Wilby Mews, W11
Notting Hill Carnival
Credit: Chris Croome
Wilby Mews was maybe named after Benjamin Wilby who was involved in several 19th century development schemes.

This mews off Ladbroke Road - beside the Ladbroke Arms public house - was originally called Weller Mews or Weller Street Mews, but it changed its name around 1860 to Wilby Terrace. The mews houses were built in the 1840s to serve the houses in Ladbroke Grove that were built in the 1830s and 1840s.

This cobbled mews has some of the oldest mews houses in the Ladbroke area - they have been significantly altered in most cases.

The residents of the mews were mostly coachmen and their families, and the stables were later converted to garages. The stables were originally owned or leased by the houses onto which they backed (with the coachmen working for the families).

In the second half of the 20th century, parts of the lower floors were taken over for accommodation. The origin of the name Wilby is uncertain, with suggestions that it comes from a developer named Benjamin Wilby, but there is no evidence of his involvement in the development of the Ladbroke estate.

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