World's End is a district of Chelsea, London, lying at the western end of the King's Road. Once a Victorian slum area, council housing was built here in the 20th century, including the brutalist architecture World's End estate.
History
World's End, Chelsea, London. From Cary's New And Accurate Plan Of London And Westminster
The area takes its name from the public houseThe World's End, which dates back to at least the 17th century. However, like the district known as Elephant and Castle, the origins of names of public houses are obscure.
In the King's Road, near Milman Street, is an inn styled "The World's End." The old tavern... was a noted house of entertainment in the reign of Charles II. The tea-gardens and grounds were extensive, and elegantly fitted up for the reception of company. The house was probably called "The World's End" on account of its then considerable distance from London, and the bad and dangerous state of the roads and pathways leading to it. (Old and New London, 1878)[1]
On Cary's New And Accurate Plan Of London And Westminster (1795), the inn is shown on the north side of Kings Road, the only building in the area.[4] The modern public house, the World's End Distillery, on the south side of King's Road, was built in 1897.[5]
The fashionable set who had made their home at the other end of the Kings Road discovered the World's End and found it was the perfect place to open the boutique Granny Takes a Trip. There were several boutiques and hippie shops that clustered round World's End in the late 1960s including Gandalf's Garden selling candles, incense, spiritual books and hippy paraphernalia. Sophisticat sold reconditioned pine furniture and was home to Christian the lion cub; The Sweet Shop at 28 Blantyre Street sold silk velvet patchwork and applique cushions, tunics, and wallhanging designed by artist Laura Jamieson. The shop was frequented by Twiggy, Jean Shrimpton, and Keith Richards.
A short distance away on the King's Road was the Dragon Tea Garden, a meeting place for local aristocrats, bohemians and hippies who sat on floor cushions, played backgammon and sipped exotic teas. The World's End became a centre for the counter-culture world of the 1960s. This continued in the late 1970s and 1980s with the opening of the boutique SEX started by Vivienne Westwood in the 1970s (which is now known as World's End).
Housing
In the 1960s Chelsea Borough Council erected new social housing, in particular the Cremorne Estate (named after the historical Cremorne Gardens, which once stood on that site).
