetti and James Abbott McNeill Whistler were residents. Nowadays the area features a heavy flow of traffic, a number of river boats and expensive homes reserved for the UK’s elite
Before the construction of the embankment reduced the width of the River Thames Cheyne Walk (pictured, left, in the early 1870s and, right, now) the road fronted the river along its whole lenth. Now, at its western end, Cheyne Walk meets Cremorne Road end-on at the junction with Lots Road. At the north end of Albert Bridge it merges with the Chelsea Embankment, ending at Royal Hospital Road
Old Battersea Bridge was destroyed in 1885. The bridge took one year to build and was completed in 1772, replacing an older ferry system. It was repaired in 1873, but in the autumn of 1885 it was pulled down. A bridge for pedestrians was erected until being ultimately replaced by the existing iron bridge, begun in 1886 (right)
Chelsea Old Church dates from 1157. It used to be the parish church of Chelsea when it was a village, before the area was engulfed by the capital. The building originally consisted of a 13th century chancel with chapels to the north and south. A nave and tower were built in 1670
A statue of Sir Hans Sloane, a physician, naturalist and collector, has stood in its place in the Chelsea Physic Garden since 1737. Over time, the original became weathered and in need of repair. It was replaced in 2007 and the original is kept in the British Museum, with a cast in the Chelsea Physic Garden. In 2014, the cast was replaced with a real statue sculpted by artist Simon Smith. The finished statue was unveiled on April 28, 2014, by Lord Cadogan, a descendent of Sir Hans Sloane. It stands on the same marble plinth that Michael Rysbrack’s original stood
James Hedderly also captured this remarkable picture of the top hatted Londoners. The collection of seven photographs are expected to fetch anywhere between £1,000 and £2,000 at auction next Tuesday. In this image hundreds of men stood to attention as they had their photograph taken. A long exposure time meant some faces were blurry
The view just off Battersea bridge in the early 1870s, left, and modern day, right. The same buildings remain in the spot, despite the extensive damage done to the city by the Blitz during the Second World War. What was pictured as an empty road with no traffic or pedestrians in sight, is now rarely empty. The road is in constant use by cyclists, drivers and pedestrians
Two women walk past the Chelsea Old Church, left, and, right, the scene as it stands now. There is still an old-fashioned lamp post in the same spot in front of the church. Though in the modern scene a large amount of shrubbery, trees, grass and plants have sprouted up in the land surrounding the building. The monument visible in the centre of the images is for Hans Sloane, founder of the British Museum. It consists of a great carved stone pot under a round-arched canopy and was organised by his daughters following his death in 1753
Cheyne Walk is pictured before the construction of the Embankment. The picturesque jumble of houses and taverns facing directly onto the river were later demolished to make way for an embankment more than a mile long. Granite walls reduced the River Thames to a width of about 700 feet and ornamental gardens were built on the reclaimed land. Designed by Sir Joseph Balzegette, the embankment was both a road and a covering for the main low level sewer for west London
The pictures are unframed but remain in generally good condition. The largest measures 8ins by 17ins. Hedderly was one of the best photographers of his day and his work can be seen in the Kensington and Chelsea Archives and National Monuments Record. The sale takes place on December 15