Property Description
Belgrave Mews North is a cobbled cul-de-sac, approached through its own arch off Wilton Crescent in Westminster, just south of Hyde Park. Situated between Kinnerton Street and Wilton Row (both original/ surviving Mews streets), the Mews is oriented in a south-west to north-east direction and contains 26 properties used for residential purposes.
Between October 1940 and June 1941, a high explosive bomb is recorded falling onto Wilton Crescent, near to Belgrave Mews North and presumably some of the properties were affected, meaning that they had to be rebuilt. The area was noted as being upper-middle class and wealthy 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.
Belgrave Mews North contains two, three and four storey buildings with mansard and parapet roofs. The facades of the properties are a mixture of different styles with a variety of materials being used in the construction. Parking is restricted and the garages are still intact.
2 Wilton Crescent has a Blue Plaque erected in 2002 inscribed ‘EARL MOUNTBATTEN OF BURMA 1900-1979 COUNTESS MOUNTBATTEN OF BURMA 1901-1960. Last Viceroy and Vicereine of India lived here’
The 1948 film ‘˜The Fallen Idol‘ and 1960 film ‘The League of Gentlemen’ were both filmed in Belgrave Mews North.
Everchanging Nature
The original purpose of Belgrave Mews North was to serve as coach house/ stable accommodation to the larger properties in Wilton Crescent and Belgrave Square and it was actually known as Wilton Crescent Mews until 1937. Now the primary usage of the Mews buildings is residential and the original two storey properties have been largely extended to three, and four storey households.
There have been a vast number of planning applications made both before and since 2003. Most notably; basement excavations, additional storeys, changes to the fenestration and the use of a flat roof as a terrace. Conservation Area controls now apply to new development in the Mews.