Property Description

Leinster Mews is a cobbled cul-de-sac approached through an entrance under a building on Leinster Gardens in Westminster. There are 29 properties in the Mews, used for residential purposes.

A high explosive bomb fell onto Lancaster Gate in World War II, a fair distance to the east of the Mews, not affecting the properties. When the London Poverty Maps were published, the area was determined as having fairly comfortable households with good ordinary earnings.

Leinster Mews is part of Westminster City Council’s Bayswater Conservation Area. Developed over the space of about 70 years, the townscape is uniform despite being composed of several distinct areas and is made up of a regular composition of streets and squares in an Italianate style. An important aspect of the street pattern are the several mews, some quite intimate and others so large that they appear to be a development of their own. The contrast of scale provided by these mews is a crucial aspect of the overall area’s character.

The Mews has two and three storey buildings with mansard, pitched and parapet roof styles and painted or rendered brickwork facades. Some garages present remain intact whilst others have been converted and there is space for residents parking only. The buildings are surrounded by a cobbled road surface.

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 usage of the properties is residential rather than commercial.

Many planning applications have been made since 2003 for alterations to properties, notably the demolition of some properties and changes to the fenestration. Conservation Area controls now apply to new development in the Mews.