CHELSEA PARK 31 



of cedars, old mulberry trees, elms and white- 

 thorn, full of blossom in the spring, all set 

 in long grass more like the country than any 

 London suburb. 



In a letter to the Times, 1 an ineffectual 

 attempt was made to save it by the present 

 writer. Within a year of that date, Chelsea 

 Park trees and all had disappeared, and the 

 bricks and mortar of the " Elm Park Estate " 

 had settled down upon the " paradise " that 

 had been Sir Thomas More's. 



Now, Paradise Row was the name of a part 

 of the only road which led to More's house, 

 with its wonderful gardens and park, long 

 after its first owner's death, the Paradise of 

 Chelsea. The road to it may well have been 

 spoken of as the Paradise Road, and a row of 

 houses built on it would thus get its name. 



Another possible source of the name is the 

 Garden of the Apothecaries. 



In the Survey of London, of which Mr. 

 Philip Norman is general editor, published by 

 the London County Council, it is stated on 

 the authority of Mr. Randall Davies that the 

 Paradise Row houses were built in 1691. 



At that time the Apothecaries' Garden was 

 probably the only walled-in garden in the road. 

 It contained rare plants and fruit, and already 

 had European fame. Therefore, of the two, 

 perhaps the Apothecaries' Garden has the 

 chief claim to have given the name of Paradise 

 Row to the street along which it lay. 



1 24th November, 1875. 



