Historic London Pubcast

Chelsea Pub Crawl – Bohemians to Billionaires. Groovy!

• Eric Blair • Season 1 • Episode 49

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An unforgettable journey through Chelsea – from Bohemians to Billionaires! 

Discover how this exclusive London neighborhood transformed from a riverside "Village of Palaces" into the ultimate bohemian quarter, then morphed into one of the world's poshest postcodes. 

We're pub crawling through four historic Chelsea establishments representative of Chelsea’s eclectic historical journey. 

The Pig's Ear with its Cockney rhyming slang heritage. 

The Cross Keys. Chelsea's oldest pub and scene of an unsolved 1920s murder and where Agatha Christie once drank. 

The Phene. Favorite local of football legend George Best. 

The Chelsea Potter on the iconic King's Road where Jimi Hendrix hung out. 

Along the way, we'll explore the artistic legacy of Oscar Wilde, J.M.W. Turner, and the Pre-Raphaelites on Cheyne Walk, discover how Mary Quant invented the mini skirt and Vivienne Westwood sold punk to the world, meet the Sloane Rangers who made Chelsea synonymous with posh living, and uncover why this neighborhood became the playground of rock stars, aristocrats, and billionaires. 

Whether you're fascinated by London pub history, celebrity haunts, true crime, or the cultural revolution that turned a royal escape route into Swinging London's beating heart, this episode serves up art, influence, and intrigue in one nicely wrapped package – groovy, baby!

Show Map

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=1xXDGJSfJIUy2gw_6uCASi-C45FpOg_M&usp=sharing

References

  • Ted Bruning  -- Historic Pubs of London (ISBN 978-0658005022) and London By Pub (ISBN 978-0658005022)
  • Wikipedia
  • https://londonspubswherehistoryreallyhappened.wordpress.com/  by Ann Laffeaty 

The Pig’s Ear

https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/pigs-ear.html

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g186338-d26855684-Reviews-The_Pig_s_Ear-London_England.html

https://pubwiki.co.uk/LondonPubs//Chelsea/BlackLion.shtml

https://camra.org.uk/pubs/pigs-ear-chelsea-128740

https://www.pigsearpub.com/

The Cross Keys

https://pubwiki.co.uk/LondonPubs///Chelsea/CrossKeys.shtml

https://www.unsolved-murders.co.uk/murder-content.php?key=931

https://pubnames.co.uk/index.php

https://camra.org.uk/pubs/cross-keys-chelsea-129021

https://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/54757/

The Phene

https://www.standard.co.uk/hp/front/time-called-on-george-bests-local-7266815.html

https://camra.org.uk/pubs/phene-chelsea-128697

http://www.phenecricket.com/news/phenearms.html

Chelsea Potter

https://bispm.co.uk/bio.php?id=509

Website: https://historiclondonpubcast.com

E-mail: hosteric@historiclondonpubcast.com

Today we’re heading west to one of London's most exclusive and historically eclectic, neighborhoods – Chelsea. 

We’re going to explore how Chelsea transformed from a riverside village into the playground of the privileged – from bohemian artists to billionaires, from punk rock rebels to Sloane Rangers and onto Instagram Influencers selling their wares. 

This is Podcast Producer, Andy Meddick. When I think Chelsea, here's what comes to mind: Aristocratic. Artistic. Bohemian. Celebrities. Chic. Designer. Expensive. Fashionable. Football. Glamorous. Groovy. Historic. Intellectual. Literary. Luxury. Mary Quant’s Mini Skirt. Posh. Rebellious. Royal. And, yeah, baby – Trendy!

We're talking about the neighborhood where Oscar Wilde penned his wit, J.M.W. Turner painted his masterpieces, rock n’roll legends Mick Jagger and Keith Richards walked the streets, Mary Quant invented the mini skirt, and Vivienne Westwood sold punk fashion to the world. 

This is the "Village of Palaces" that became London's ultimate bohemian quarter before morphing into one of the world's most expensive postcodes.

