Chelsea

In 1805 Ranelagh House and the rotunda were demolished, the furniture and fittings sold, and the organ made by Byfield purchased for the church of Tetbury, in Gloucestershire. Lysons adds that the site was intended to be let on building leases. This plan was, however, never carried out, and the ground reverted to the Royal Hospital. The gardens are now quite differently planned from what they were originally. The public is admitted to them under certain restrictions. One or two massive elms, which must have seen the Ranelagh entertainments blossom into life and fade away, are the only ancient relics remaining.

With this account of the Ranelagh Gardens we close our description of Chelsea, having wandered west and east, north and south, and found everywhere some memento of those bygone times, which by their continuity with the present constitute at once the glory and fascination of London, the greatest city in the world.