Property Description

Chapel Side is a cobbled cul-de-sac off Moscow Road in Westminster. Roughly oriented in a north-south direction, the Mews contains 27 properties used for both residential and commercial purposes.

In World War II, a high explosive bomb fell onto St Petersburgh Place, just to the east of the Mews and presumably some of the properties were affected and had to be rebuilt as a result. When the London Poverty Maps were published, the area was deemed to have a mixture of different classes; some households were comfortable whilst others were poor in comparison.

Chapel Side is part of Westminster City Council’s Bayswater Conservation Area. Developed over the space of about 70 years, the townscape is uniform despite being composed of several distinct areas and is made up of a regular composition of streets and squares in an Italianate style. An important aspect of the street pattern are the several mews, some quite intimate and others so large that they appear to be a development of their own. The contrast of scale provided by these mews is a crucial aspect of the overall area’s character.

The two storey properties in the Mews have roofs hidden behind parapet walls and a mixture of painted and rendered brickwork facades. There are partial pavements surrounded by a cobbled road surface. Moscow Road, from where the Mews can be accessed was a filming location for the 1995 James Bond film Goldeneye.

Everchanging Nature

The original purpose of the Mews was to provide stabling for the surrounding properties on Palace Court and St Petersburgh Place but nowadays they are mainly used for residential purposes although some commercial activity still remains. There have been a few planning applications made since 2003, some of the original properties have been demolished and replaced with modern builds. Conservation Area controls now apply to any new development in the Mews.