Given how multifaceted, and almost chameleon-like Chelsea’s history has been, Eric has pulled a master stroke in selecting pubs to visit our Chelsea walk. Eric has four fantastic historic Chelsea pubs lined up on our Chelsea historic pub crawl: 

  • The Pig's Ear with its Cockney rhyming slang name.
  • The Cross Keys. Chelsea's oldest pub and scene of an unsolved 1920s murder (yes, Agatha Christie drank here!).
  • The Phene. Favorite haunt of football legend George Best.
  • The Chelsea Potter. Located on the iconic King's Road, where Jimi Hendrix once hung out.

From King Henry VIII's manor to the Pre-Raphaelites on Cheyne Walk, from The King's Road as King Charles II's private escape route to its transformation into the heart of Swinging London, we're covering it all. 

We'll explore Chelsea porcelain, William De Morgan's pottery, the Chelsea Pensioners, and why this neighborhood became synonymous with both artistic rebellion and eye-watering property prices.

So, grab your walking shoes dear Listener, because we're about to discover how Chelsea pubs witnessed the neighborhood's incredible journey – Bohemians to Billionaires. Groovy!

This is Episode 49 of The Historic London Pubcast – your value for money combo podcast deal: part London pub podcast, part London history podcast, and part London travel podcast. 

Today we're in Chelsea checking out four great pubs and a lot of history. The area has been around a while. The word Chelsea originates from the Old English term for a landing place, like on a river, for chalk or limestone. Back in the seven hundreds, a series of church councils were held in Anglo-Saxon England, had several locations, but were all called the Synod of Chelsea, but one for this area might or might not actually have been held in what is today's Chelsea.

Some think it was in Kent also around that time, the eighth century, the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Mercia ran the show in these parts. The headman, King Offa, gave the Bishop of Worchester the estate that includes today's land area, and he established Chelsea Manor - the estate's administrative and religious center. The estate continued on run by nobles and churchmen, and appeared in the Domesday Book that inventory of all taxable land taken in around 1086.

Another 500 years passed, and Henry the Eighth came along and acquired Chelsea Manor. Over the years two of his wives lived there, and his daughter Elizabeth, who went on to take the top job in the country. By 1694, Chelsea, perennially popular with the wealthy and once described as a “Village of Palaces,” had a population of 3000. 

Since then, lots of well-known folks have passed through Chelsea. We'll get to those, but I think it's time to pop into a pub, don't you think? Let's start with the one that pubwiki.co.uk tells us, goes back to the 17th Century, is thought to have been known as The Black Lion way back then. Don't worry, I'll give you today's name in just a bit. 

First records pubwiki.co.ukcan find are from 1805 and the location then, is as now, 35 Old Church Street. A couple of illustrations are included. A drawing of how the pub looked in 1820, and a photograph from 1865. Not much changed over those 40 years, but that was the old building. The pub we have today was a rebuild from 1892. 

CAMRA’s write up gives us a couple of interesting points. 

First, by 1820, the pub boasted a bowling alley and a tea garden. This was just before the Victorian era, when genteel pastimes like these were gaining popularity. The Industrial Revolution hadn't just imposed structured work schedules, it also created their counterpart, leisure time. 

Second, CAMRA offers that the Peninsular War hero John Moore quaffed, 

“An unadulterated beverage of malt and hops here.”

John Moore was a Scottish lad that had a successful military career, advancing all the way to Lieutenant General.

He died as a result of wounds received in the Battle of Corunna in 1809, but only after assuring himself that victory had been achieved, in which Napoleon's forces had been repelled. Heroic stuff that establishes a legend. And from what I can find, it's only legend that he indeed drank here. But he seems like a good guy. So, I hope it's true that he was able to have a bit of fun at The Black Lion before it was off to the wars.

I would guess the tea garden and the bowling green might have gone away with the rebuild just before 1900. The pub was operating as The Black Lion in 1944, but by the early 1990s it was calling itself The Front Page. Then famous football player and team manager Frank Lampard and his dad, also a former pro player, teamed up to buy the pub.

When it came to football. Frank was ‘da man.’ Wiki lays it out like this, 

“He was one of the greatest midfielders of all time. One of Chelseas greatest players ever, one of the greatest players of his generation.“ 

Wow! And his 13 years with the Chelsea team must have made him just about royalty here. I couldn't find exactly when they bought the pub, but they had the place by 2013 and ended up selling it five years later.

