A Royal Institution
The Royal Hospital Chelsea is an institution with over 330 years of continuous history and its origins can be traced back to the restoration of the Monarchy in 1660.
That period also witnessed the foundation of the first English standing regular army.
And the new position of Paymaster-General of His Majesty’s Forces went to a man named Sir Stephen Fox. He was a Royal Administrator with a reputation for honesty and reliability, and while skilfully managing the finances of the army, he rose to become the country’s wealthiest commoner.
With a contribution of £13,000 of his own money, he approached King Charles ll with the idea of building a hospital for retired soldiers, inspired by the example of the French King Louis XlV who had built the “Hotel Des Invalides” a similar hospital in Paris in 1670.
Tradition said that the Kings mistress, the actress Nell Gwynn, encouraged him to go ahead with the idea, as her father had been a soldier during the Civil War and had died destitute in a debtors prison when she was a baby.
A Royal Charter was issued and Architect Sir Christopher Wren, the then Kings Surveyor of works, started the project in 1682.
The hospital was built at Chelsea on the former site of a failed Theology College on the west bank of one of London’s lost Rivers the Westbourne, where it met the River Thames.
The red brick building was finished in 1692 and was laid out in spacious attractive gardens to include a central courtyard flanked on the east and west sides with 4 storey high dormitory blocks.
Hospital As In ‘Hospitality’
It was built not how we recognise a hospital today, but instead as a home and place of hospitality. The blocks initially housed 480 retired soldiers.
The Pensioners, or Chelsea Pensioners as they have come to be known, receive bord and lodgings and are free to come and go as they please. Any former soldier male – or female since 2009 – can apply to join. Applicants have to be over 65 years. And they have to be (as the Royal Hospital’s original charter puts it) ‘’unencumbered by spouse’’.
They are encouraged to wear navy blue uniforms while inside, and for ceremonies and formal occasions, they wear their distinctive red uniforms.
Originally each Pensioner occupied a small wooden berth cubical measuring 6ft X 6ft with bed, draws, table and chair but no windows. But these cells have been modernised in recent years and are now much larger. They include a study, en-suite shower room and windows. And today the Inmate head count is around 300.
The hospital, one of the finest buildings of its kind in Britain, was never intended to be just a home for old soldiers. It was also
A Powerful Statement Of Royal Taste And Generosity.
In the north block Christopher Wren constructed a fine Chapel where now visitors are welcome to attend regular Sunday morning services.
The following painting depicts the moment when a Pensioner dies during a service in the Chapel. (yes just in front of ‘The Resurrection’… Not too sure if it shows hope or irony from the artist)
Please note
Also housed in the north block, The Great Hall serves as a communal dining space and is used for formal occasions. The walls of the hall are decorated with Royal portraits and feature panelling detailing past military campaigns. While flags and captured colours hang overhead.
In 1852 the Duke of Wellington’s coffin lay in state in The Great Hall before being taken to St Paul’s Cathedral. Thousand of people visited and a crush ensued where several were killed.
In April 1941 the Pensioners found themselves once again on the front line when the old west side hospital infirmary and stable blocks were hit and destroyed by a German aerial mine. Five staff and eight Pensioners were killed and 37 others injured. This area is now home to the National Army Museum. And the hospital also received damage from the impact of a V2 Rocket which landed close by in 1945.
Each year the Pensioners hold a Founders day parade on Oak Apple Day, May 29th. When they respectfully remember Charles 2nd’s birthday and Restoration day. They decorate his golden gilded statue (By Sculptor Grinling Gibbons) in the central courtyard with Oak sprigs and branches. The Oak symbolises Charles’s experience in 1651 of evading capture by Parliamentary forces whilst hiding in an Oak tree at the battle of Worcester during the Civil War.
The Royal hospital has always been proud of its close links to the Monarch and since 1980 the reviewing officer at the Founders day parade has always been a member of the Royal Family.
The Pensioner receive excellent health and social care and by being admitted to the Hospital it’s estimated to increase an individuals life expectancy by ten years.
In 2008 a new infirmary was opened on the east side and is now dedicated to
Margaret Thatcher who had a strong relationship with the hospital. Her ashes along with husband Dennis’s are buried there.
And since 1913 the Royal Horticultural Society, during the month of May, has held one of London’s more popular events in the Hospital grounds. The Chelsea Flower Show. The funds of which contribute to the upkeep of the hospital.
This year’s flower show (2023) is held from 23rd to 27th May, please click here for more information and tickets.
The Pensioners have a close relationship with nearby Chelsea Football Club. They receive a ticket quota for all the home games and often lead the team out on to the pitch. When the club won the Premier League title in 2005 & 2010, the Pensioners formed a guard of honour during the trophy presentation.
The club actively supports the armed forces. A tradition which dates back to the World War years when many of their players left to join the military and then on their return went back to play for the club.
Chelsea Football Club was founded in 1905 and from then until 1952
The club’s original Badge and logo featured an image of a Chelsea Pensioner. And the clubs first nickname was the ‘Pensioners’.
Adam
