The initiation of this glorious work by Sir Christopher Wren (1632-1723) is reported to have originated with Sir Stephen Fox who was the first Paymaster General to the Forces under Charles II (1630-85). Wren's description of the design he intended, provided with drawings and a scale model, commences: 'The Royall Hospitall at Chelsey is pleasantly seated on a plane of gravell overlooking the Meadowes and the River Thames, which lies to the south, and having the prospect of the City and a pleasant view of the country on all sides. It consists of a large Courte built on three sides, the fourth side next to the Thames lying open to the gardens and Meadows.' Sir Stephen discussed his idea over dinner with John Evelyn the diarist in 1681. According to Evelyn in 1682 'This evening Sir Stephen Fox acquainted me with His Majesty's resolution of proceeding in the erection of a Royal Hospital.' Charles paid £1,300 for land and was to provide £20,000 for building and settle £5,000 p.a. on the Hospital. The foundation stone was laid in 1682 for '...a perpetuall hospital, in which 400 aged or otherwise disabled soldiers may at present (and so successively ye same number for ever) be lodged and supplied with ye necessary supports of life suitable to their respective conditions.' But Charles ran out of money. An appeal to the Archbishops of Canterbury and York for a fund raising campaign provoked York to tell Canterbury 'Hatred and contempt we may get but no money.' Construction staggered on and the main building was complete about 1690 with assistance from James II of England and VII of Scotland during his brief reign. James, who had more funds than Charles had had, was particularly concerned that the soldiery that had helped him put down the Monmouth rebellion should benefit. The number to be accommodated had therefore to be increased and two wings were added with their own quadrangles on the east and west sides of the original concept of 'a large Courte built on three sides...' These courtyards were paid for by James but finished in the reign of William and Mary. During the reign of the latter some £60,000 was spent on some outbuildings thanks, almost certainly, to the depredations of the amazingly wily Lord Ranelagh, then Paymaster General and Treasurer to the Royal Hospital. By 1692 the administrative arrangements had been made, the rules drawn up and the buildings completed to allow the official opening to the Pensioners on March 28. The aspect of the buildings that is to be seen now and of those they entered then has hardly altered. The grounds have. The front is not much changed except that the ground known as Burtons Court has been divided by joining what was Paradise Row with what was Royal Hospital Row to make Royal Hospital Road.. The gardens running to the river were designed by Wren to be on three levels, formal on the upper two and with canals at the lowest level. Those canals became choked with weeds, mud and sundry detritus and have been filled in. More significantly, the Chelsea Embankment linking Cheyne Walk and Grosvenor Road which was completed in 1874 now separates the gardens and meadows of Wren's description from the Thames.

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Chelsea