By the time the Lampards took over, the pub's name was The Pig's Ear. Sometime between 2018 and 2021, it became The Chelsea Pig. But in May of 2024 it returned to The Pig's Ear. I'm glad. You know why? It's good old Cockney rhyming slang phrases. Phrases.org.uk tells us that Franklin's Dictionary of Rhyming Slang lists several slang terms for beer:

  • Charlie Freer.
  • Far and Near.
  • Never Fear. 
  • Oh, My Dear. 
  • Red Steer. 
  • Fusilier. 

But Pig's Ear has always been the most popular. They even give us a good example from D. W. Barret Derby’s Life and Work Among the Navvies, published in 1880, 

“Now, Jack, I'm going to get a tiddly wink, a pig's ear.” 

Translation A tiny drink of beer. Try that next time your barman comes over and says, 

“What you having, mate?”

So now the pub is back with a good name that supports tradition. What else can we say about today's pub? The pub interior went a bit spiffy in the period after Frank and his dad sold. High end furniture designer Timothy Oulton was involved in an interior upgrade, and the pub seemed to go gastro. But since 2024 it's been in the hands of Gladwin Brothers serial restauranteurs, now with five in their stable. They say that they want to present a countryside flavor, warm and inviting, with locally secured ingredients, and they see The Pig's Ear  as a countryside pub that offers the perfect setting for locals to come together and enjoy community events. 

From the reviews, it looks like they are succeeding. As to the issue that sparked a few reviewers to leave negative comments, I'll just say remember, this is exclusive Chelsea, and everything is expensive here. 

Okay, back to the street and back to a bit more Chelsea history. The street that The Pig's Ear  sits on runs north for a block or so and crosses a major street that for the last 350 years has been known as The King's Road. Once a private thoroughfare for King Charles II, The King's Road was laid out in the late 1600s as a royal escape route, a discreet path connecting Whitehall Palace to Hampton Court. It allowed the King to ride without the bother of crowds or common traffic. Ordinary Londoners weren't permitted to use it until the early 1830s, and even then, the name stuck. The King's Road had a certain swagger. Even before the fashion set arrived. 

By the 20th century, Chelsea had transformed from riverside village to a bohemian enclave, and The King's Road became its glittering spine in the 1950s and ‘60s. It buzzed with the energy of artists, musicians and rebellious youth. Mary Quant opened the shop Bazaar here, where the miniskirt made its debut, and by the 1970s, Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren were selling punk to the world from an outrageously named shop called Sex at Number 430 King's Road. 

The street wasn't just about clothes, though. It was a stage people came to see and be seen. Mick Jagger, Twiggy, Brigitte Bardot. They all walked the same pavement as the pensioners and punks. Cafes, boutiques and pubs flourished. Each one a small theater of its own. And while the cast keeps changing, King's Road still knows how to put on a good show. 

Our last pub today is on the King's Road, a bit east of here, but let's first head south toward the river to what reader polls from publications like Time Outand The Londonist often rank as the Number One pub in Chelsea. This is The Cross Keys. Let's start with the first paragraph from Wiki, short and to the point, 

“Built in 1708, it's the oldest pub in Chelsea. Regular visitors have included artist Turner, Whistler, and Sergeant writers Agatha Christie, Dylan Thomas and musicians Bob Marley and the Rolling Stones.“

Yes, CAMRA, but that hardly scratches the surface. pubwiki.co.ukusually tells us the licensing and census records of the pubs, but there is much more when it comes to what they have for The Cross Keys.

Their write up first conveys that this pub was established in the 16th century, and rebuilt in its present form in 1889. The first records are from Sun Fire Insurance, indicating that Mr. Samuel New was running the place in 1791. From there, as we scroll down the historical listings, a few gems emerge. In November of 1828, there seems to have been a morals problem that required the boss to appear in court.

G Gunner, Landlord appeared to answer an, 

“Information for suffering laborers and journeyman to play cards in his house.”

In June 1851. Mr. Shoesmith, the Landlord, had been fined 50 pounds by the Westminster magistrate for having in his possession materials concocted to adulterate beer. A keg purported to contain American Spruce was found to be full of a preparation of molasses and licorice. As this was his first offense, the magistrate did not inflict the extreme penalty of 200 pounds. 

