[2] The building was commissioned to replace a mid-19th-century vestry hall on King's Road, which had been designed by William Willmer Pocock in the Italianate style for the Parish of St Luke's and which had been found to be structurally unsound.

[3] The oldest part of the current complex is the vestry hall in Chelsea Manor Gardens, which was designed by John McKean Brydon in the neoclassical style and built by a local builder, Charles Wall; it was officially opened on 12 January 1887.

[2] The town hall continued to be used as a public venue and concert performers included the contralto singer, Kathleen Ferrier, who made an appearance on 15 April 1947.

[7] However the Brydon building became the main Kensington and Chelsea Register Office[8] and subsequently hosted several famous weddings including the marriage of Judy Garland to Mickey Deans in March 1969.

[4] The Chelsea Art Society also decided to establish its home in the Stokes extension in 1994 and it began to hold a series of annual exhibitions there showing work by both professional and non-professional artists.