Property Description
Belgrave Mews West is a cobbled through-road with a cul-de-sac section (which is actually a separate original/ surviving Mews, Chesham Mews) that is approached through its own arch off Chesham Place, Westminster. The Mews is similar in style and location to the other 2 Mews surrounding Belgrave Square; Belgrave Mews North and South. The Mews contains 12 properties mainly used for residential purposes, and a pub.
Between October 1940 and June 1941, a high explosive bomb is recorded falling onto Chesham Mews, off Belgrave Mews West, 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 West contains two, three and four storey buildings with mansard roofs, surrounded by a cobbled road surface. The facades of the properties are a mixture of painted and rendered brickwork. Parking is restricted and the garages are still intact.
The Arch at the Southern End of Belgrave Mews West is registered as a Grade II Listed Building.
Everchanging Nature
The original purpose of Belgrave Mews West was to serve as coach house/ stable accommodation to the larger properties in 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 and four storeys.
There have been a vast number of planning applications made both before and since 2003. Most notably; basement excavations, partial demolition of Mews properties and changes to the fenestration and the change of purpose of buildings to residential. Conservation area controls now apply to new development in the Mews.