Things must have been tough in the decade of the 1850s. There were at least six licensee changes in that ten-year period, with one fellow going bankrupt. The records after that don't show quite the revolving door that we saw in the 1850s, but the pub in the 1900s was newsworthy for other reasons.

Now that's a bit of a story. By 1920, Frances Buxton, 53 years old, had been the Landlady of The Cross Keys for five years. She lived on the premises alone. She was discovered murdered in the pub cellar on Sunday, January 18th, 1920. The investigators on the scene believe that she had been battered with a heavy instrument, and the Doctor later confirmed her death was due to a fractured skull.

Approximately 20 pounds was thought to be missing from the pub's takings from days prior to the murder. Additionally, some of Frances’ jewelry was missing, but it must have been a hasty job because a gold watch and chain were found in her bedroom. A broken bottle, likely the murder weapon, was found near her body in the cellar with a pool of blood, but fingerprints found on it were inconclusive for identification purposes.

Frances was married, but had not lived with her husband for 11 or 12 years. The First World War and various work assignments resulted in long separations for the couple, and to make matters worse, husband Frank said that after a year of working abroad, he returned to find Frances involved in the Suffragette Movement. Heavens! Frank and Frances were experienced publicans, running establishments both during their time together and individually after their separation. 

With a marriage in name only, Frances Buxton had several male friends and cohabited with a number of men. So, there were numerous individuals to investigate, but one bloke became of prime interest. A tall man had been in the pub in the days before the murder. The staff and the regulars told investigators that they were suspicious of the fellow hanging around, sitting at the back, looking at the Landlady's jewelry, which she displayed prominently and having only eyes for her.

One regular told Frances, 

“I see there was someone here at the bar giving you the glad eye.”

She replied, 

“Yes, that man's been in the house for 3 or 4 days and had been foxing me. I have got him set.”

As an aside. Don't you just love the way they talked in the 20s? The police worked hard on this one, but the murder remains unsolved.

A couple of interesting later developments only added to the mystery. Seven years after the murder, a man confessed to the crime. He was a well-known writer of crime books who had claimed to have previously been imprisoned in France. He must have liked having some kind of rough guy cred, but Scotland Yard later determined that this confession was a hoax, concluding that the Author merely had sought to publish a sensational story through Fleet Street.

In 1932, 12 years after the murder, an anonymous postcard was sent to the police from a State Prison in New York, USA. This postcard named a specific individual a Seaman, but this led nowhere. To this day, no culprit has been found. Lots of details about this case are available to die hard true crime fans. The case has been written up in detail several times in books and on the web.

Nostalgia for the 1920s and the fascination with true crime seemed to be an irresistible combination. Isn't it ironic that a pub with Agatha Christie as a patron is the scene of a grisly unsolved murder? Not to be too morbid, but in February 1960, another Publican lost his life in the pub. Pubwiki’s records said, 

“Mr. Garner, a 1965 Licensee of The Cross Keys collapsed after closing the public house last week.”

But shiver not. I can't find a single report of a haunting associated with the pub. Of course, if you rule out the sources that say, 

“The pub was a haunt for The Rolling Stones in the 1960s,”

There are about 100 pubs named The Cross Keys in Britain, according to pubnames.co.uk

And why is that? Cross keys are the sign of Saint Peter, the gatekeeper of heaven in Christianity. Pubs called The Cross Keys are often found close to churches dedicated to Saint Peter, but in the case of the Chelsea Cross Keys, it is thought that the name refers to one of the marks used on the pottery from Chelsea China factory that used to be nearby. 

So, you would think that a pub with this much history is in no danger of not continuing on as a pub. Well, evidently not even the oldest pub in Chelsea is safe. Wiki tells us, 

“In 2012, the property developer owner of the pub closed his doors and boarded up the windows, claiming all the pub does is lose money.”

Side comment. Senior management never blames themselves, do they? 

“He applied for a planning permission to turn it into a mansion with a swimming pool in the basement. If he had been successful, the property could have been worth more than 10 million pounds. Pub is being crushed under the weight of money. But good news. In 2013, following a successful campaign by local people, it was sold and later reopened as a pub again.” 

