Stories of espionage from SW3

James Bond lived in Chelsea, as any fan of the books will recall. In Moonraker (1955), readers learn that he occupied ‘a comfortable flat in a plane tree’d square off the King’s Road’. The sitting room had views over the square and a pair of telephones: a regular phone, and a special phone for calling the office.

According to William Boyd, who wrote his own addition to the Bond novels, the flat was at 25 Wellington Square. This was the home of Desmond MacCarthy, an old schoolfriend of Ian Fleming. In the post-war period, Chelsea’s squares of smart houses were mixed in with shabbier streets, which had attracted creative types since the nineteenth century. It was not yet the fashionable location of the 1960s and ‘70s, and this overlooked quality made it the perfect address for a spy.

Fleming himself lived in Chelsea and also worked for Naval Intelligence during the war. He occupied 24 Carlyle Mansions between 1950-3, the years when he wrote the first Bond book, Casino Royale. He was not the only spy turned writer drawn to this part of Cheyne Walk: Erskine Childers, author of the popular espionage novel The Riddle of the Sands, lived at 10 Carlyle Mansions. Meanwhile, Somerset Maugham – who worked for British intelligence during the First World War and wrote the influential thriller Ashenden: Or the British Agent – also had a flat in the building.

Real spooks have lived in Chelsea too. Arguably the most famous spy in British espionage history, Kim Philby, lived at 18 Carlyle Square in the 1950s. During his career at MI6, Philby was one of the Soviet Union’s most valuable double agents, but he had to resign after two colleagues and fellow members of the Cambridge spy ring – Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean (who once lived at 29 Oakley Street) – defected to Russia. Philby remained in Chelsea until he was sent to the Middle East as a correspondent for the Economist and the Observer, eventually defecting to Russia.

Other senior spies made their home in Chelsea. For example, Guy Liddell lived at 42 Cheyne Walk, a house with a staircase designed by Edwin Lutyens. Liddell was in charge of counter-espionage during the war, and eventually became Deputy Director of MI5. However, his friendship with several members of the Cambridge spy ring meant he too was suspected of being a double agent.

Perhaps the most extraordinary espionage story from Chelsea involved not a British spy but a Russian one. During the late 1950s and early ‘60s, military intelligence officer Oleg Penkovsky gave countless secrets to MI6 and the CIA. Most of these exchanges were made via his handler Greville Wynne.

Wynne was a British businessman who lived at 19 Upper Cheyne Row. He regularly travelled to the East for work and was soon recruited by British intelligence. Over time he gained Penkovsky ’s trust, becoming the main courier for the Russian agent to share confidential material. When Penkovsky visited London, he would only speak with Wynne at his Chelsea home. Incredibly, both British and Russian intelligence helped fund a bar in this property, believing a generous supply of alcohol would make sharing secrets more likely.

That last detail could belong in a John le Carré’s novel, who himself lived in nearby Battersea. His most famous creation – George Smiley – occupied No.9 Bywater Street, not far from Bond’s fictional address. Le Carré apparently discovered the street because his literary agent lived nearby.

These days, the character of Chelsea has changed, and few spies are likely to be living in the neighbourhood. However, the village-like streets still have the discreet atmosphere that suits confidential work. So it’s easy to see why this neighbourhood was the perfect setting for agents and double agents, as well as the writers who dreamed them to life.