Mews

Mews is a chiefly British term, used in the plural, referring to a certain type of stables with living quarters. They term is used primarily in London.

The term comes from the French muer and Latin mutare (to change), originally applied in French to the moulting of a hawk or falcon, and then to the caging of the bird. The term likely came to English because of the Royal Mews at Charing Cross, where the royal hawks were kept starting in 1377. The name remained when it became the royal stables starting in 1537. The old Royal Mews was demolished in the early 19th century and Trafalgar Square was built on the site. The present Royal Mews was then built in the grounds of Buckingham Palace.

The term mews is not used for large individual non-royal British stable blocks. For example the grand stables block at Chatsworth House is referred to as the stables, not the mews. Instead the word was applied to service streets and the stables in them in cities, primarily London. In the 18th and nineteenth 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. Generally this was mirrored by another rows of stables on the opposite side of the service street, backing onto another row of terraced houses. Sometimes there were variations such as small courtyards. Most mews streets are named after one of the principal streets which they back onto. Most but not all have the word mews in their name. This arrangement was different from most of the rest of continental Europe, where the stables in wealthy urban residences were usually off of a front or central courtyard. The British system hid the sounds and smells of the stables away from the family when they weren't using the horses.

Mews lost their original function in the early 20th century when motor cars were introduced. At the same time, after World War I and especially after World War II, the number of people who could afford to live in the type of houses which had a mews attached fell sharply. Some were demolished or put to commercial use, but the majority were converted into homes. These "mews houses", nearly always located in the wealthiest districts, are themselves now fashionable residences. Many change hands for a million pounds and upwards.

External link

• Part of Belgravia in London – There are numerous mews streets on this map of Belgravia. Belgrave Square has mews on all four sides, although one of them is called Montrose Place.

This article incorporates text from the public domain 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica.