Old London Maps
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The King's Mews, Charing Cross

This site is of great antiquity, being first used to house the king's falcons and hawks (thus 'mew', a falconry term meaning to moult or cast feathers). In 1537 Henry VIII removed the birds and stabled his horses there (his previous stable at Bloomsbury being destroyed by fire). The ancient building was greatly decayed and thus demolished in 1732 when the depicted building was raised. The building no longer housed horses in the Regency period, but was used for exhibitions of useful mechanical arts and manufactures.

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