Kynance Mews is a

mews A 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. Mews are usually located in desirable residential ...

street in

South Kensington South Kensington, nicknamed Little Paris, is a district just west of Central London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically it settled on part of the scattered Middlesex village of Brompton. Its name was supplanted with ...

district of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, SW7. The mews consists of 33 residential properties on a setted road that passes from Gloucester Road on the east, before being bisected by Launceston Place, with the western end of the mews ending in a cul-de-sac. The entrances to the mews pass through three arches, each listed Grade II on the

National Heritage List for England The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, a ...

. The arches were built c. 1860 to a design by

Thomas Cundy III Thomas Cundy III ( Thomas de Candie, 17 October 1821 – 4 November 1895) was a British architect. He joined his father's practice in the 1840s and was also surveyor of the Grosvenor Estate, London. He retired from that post in 1890, and was s ...

. David Tucker in his 2009 book ''London Walks: London Stories'' wrote that Kensington is home to the "prettiest and most unusual" mews, and that Kynance Mews was the mews for those who want "sheer rustic rose-petal-perfect-pretty". In their 1982 book ''The Mews of London'', Barbara Rosen and

Wolfgang Zuckermann Wolfgang Joachim Zuckermann (11 October 1922 – 30 October 2018) was a German-born American harpsichord maker and writer. He was known for inventing a highly popular kit for constructing new instruments and wrote an influential book, ''The Moder ...

wrote that upon entering the western end of the mews from Launceston Place, "one can easily forget London and imagine oneself in a village deep in the English countryside". The mews is a popular place for Instagram photographs; having been described as "Insta-famous" and has been listed as one of the most "instagrammable" places to photograph ''

wisteria ''Wisteria'' is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae (Leguminosae), that includes ten species of woody twining vines that are native to China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Southern Canada, the Eastern United States, and north ...

'' in London by the ''

Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...

''.

Location

Kynance Mews is located in London's Kensington district, bisected by Launceston Place. The Gloucester Road adjoins the east end of the east part of the mews. Part of the north wall of the western end backs onto the grounds of Christ Church on the corner of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

and Eldon Road, the church is accessible through a set of steps in the west end of the mews. The mews is part of the De Vere Conservation Area.

History

It was known as Cornwall Mews until 1924, having been built as stabling for the

Cornwall Gardens Cornwall Gardens is a long narrow garden square in South Kensington, London, England. The street runs east–west off Gloucester Road and crosses Launceston Place. The ownership of the holdings and land of what is now Cornwall gardens can be ...

development to the south by the builders Welchman and Gale between 1862 and 1879. The mews served as the stabling for Welchman and Gale's Cornwall Gardens development.British History Online
Survey of London: Volume 42, Kensington Square To Earl's Court: Cornwall Gardens, British History Online
accessdate: May 28, 2018 The houses are two or three storeys in height.

Bruce Chatwin Charles Bruce Chatwin (13 May 194018 January 1989) was an English travel writer, novelist and journalist. His first book, ''In Patagonia'' (1977), established Chatwin as a travel writer, although he considered himself instead a storyteller, ...

lived at No. 9 for a year from April 1969, and later shared the property with the antiques expert Oliver Hoare. The

freehold Freehold may refer to: In real estate *Freehold (law), the tenure of property in fee simple * Customary freehold, a form of feudal tenure of land in England * Parson's freehold, where a Church of England rector or vicar of holds title to benefice ...

of a property "requiring modernisation" on Kynance Mews was listed for sale for £9,000 in 1969 (), with the rental price of a house listed at £40 per week in 1971. By August 1991 the freehold of the "largest house at the prettiest end of the mews" was listed at £325,000 (). The average price of a house on the mews was £2.3 million in 2018.

Filming location

Several films have been shot on location on Kynance Mews. Bell Cottage, No. 13, is the home of Julie Andrews's character in '' Star!'' (1968), and a bus picks people up from the mews in a late scene in the film. The hostage taking in the 1982 film ''

Who Dares Wins ''Who Dares Wins'' (Latin: ''Qui audet adipiscitur''; el, Ο Τολμών Νικά, ''O tolmón niká''; french: Qui ose gagne; it, Chi osa vince; Portuguese: ''Quem ousa vence''; German: ''Wer wagt, gewinnt'') is a motto made popular in the ...

'' occurs at No. 25.

Pamela Stephenson Pamela Helen Stephenson, Lady Connolly (born 4 December 1949) is a New Zealand-born psychologist, writer, and performer who is now a resident in both the United Kingdom and the United States. She is best known for her work as an actress and co ...

lives at No. 23 in 1984's '' Scandalous'' and Susan George cycles from No. 21 during the opening credits of the 1969 film '' Twinky''.

Janet Suzman Dame Janet Suzman, (born 9 February 1939) is a South African-born British actress who enjoyed a successful early career in the Royal Shakespeare Company, later replaying many Shakespearean roles, among others, on TV. In her first film, ''Nichol ...

runs down the mews in the 1974 film ''

The Black Windmill ''The Black Windmill'' is a 1974 British spy thriller film directed by Don Siegel and starring Michael Caine, John Vernon, Janet Suzman and Donald Pleasence. It was produced by Richard D. Zanuck and David Brown. Plot Two schoolboys are play ...

'', and

Robert Mitchum Robert Charles Durman Mitchum (August 6, 1917 – July 1, 1997) was an American actor. He rose to prominence with an Academy Award nomination for the Best Supporting Actor for ''The Story of G.I. Joe'' (1945), followed by his starring in ...

and

Derek Deadman Derek Deadman (11 March 1940 – 22 November 2014) was an English character actor who appeared in numerous British films and television series for 38 years. Family Born in Fulham, Derek Deadman was one of the three sons of George and Edith Dead ...

emerge from the western end of the mews in 1978's ''

The Big Sleep ''The Big Sleep'' (1939) is a hardboiled crime novel by American-British writer Raymond Chandler, the first to feature the detective Philip Marlowe. It has been adapted for film twice, in 1946 and again in 1978. The story is set in Los Angel ...

''. On the eastern side of the mews from Launceston Place, No 4. was home to

Leslie Phillips Leslie Samuel Phillips (20 April 1924 – 7 November 2022) was an English actor, director, producer and author. He achieved prominence in the 1950s, playing smooth, upper-class comic roles utilising his "Ding dong" and "Hello" catchphrases. ...

and

Julie Christie Julie Frances Christie (born 14 April 1940) is a British actress. An icon of the Swinging Sixties, Christie is the recipient of numerous accolades including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. She ...

in ''

Crooks Anonymous ''Crooks Anonymous'' is a British comedy film from 1962. Directed by Ken Annakin, it stars Leslie Phillips and Stanley Baxter and is notably the feature film debut of Julie Christie. Plot Captain "Dandy Forsdyke" (Leslie Phillips) is a habitua ...

'' (1962), although the night scenes were filmed in a studio recreation of the mews. No. 10 was the home of

Juliette Binoche Juliette Binoche (; born 9 March 1964) is a French actress and dancer. She has appeared in more than sixty feature films and has been the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Silver Bear, ...

's character in the 1992 film ''

Damage Damage is any change in a thing, often a physical object, that degrades it away from its initial state. It can broadly be defined as "changes introduced into a system that adversely affect its current or future performance".Farrar, C.R., Sohn, H., ...

''. The Mews is home to protagonist Joe in You (season 4).

References

External links

* {{Coord, 51, 29, 50.51, N, 0, 11, 8.23, W, scale:1563_region:GB, display=title Grade II listed houses in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Houses completed in the 19th century Mews streets in London South Kensington Stables Streets in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea