South Kensington Living
Onslow Mews
Onslow Mews is divided by Cranley Place into Onslow Mews East and Onslow Mews West.
Onslow Mews East runs between Sumner Place and Cranley Place. It consists of two parts. The western end is entered through an attractive white arch and is gated with old cobbles. At the Cranley Place end there are some white-painted two-storey houses. All have rusticated stucco façades at ground floor level. The eastern end consists of a modern terrace of three-storey houses in yellow brick, with diagonally placed garage doors to make access more convenient than the front-on arrangement of normal mews houses. There are reasonable balconies at first floor level with loads of plants and bushes.
Onslow Mews West is a the shorter section, entered from the west side of Cranley Place. There is an arched entrance and the mews is cobbled. It contains some attractive two-storey rustic houses. The mews then forks round and consists of a recently built terrace on both sides leading to a brick arch, followed by further mews houses in a modern courtyard development in a a cul-de-sac. The traditional mews house style had been retained to create a secluded enclave. The houses have cantilevered balconies at first floor level with railings, just like on Cranley Place itself. The mews is unusual in that none of the houses are painted. Despite its proximity to Old Brompton Road it is a quiet and very private backwater.
In 1852 the Smith’s Charity bought the acres which separated the Smith’s Charity’s developed estate in the east from its remaining undeveloped land to the west, called Brompton Heath, which was mainly occupied as market gardens and nurseries. This land had been part of the Harrington-Villars estate. When the estate was divided up in 1850-1, this land was put up for sale. For some reason the Smith's Charity trustees did not obtain it, and it was bought by the Commissioners for the Exhibition of 1851. But perhaps the Commissioners were playing a canny game because Smith’s Charity owned a strategic piece of land the Commissioners badly needed in order to complete their rectangle of museums between Queen’s Gate, Kensington Road, Exhibition Road and Cromwell Road. The two pieces of land were exchanged and this provided the land for the further expansion of development west. For the full story, read the history of the Harrington-Villars estate
In August 1861 Freake entered into a building agreement with the Smith’s Charity trustee to develop the land in this area. Since he was nearing completion of the housing in Onslow Square, he was able to move his work force almost immediately into the new area, where he was to build Onslow Gardens as well as houses in Old Brompton Road, and the west side of Cranley Place. Onslow Mews was built behind Cranley Place. (Onslow Mews, like all the Onslow streets, was named after the second Earl of Onslow, who was one of the Smith’s Charity trustees at the time).
Mews were built to stable horses and carriages for the richer inhabitants of the main houses, with accommodation for servants above the stables. Onslow Mews, like Ensor Mews and Cranley Mews, was built to keep pace with the number of houses being built. In fact, demand still outstripped supply. Livery stables on a modest scale were also provided the Old Brompton Road properties where a garage now stands.
