Property Description
Gate Mews is a partly cobbled cul-de-sac with pedestrian through road through an arch off Kensington Road in Westminster. There are 6 properties in the Mews, used for residential purposes. It is located on the site of an original Mews but has been re-developed to a degree that it no longer contains any surviving Mews properties.
A high explosive bomb fell onto Rutland Gardens, very close to the Mews in World War II. When the London Poverty Maps were published, the area was determined as having a mixture of fairly comfortable living conditions and households with good ordinary earnings to very wealthy families.
Gate Mews is part of Westminster City Council’s Knightsbridge Conservation Area. Designated in 1968, the area relates strongly to Queen’s Gate Conservation Area in Kensington and Chelsea and contains large-scale cultural and educational institutions such as the Royal Albert Hall. The western half of the area is dominated by a late Victorian cultural complex and mansion blocks whilst the east has residential areas of leafy squares and intimate terraces.
There are also several mews within the conservation area, particularly to the east and south. These are characterised by their intimate scale and are generally two storeys in height and relate to the plot width of the principal building with which they are associated.
The two and three storey properties are a mixture of plain, painted and rendered brickwork and have mansard, flat and parapet roof styles. The garages are intact and are surrounded by a cobbled and tarmacadam road surface.
Everchanging Nature
The original purpose of Gate Mews was to provide stable/ coach house accommodation to the main houses on Rutland Gate. Now, it is predominantly used for residential purposes and has private parking for residents only. The houses were rebuilt in 1968-70.
Very few planning applications have been made before and since 2003. Conservation Area controls now apply to new development in the Mews.