3-065-941 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

King Charles's Day, Chelsea Hospital, 1874. 'The Royal hospital for aged and disabled soldiers at Chelsea...was founded in 1682, by King Charles II...The architect was Sir Christopher Wren, and the cost £150,000. Its extensive front, of red brick and stone, in blocks of harmonious proportions, the gardens before and behind, and the avenues of limes and chestnuts, are familiar objects in London. So are the old pensioners...in their long scarlet coats with blue facings, or sometimes blue overcoats, and three-cornered cocked hats...These poor old fellows are taught to revere the memory of Nell Gwyn's Royal master as the noblest of British monarchs and heroes. See where his Majesty stands, in the armour of a Roman warrior, sculptured by Grinling Gibbons, erected in the central quadrangle which overlooks the Thames! On the 29th of May, which is Oak-apple Day - as it is the birthday of this beloved Prince, who once escaped the search of Cromwell's troopers in the leafy branches of an oak - the military veterans of Chelsea do homage to their founder's statue. Its inclosure railing is adorned with the boughs of Old England's emblematic tree. The men are paraded before the Colonel or other commanding officer. They give three cheers for King Charles!'. From "Illustrated London News", 1874.