MANOR HOUSE BATHS AND GARDENS, CHELSEA
Towards the end of the thirties there stood in the King's Road, Chelsea,
between the present Radnor Street and Shawfield Street, a deserted mansion known
as the Manor-House. It was spacious, if not lofty, and had apparently nothing to
do with the two historical manor houses of Chelsea. For some years it had been
unoccupied; its windows were broken, its railings rusty, and weeds luxuriated in
its front-garden.
Behind the house there had once been a fine garden and orchard, and groves of
fruit trees still bore mulberries, apples and pears, which were natural prey of
the Chelsea youth. The mansion had some reputation as a haunted house, and at
nightfall unearthly sounds were heard by passers-by, which probably proceeded
from the depredators of the orchard. But one day in the autumn of 1837 some
workmen were observed on the premises, and it became difficult to get access to
the orchard.
The old Manor House was, in truth, in process of transformation. A certain Mr.
Richard Smith, described as a 'pleasant portly gentleman' and said to have made
money by an official connexion with Crockford's Club, had taken the place in
hand. The suburbs - or, at least, the suburb of Chelsea - were destitute of
public baths, and Mr. Smith proposed to supply the want by erecting on the site
of the house, or near it, a capacious building. His baths were opened in 1838,
and the popular orchard was utilized as a garden promenade, which he provided
with an orchestra and a room for concerts and dancing. In imitation of the
panoramas of the Surrey Zoological Gardens, the 'Taking of Fort Bhurtpore' was
reproduced in the grounds, and the fireworks and crackers of Professor Turnour
rendered the capture of the fortress by the English a lifelike spectacle.
The place was a good deal advertised in 1838 and 1839, and well puffed in papers
like The Town; but it was not a success. A frank critic, who was well acquainted
with the 'New Vauxhall', as the proprietor named it, says that the company
'consisted chiefly of local sweethearts' who preferred to treat each other to
apples and pears snatched from the branches rather than expend superfluous cash
in shilling goblets of hot negus. The concerts took place on three evenings in
the week, and some 'grand galas' and 'night fetes' were announced. On certain
days the boys from the Military School close by promenaded the grounds with
their band; but neither the concerts nor the baths were acceptable and in 1840
Smith discontinued the concerts and built a small theatre on part of the
orchard. 'The Royal Manor-House Theatre' could hold an audience of 500 paying
2s. and 1s. The Green Room was the emptied tank of the swimming bath. . . . The
theatre apparently closed in 1841, and Smith proceeded in a businesslike way to
build Radnor Street on the grounds, with a public house (the Commercial Tavern,
119, King's Road) at the corner, which is still standing.
Warwick Wroth, Cremorne and the later London Gardens, 1907