CAMRA tells us a bit more about the fight to save the pub and the transition to today,

“Following one of the hardest fought battles in London to save a pub from developers and with at one point squatters in the pub, a long lease on the ground floor and basement of the original building was granted to the DM Group who, following an extensive retrofit as most original fittings were destroyed, opened the pub in 2015.”

Aside, one reviewer speculated that the original fittings were destroyed by the evil developer as he prepared to build his mansion. If this were a silent film, at this point, the piano player would be cranking out the dastardly villain music fitting music. But I don't know for certain if the Developer is to blame. Okay, back to CAMRA.

“Today's Crosskeys is primarily a gastropub, but as well as the tables laid out for diners at the rear, there's plenty of space up at the front of the pub for drinkers. The decor is dominated by bare brick walls, some half-height paneled, and others decorated with stripped, reused wooden doors and large wooden shutters said to be from a Portuguese asylum. The back wall is cleverly mirrored to reflect light from the skylight above, as well as the bar stools, a planed oak bar, there's a mixture of types of dining tables and chairs.”

 A pubsgalore.co.uk Commentator, who knew the pub in the past, was surprised at the space they found in the pub after the redo and was overall positive, even though things were new.

We have this pub by the thinnest of circumstances, so I think we should celebrate it, even if it's not quite the pub of old. Good reviews attest to the fact that it's meeting customer needs of today. 

Okay, out to the street. We are very close to a historic street in Chelsea, not The King's Road, but Cheyne Walk, which runs right along the river.

The number of famous people who have lived on this street is amazing. Wiki has a complete listing. Let me pick out a few to whet your interest. Walking down from The Cross Keys, and turning the corner to Cheyne Walk, we first encounter a block of flats called Carlisle Mansions, nicknamed The Writer's Block. It was the home of these big names in letters - T.S. Eliot, Henry James, Somerset Maugham, and Ian Fleming, among others.

As we walk down the street, we pass individual houses with specific street numbers. Here are some of the notable residents: 

  • Number 119 - Artist J.M.W. Turner died here in 1851.
  • Number 96 through 101 - this is Lindsay House, Sir Mark Brunell, Designer and Constructor of the Thames Tunnel at Rotherhithe, and father of the equally famous Isambard Kingdom Brunel of the Great Western Railway fame.
  • Number 93 - Victorian novelist Elizabeth Glasgow born here. Although her novels are still well thought of, she's probably more famous these days as writing the first biography of Charlotte Bronte.
  • Number 92 - Ken Follett, Novelist.
  • Number 48 - Mick Jagger and Marianne Faithfull lived here in 1968.
  • Number 41 - James Clerk Maxwell, the famous Physicist, lived here in the early 1860s while lecturing at King's College London. He used the iron railings outside to experiment on electromagnetic fields. He wasn't too popular with the neighbors.
  • Number 27 - Bram Stoker, Author of Dracula.
  • Number 21 - Painter James McNeill Whistler. Despite being a fellow yank, he was a long-time resident of the street at this and other street numbers on chain work.
  • Number 19 - Okay, true crime warning. In 1973, elderly widow Isabel Griffith was murdered by a serial killer, Patrick Mackay. I don't want to ruin our pleasant work. So, this is all I will say about that. Well, except it may be to add that Mackay was arrested in 1975, convicted and remains in prison today.
  • Number 16 - Dante Gabriel Rossetti, English Painter and Poet. He lived here from 1862 to 1882, and during that time he was banned from keeping peacocks due to noise, just like Maxwell over at 41. He was not courting favor with the neighbors.
  • Number 14 - Bertrand Russell, Philosopher, Logician, Mathematician, public intellectual and Nobel Prize winner. Wow. How did he get his head through the door?
  • Number 10 - David Lloyd George. The former Prime Minister. Makes me wonder, did he choose the address purposefully?
  • Number 4 - Victorian Author George Eliot. That was her pen name. Her real name was Marianne Evans. She spent the last three weeks of her life here. A century or so later. Michael Bloomberg, former mayor of New York City and media mogul, acquired this house in 2015.
  • Number 3 - Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones.
  • Number 2 - American Actor John Barrymore.

From where we started on the street to where we ended up, is about a nine-minute walk. Isn't the list of famous residents incredible for that short distance? Short, though our walk may have been, I'm sure we all need some refreshment. Fear not. Our next pub is just ten minutes away. It's The Pheneat an easy to remember street address Nine Phene Street. 

