Chelsea Old Church is almost 900 years old

Chelsea Old Church

Kensington & Hyde Park

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This beautiful and original church stands behind a bronze monument to Thomas More (1477–1535), who had a close association with it. Original features of the largely rebuilt church (it was badly bombed in 1941) comprise more than 100 monuments dating from 1433 to 1957, including Thomas More (1532) and Henry James (1916). Don't miss the chained books at the western end of the southern aisle, the only ones of their kind in a London church.

The central tome is a 'Vinegar Bible' from 1717 (so-named after an erratum in Luke, chapter 20), alongside a Book of Common Prayer from 1723 and a 1683 copy of Homilies. Also look out for fragments of 17th-century Flemish stained glass, of exceptional clarity and artistry.

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