![]() ![]() Mews lost their equestrian function in the early 20th century when motor cars were introduced. For example, the grand stable block at Chatsworth House is referred to as the stables, not the mews. Mews are not used for large individual non-royal British stable blocks, a feature of country houses. Nevertheless 45 of the buildings in Kerkstraat in Amsterdam were originally the stables and coach houses of houses in Keizersgracht and Prinsengracht, between which it runs. The advantage of the British system was that it hid the sounds and smells of the stables away from the family when they were not using the horses. ![]() ![]() ![]() This arrangement was different from most of Continental Europe, where the stables in wealthy urban residences were usually off a front or central courtyard. Mews are often found in the boroughs of Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster (particularly Mayfair and Marylebone). Most but not all have the word "mews" in their name. Most mews are named after one of the principal streets which they back onto. Sometimes there were variations such as small courtyards. Generally this was mirrored by another row of stables on the opposite side of the service street, backing onto another row of terraced houses facing outward into the next street. The mews had horse stalls and a carriage house on the ground floor, and stable servants' living accommodation above. In the 18th and 19th centuries, London housing for wealthy people generally consisted of streets of large terraced houses with stables at the back, which opened onto a small service street. Mews was applied to service streets and the stables in them in cities, primarily London. "Mews" has since been applied to any stable buildings in any space, lane, alley or back street onto which these buildings open, and to any new residential buildings of similar character throughout the English-speaking world that have motor vehicles taking the place of horses and carriages.ĭescription London Charterhouse Mews, London Horbury Mews, located near Ladbroke Road in Notting Hill The 18th-century Washington Mews in Greenwich Village, New York City matches the London buildings in period, purpose and name. The name mews was taken up for domestic stables in the city during the 17th century. There were also royal mews at St James's Palace. Those royal stables moved to Buckingham Palace Road in 1820. The first recorded use meaning stables is dated 1548, after the royal stables were built at Charing Cross, on the site of the royal hawk mews. The term mews is still used today in falconry circles in English-speaking countries to refer to the housing of the birds of prey used in falconry.įrom 1377 onwards the king's falconry birds were kept in the King's Mews at Charing Cross. Shakespeare deploys to mew up to mean confine, coop up, or shut up in The Taming of the Shrew: "What, will you mew her up, Signor Baptista?" and also Richard III: "This day should Clarence closely be mewed up". Mews derives from the French muer, 'to moult', reflecting its original function to confine hawks while they moulted. The term is now commonly used in English-speaking countries for city housing of a similar design.Īfter the advent of World War Two, mews were replaced by alleys and the carriage houses by garages for automobiles. The word mews comes from the Royal Mews in London, England, a set of royal stables built 500 years ago on a former royal hawk mews. Mews are usually located in desirable residential areas, having been built to cater for the horses, coachmen and stable-servants of prosperous residents. The winch for horse feed is visible in front of the attic doorĪ mews is a row or courtyard of stables and carriage houses with living quarters above them, built behind large city houses before motor vehicles replaced horses in the early twentieth century. Third of three identical buildings, Bruton Place (formerly North Bruton Mews) off Berkeley Square, Mayfair, London W1. ( February 2008) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. ![]()
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