Property Description
Lowndes Close is a cobbled cul-de-sac off Lowndes Place in Westminster, in line with Lyall Mews, another original/ surviving Mews. There are 13 properties in the Mews, used for residential purposes.
Between October 1940 and June 1941, a high explosive bomb is recorded falling onto Chesham Mews, an original/ surviving Mews street not far from Lowndes Close. The area was noted as being fairly comfortable with good, ordinary household earnings when the London Poverty Maps were first published.
The Mews is part of Westminster City Council’s Belgravia Conservation Area. First designated in 1968, it was laid out as a fashionable residential area to the west of Buckingham Palace. There is a high degree of townscape uniformity and a formal layout based on a grid pattern. The area is predominantly residential with some shops on the edges. There are also a significant number of embassies, diplomatic buildings and institutional headquarters.
The Mews has two and three storey, plain brickwork buildings with mansard roof styles. The buildings are surrounded by a cobbled road surface and parking is restricted. There are both intact and converted garages present in the Mews. The arch to the close is a listed building.
Everchanging Nature
The original purpose of the Mews was to provide stable/ coach house accommodation to the main houses in the surrounding area. Nowadays, the function of the properties is mainly residential.
A few planning applications have been made since 2003 for alterations to properties, mainly internal. Conservation Area controls now apply to new development in the Mews.