After the death of the Countess of Devonshire, this ancient house became the property of Sir Joseph Alston, who was created a baronet by Charles II. in 1682. Mrs. Mary Alston, the wife of this gentleman, died here in 1671, and her funeral sermon was preached by Dr. Littleton, who published it shortly after, in quarto. Sir Joseph was in possession of this house in 1664; it afterwards came into the possession of Mr. Tate, and was occupied as a stained paper manufactory.
In 1813 it was pulled down, and the materials sold by a builder, who had obtained possession; and now not a stone remains to show where it once stood.
The family of Tate were originally of Chelsea, and had at one time large property here, which they parted with by degrees. They attained property also in Leicestershire, through a marriage with the daughter of Lord Zouch.
The Bishop of Winchester’s Palace, which was pulled down some years since, adjoined the gardens of Alston House, on the east, and on the site of which is now Oakley Street, and a terrace of well-built houses, fronting the river. The houses erected in Oakley Street are throughout of a superior class, and as the road is of considerable width, with a good pavement, it now forms the most respectable and important direct thoroughfare from the King’s Road to the centre of Cheyne Walk. The contemplated embankment and Albert Bridge will be noticed at the conclusion of this work, so as to get correct information.
The ancient palace of the Bishops of Winchester, in Southwark, having been dilapidated and laid waste, an Act of Parliament was passed in the year 1663 empowering George Morley, Bishop of Winchester, to lease out the houses in Southwark, and for other purposes. In the ensuing year the Bishop, in pursuance of this Act of Parliament, purchased a new brick house at Chelsea, then lately built by James Duke of Hamilton, and adjoining to the Manor House, Cheyne Walk, on the east, and Alston House, on the west, for £4250, to be the future residence of the bishops of this see, and to be called Winchester House. By the Act it was held to be within the diocese of Winchester.
The Bishopric of Winchester is of good antiquity, and has never changed the see since its foundation. The Bishops are Chancellors of the see of Canterbury, and Prelates of the most noble Order of St. George, called the Garter, which office was vested in them by King Edward III. at the establishment of that noble Order, and has continued with them ever since. Anciently, they were reputed Earls of Southampton, and are so styled in the Statutes of the Garter, made by Henry VIII.