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. Attempts to explain the name World's End are likely to be misled by modern connotations of the phrase. A more likely explanation starts with the fact that "end" is simply an Old English word for a field. There are many villages and hamlets in Britain that have been called World's End since medieval times, suggesting that the name is simply agricultural.
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.
It is mentioned in Congreve'sRestoration comedyLove for Love as a place of questionable reputation to the west of London. On Cary's New And Accurate Plan Of London And Westminster, the inn is shown on the north side of Kings Road, the only building in the area. The modern public house, the World's End Distillery, on the south side of King's Road, was built in 1897. The area has long been regarded as the less fashionable end of Chelsea, with Victorian slums being replaced with council housing in the 20th century.
The 1960s
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 Kings Road was the DragonTea 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.
Housing
In the 1960s Chelsea Borough Council erected new social housing, in particular the Cremorne Estate. This was followed, in the 1970s, by the red brick towers of the World's End estate which swept away many Victorian terraced houses. The estate was designed by Jim Cadbury-Brown and Eric Lyons, and is now known for its brutalist architecture.