The pub has had an interesting journey starting at the beginning. CAMRAtells us, 

“The Phene is located in a leafy Chelsea backwater, roughly halfway between King's Road and the Chelsea Embankment. 

Built in 1853 along with the rest of the street by Doctor John Samuel Phene, a wealthy and eccentric landowner, he is credited with initiating the idea of planting trees in city streets. The pub was considered architecturally unusual by being attached to a terrace of just one house on Phene Street.” 

Thanks, CAMRA. I might add that the original name was not The Phene, but The Phene Arms. 

Remember, in two previous pubs we covered today, one was associated with a famous football player, and the other was threatened by an evil developer who wanted to change it from a pub to a house? Well, this isn't Groundhog Day, but as I talk about this pub, you might start to look around for Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell. There's a football player and a possible house conversion in this one, too.

The footballer is George Best, a lad from Northern Ireland that had a very good decade playing for Manchester United from the early ‘60s into the ‘70s. After that he played for various other clubs, including three in the US, finally retiring in 1984. He had a house around the corner from The Phene Arms, as it was known then, and it was often referred to as George Best Favorite pub, certainly his local.

There's a sad aspect that I must mention. George struggled with alcoholism and some of its associated problems, like drunk driving. For most of his adult life, despite some severe medical issues, he couldn't seem to maintain his sobriety and was known to be a patron of The Phene Arms up until his death. George passed away at age 59 in 2005.

An article from The Standard tells us of the headwinds the pub faced in the years following George's death. 

“The Phene Arms in Chelsea lost many regulars following the death of its long serving landlord, and then had its license taken away too. For many years it was run by live in Landlord Wesley Davis and his wife Carmen. After Mr. Davis died, his widow struggled to run it on her own. Many regulars abandoned it, and eventually Kensington and Chelsea Council stripped it of its license.” 

Thanks. Standard. Sad news. The pub remained closed until 2010, reemerging as The Phene. Alls well, right? Not so much. In the middle of 2011. The Developer who owned the property put forward an application to convert the pub into a residence. Ah, The Cross Keys, right?

Yes, but this was a different guy. A fight to save the pub broke out. Now that's the kind of pub punch up I like. And there were ups and downs, but the final result was that that venue was saved in 2013 and sold to City Pub Group. Yay! 

Now back to CAMRA to tell us about the current pub today,

“It is a high-end gastropub decorated in a minimalist, light gray. A clubhouse style venue housing a traditional saloon bar with bright red banquettes and stripped wooden floor. A conservatory restaurant at the back and a lounge on the first floor. The extensive heated terrace on the side is complete with comfortable sofas, outdoor fireplaces and quirky hanging basket chairs.”

Personally, I've been to The Phene Arms before closure and the redone Phene. I like the old style better, but you know, one has to accept change. Good news though, despite being gastro, I found you can pop in for just a drink and have a nice experience to have this great pub still continuing on. I will take the new style interior.

Congrats to all involved in saving The Phene. Can we get one more pub in here today? Let's try. Let's take a seven-minute walk up to King's Road. Remember, I said we'd end up there? We're headed to The Chelsea Potter.On our way, let's talk about Chelsea and pottery. A big name in that sphere was William de Morgan, 1839 to 1917. A great artistic figure of the Arts and Crafts movement, a Designer, Novelist and above all, Master Potter, known for his vivid color tiles, luster wear and intricate, almost storybook patterns, he revived techniques from the Middle East and Renaissance Italy, giving them a Victorian flourish. 

De Morgan first set up his pottery in Chelsea in the 1870s. From his workshop here he produced the richly patterned ceramics that would make him famous. Peacock feathered glazes, fantastical animals and designs that turned everyday tiles into works of art. 

Chelsea was more than just a base of operations. It shaped De Morgan's creative circle. The neighborhood's artistic community provided patrons, collaborators, and inspiration. The proximity to The Thames meant ready access to shipping for raw materials and sending finished pieces far afield, helping his reputation spread well beyond London.

