Property Description
Belgrave Mews South is situated the opposite side of Belgrave Square to Belgrave Mews North, in Westminster, just south of Hyde Park. Approached through its own arch off Belgrave Place, this cobbled cul-de-sac is similar in terms of size and location to its northern counterpart, containing 31 properties.
Between October 1940 and June 1941, a high explosive bomb is recorded falling directly onto Belgrave Mews South, meaning many of the properties had to be rebuilt so any evidence of previous equestrian usage is not present. 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.
Belgrave Mews South contains two and three storey buildings with mansard and parapet roofs, surrounded by a cobbled road surface. The facades of the properties are a mixture of plain, painted and rendered brickwork. Parking is restricted and the garages are still intact or have been converted into residential properties.
Everchanging Nature
The original purpose of Belgrave Mews South was to serve as coach house/ stable accommodation to the larger properties in Eaton Place and Belgrave Square. Now the primary usage of the Mews buildings is residential and some of the original two storey properties have been extended to three storeys.
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 change of purpose of the building to residential. Conservation Area controls now apply to new development in the Mews.