Hidden Holborn: zone 1 address tucked behind Tudor timbered Staples Inn has a rich textile history

Construction was a challenge but after the removal and later reinstatement of a narrow cobbled cul-de-sac between the listed façades of two six-sided buildings, Pinks Mews has been unveiled.

This almost-secret Holborn address could be a film set for a Dickensian drama.

Indeed, Charles Dickens wrote of it in his novel The Mystery of Edwin Drood: “It is one of those nooks, the turning into which, out of the clashing street, imparts to the relieved pedestrian the sensation of having put cotton in his ears and velvet soles on his boots.”

Hidden behind the Tudor timbered Staples Inn, the gated mews of Victorian warehouses was owned originally by the Worshipful Company of Dyers.

This ancient guild of textile workers would dye the red jackets worn by hunters, known as “Hunting Pinks”.

A temporary elevated platform was created above the void left by the road excavation, and the dig revealed medieval storage vaults and brick culverts where wool was washed.

The façades of the original buildings have been renovated and enhanced by new Mansard roofs, while 300 tons of steel support the 35 new homes behind, a mix of lateral flats, duplexes and double-height, three-bedroom penthouses with roof terrace.

All have high-quality interior design, with stone, oak and marble surfaces, bespoke joinery, comfort cooling, underfloor heating and a Sonos AV system.

Chancery Lane Tube station is moments away, and across the road is the splendid Victorian Gothic red-brick Prudential Assurance Building. Prices start at £995,000 and rise to £2.4 million. Call CBRE on 020 7240 2255.