Mews was an undergraduate at Oxford then a Royalist soldier in a detachment of Guards. in the thick of the fighting at the battle of Naseby, he brought the number of his war wounds up to thirty before being taken prisoner.

He then became a fugitive, Royalist agent in the Netherlands and agent for the Royalists in the Scottish insurrectionary movement of 1654 (when, his identity being mistaken, he closely escaped hanging by the Scottish rebels).

Despite his warring, Mews continued his religious studies and was ordained into the priesthood in 1649. He was rewarded for his loyalty and bravery after the Restoration, culminating in his appointment as Bishop of Winchester in 1684.

The rebellion of the Duke of Monmouth caused the bishop, 66 years of age, to take up the sword again. He is reputed to have harnessed his own steeds to the royal cannon and fired it with his own hand. Having won the victory, Mews was foremost amongst the voices seeking celemency for the rebels.

The bishop resisted ardently the efforts of King James II to infringe the liberties of Oxford University.

Mews was in sympathy with the Seven Bishops when they refused to publish the Declaration of Indulgence in their diocese by which James II attempted to establish religious freedom. The king consulted Mews when the sitauation had escalted to a crisis - but too late to save his throne.

Mews was born at the splendid medieval/Tudor manor house in the north Dorset village of Purse Caundle.