London’s Alleys: Haunch of Venison Yard, W1

A side alley off posh Bond Street that is a back entrance to an auction house but is more notable for the distinctive name of the yard.This part of London started being developed in the 1740s from fields into the layout we have today, although at the time it was far from the upper-class area that we associate Mayfair with today. Haunch of Venison Yard was certainly here by the 1760s, almost certainly providing stables and mews for the houses facing onto the main roads around it, and the name com