This is a sunken alley that sits on a site that was extensively redeveloped in the late 1930s and 1960s.
The original mews was built in the early 19th century turning the empty fields of West London into the rows of posh houses that fill the space today.
It ran between two rows of houses providing access to the stable/ coach house accommodation, and was fronted at the north end by a gated house. However, today the mews has been redeveloped to a degree that the gatehouse aside, little remains of the original buildings.
Most notable is Sussex Lodge, a 1930’s mansion block of flats, located on Sussex Place, with a rather desultory back that faces onto the mews.
What makes it a bit curious is that while the original mews still exists, and in the 1960s development, the sunken parallel path was also developed, giving the mews a double aspect lined with 50 year old mews style houses.
The arched gatehouse, Sussex Cottage is a Grade II Listed Building.
The sunken mews aspect is approached though by sets of steps that are corralled in by the brick walls that shield the mews from casual observation, but also delicately highlighted by the iron arch and lamp giving the area a more genteel appearance.
The mews is clearly a community, and also a past winner of the Chelsea Gardeners Guild Mews in Bloom in 2001, and was a runner up in 2006.
And finally, a certain Winston Churchill lived here as well, as his secretary sent a cheque for £52 to secure a deposit on one of the houses. That would barely cover the cost of a replacement door today. There’s a Blue Plaque marking his residence on the other side of the building, fronting Sussex Square.