Even after its pottery years, De Morgan's name remained linked to Chelsea, a reminder that the district wasn't just home to Painters and Poets. It also had its very own wizard of clay and glaze. But Chelsea's connection to ceramics began long before de Morgan with the famed Chelsea porcelain factory of the mid-1700s. Its finely crafted, delicately painted tableware set the tone for the area's long association with beautiful, imaginative working clay, a tradition De Morgan would later reinvent for the Victorian age.

So, you'd automatically assume that The Chelsea Potter pub was named after De Morgan, or in honor of the long-ago porcelain factory? Well, not quite. The pub started life around 1842 as a commercial tavern, and even with all the pottery going around in the De Morgan years in Chelsea, it kept that name. In 1952, a couple founded Chelsea Pottery at 13 Radnor Walk, about a half a block away, and as a nod to the local business and I guess carrying on a local tradition, the pub became The Chelsea Potter in 1958.

The pottery company Chelsea Pottery continued on until its closure in 1994, but the pub still carries on. Some sources contend, including cameras right up, that the name was due to Mr. De Morgan's shop, but that was closed in 1907, 50 years before the name change. So, it seems to make sense that the shop, operating just a short walk away, rather was the inspiration for the new handle.

Now, with all that said, we'll just let the mystery be. CAMRA tells us more about recent history and today's pub, 

“There's an attractive bay window and glazed bar divided windows along the Radnor Walk frontage. Adorned with hanging baskets where outside tables are available inside. Now a comfortable one bar pub, its high ceiling supported on slender scroll top columns, is furnished with a mix of high and low tables, chairs and stools, a bare boarded floor, plenty of carved wood and a variety of mirrors add to the atmosphere.

A pub grub menu is offered. Jimi Hendrix and the Rolling Stones are reputed to have once been customers, and now it attracts a passing trade as well as local regulars.”

A reviewer on pubsgalore.co.uk found a welcome refuge here, 

“It was a relief to actually see a pub after walking a fair bit down the King's Road, passing a multitude of designer outlets. The pub was busy on our Thursday evening visit, with a good few drinkers sitting outside along the side entrance. This is a one-room pub which has a traditional style, with the main feature being the front bay windows. The pub was well staffed behind the bar and in spite of the pub being busy, the staff took their time serving you and treating you as an individual and not a number.”

This pub is run by Greene King Group, and their website says that they have been around a while, and we know a thing or two about being a traditional great British pub. Good goal and TripAdvisor reviews support that they achieve that objective,

“Seems like a great place to recharge after a nice ramble around Chelsea.”

So, that's where we find ourselves and that takes us to the end of our pub visiting today.

Well, Listener, what a journey through Chelsea’s fluid history that was! This is Podcast Producer, Andy Meddick wrapping up Episode 49.

Today we've walked in the footsteps of legends – from Oscar Wilde and J.M.W. Turner on Cheyne Walk to Mick Jagger and Keith Richards stumbling out of Chelsea pubs. We've explored four fantastic historic establishments: 

  • The Pig's Ear The Pig's Ear with its proper Cockney rhyming slang.
  • The Cross Keys where poor Frances Buxton met her untimely end in 1920 and Agatha Christie enjoyed a pint.
  • The Phene – George Best's beloved local, and
  • The Chelsea Potter on the legendary King's Road where Jimi Hendrix once hung out.

We've traced Chelsea's remarkable transformation from Henry VIII's royal manor and "Village of Palaces" to a bohemian artists' colony, then through the Swinging Sixties with Mary Quant's miniskirts and Vivienne Westwood's punk revolution, right up to the Sloane Rangers and today's billionaire residents with multi-million-pound mansions.

From pottery and porcelain to punk rock and property prices, Chelsea has always been about art and influence in a very expensive package. Bohemians to Billionaires indeed – groovy, baby!

Up next on Episode 50 of The Historic London Pubcast, we’re heading to Hackney. Once London’s gritty, working-class underdog, now a hipster haven buzzing with street art, artisan coffee, and converted warehouses turned cultural hotspots. 

From the birthplace of the Hackney Carriage to the meeting point of two future Sex Pistols punk legends, this episode uncovers radical history, pub-saving protests, a Norwegian moose head, and a karaoke-fueled pub that flirted with infamy. 

We’ll see you in Hackney. 

Now if I could just find a cab…