Wimpole Mews is a charming, cobbled mews street in Marylebone, running between Weymouth Street and New Cavendish Street, just west of Marylebone High Street and within the City of Westminster. Its central location places residents close to the boutiques, restaurants and cafés of Marylebone, as well as Fitzrovia and the wider West End. The mews is also exceptionally well connected, with Bond Street, Regent’s Park, Great Portland Street and Oxford Circus Underground stations all within convenient walking distance, while Marylebone and Euston railway stations provide further transport options. The A40 also offers road connections towards west London and Heathrow.

Wimpole Mews dates from the early nineteenth century and was originally developed as a service street for the grand residences around Wimpole Street, Cavendish Square and Portland Place. Its buildings traditionally provided stabling for horses and carriages on the ground floors, with accommodation above for coachmen and domestic staff employed by the wealthy households nearby. Although the mews has evolved considerably from its original purpose, its compact layout and cobbled character continue to reflect its historic role within Marylebone. Today, Wimpole Mews is best known not only for its attractive residential setting but also for its place in one of the most notorious political scandals of twentieth-century Britain.

In 1962, number 17 Wimpole Mews became closely associated with the Profumo affair. The property was occupied by osteopath and socialite Stephen Ward, who hosted gatherings attended by prominent figures and introduced young models Christine Keeler and Mandy Rice-Davies to members of his social circle. Keeler subsequently lived at the property and became involved in relationships with Conservative politician John Profumo, then Secretary of State for War, and Soviet naval attaché Yevgeny Ivanov. The scandal came to wider public attention after Keeler’s former lover Johnny Edgecombe fired several shots at the front door of number 17. The resulting police investigation helped expose the relationships and ultimately contributed to Profumo’s resignation and a major political crisis for the Conservative government. The story later inspired the 1989 film Scandal, which dramatised the events surrounding Keeler and the infamous Wimpole Mews flat.

BOROUGH: City of Westminster