Mews Access: Cobbles, Arches and Very Narrow Lanes

Built for horses and carriages

A mews was originally a service lane behind a terrace, with stabling below and accommodation above. The width was set by what a carriage needed to turn, the surface was laid in setts, and the entrance was frequently through an arch under the main terrace. None of that was designed with a modern vehicle in mind, and most mews have never been widened because the buildings on both sides are listed or protected.

The result is a set of lanes across Belgravia, Bayswater, South Kensington, Marylebone and Mayfair that are charming to live on and genuinely awkward to drive into.

The four things that limit access

Width is the obvious one, but it is rarely the decisive factor on its own. What usually determines whether a vehicle can enter is the combination of width, the height of any arch at the entrance, whether there is a turning space at the far end, and how many residents' cars are parked along one or both sides on the day.

• Width, often reduced to a single lane by parked cars
• Arch height at the entrance, which excludes taller vehicles entirely
• Turning space at the closed end, or the need to reverse the full length
• Surface, since older setts are uneven and slow

Dead ends and the reversing problem

Many mews are closed at one end. A saloon can usually turn in the widened area that most of them have at the far end, but that space is frequently occupied. If it is, the only way out is to reverse the full length of a narrow cobbled lane, which is slow and carries an obvious risk to parked cars on both sides. That is why a driver will often prefer to set down at the mouth of the lane and let you walk the last twenty metres.

Describing a mews address properly

Mews numbering rarely follows the terrace above, and several London mews share a name with a nearby street, which produces confident navigation to the wrong place. The details that help are the mews name in full, the number, which end the entrance is at, and whether there is an arch. If the property has a garage rather than a front door on the lane, saying so is useful too, because it changes where you will actually be standing.

Larger vehicles and the sensible compromise

For a people carrier or a long-wheelbase saloon, many mews are simply not viable, and attempting one produces a slow, awkward manoeuvre that helps nobody. The straightforward answer is a set-down on the main street at the mouth of the lane. It costs a walk of perhaps thirty seconds and removes every one of the problems above, which is why it is the standard arrangement rather than a compromise.

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