In a softback A-Z format the author explores the dramatic history of Chelsea whose residents included Sir Thomas More & Henry VIII. The village was primarily a riverside settlement by the Old Church, usually reached by boat. Market gardens abounded. Serious settlement began in the 18th century when part of the large Sloane estate was built upon & gradually, as the King`s Road was brought into public use, Chelsea spread northwards. It is now one of the most coveted residential areas of London.