| St James's Park | |
|---|---|
 Looking east from the Blue Bridge towards Horse Guards | |
  | |
| Location | London,SW1 United Kingdom |
| Coordinates | 51°30′09″N00°08′06″W / 51.50250°N 0.13500°W /51.50250; -0.13500 |
| Area | 23 hectares (57 acres) |
| Established | 1603 |
| Operated by | The Royal Parks |
| Public transit access | St James's Park,Green Park,Victoria, andWestminster tube stations |
St James's Park is a 23-hectare (57-acre)urban park in theCity of Westminster, central London. ARoyal Park, it is at the southernmost end of theSt James's area, which was named after a once isolated medieval hospital dedicated toSt James the Less, now the site ofSt James's Palace. The area was initially enclosed for a deer park near thePalace of Whitehall for KingHenry VIII in the 1530s. It is the most easterly of a near-continuous chain of public parks that includes (moving westward)Green Park,Hyde Park, andKensington Gardens.[1][2][3]
The park is bounded byBuckingham Palace to the west,The Mall to the north,Horse Guards to the east, andBirdcage Walk to the south. It meets Green Park at Queen's Gardens with theVictoria Memorial at its centre, opposite the entrance to Buckingham Palace. St James's Palace is on the opposite side of The Mall. The closestLondon Underground stations areSt James's Park,Green Park,Victoria, andWestminster.[2]
The park is Grade I listed on theRegister of Historic Parks and Gardens.[4]
The park has a small lake, St James's Park Lake, with two islands, West Island and Duck Island, the latter named for the lake's collection ofwaterfowl. At the end of the nineteenth century Duck Island was considered a sufficiently remote location forScotland Yard to establish abomb disposal facility there; the resident bird-keeper was given the responsibility of looking after the implements kept for dismantling the devices.[5] It now houses pumps and water treatment machinery for the lake and fountains.[6]
A resident colony ofpelicans has been a feature of the park since a Russian ambassador donated them to Charles II in 1664.[7] While most of the birds' wings are clipped, there is a pelican which can be seen flying, occasionally beyond the confines of the Park.[8]
The Blue Bridge across the lake affords a tree-framed view west towards Buckingham Palace. Looking east, the view includes the Swire Fountain to the north of Duck Island and, past the lake, the grounds ofHorse Guards Parade, withHorse Guards, theOld War Office andWhitehall Court behind. To the south of Duck Island is the Tiffany Fountain on Pelican Rock; and past the lake is theForeign, Commonwealth and Development Office, with theLondon Eye, theShell Tower, andthe Shard behind.[2] The park has a children's playground including a large sandpit.[9]
The species of trees in the park includeLondon planes,Scarlet oak,black mulberry, and afig tree.[10]
In 1532,Henry VIII purchased fromEton College an area of marshland through which theTyburn flowed. It lay to the west ofYork Place acquired by Henry fromCardinal Wolsey; it was purchased in order to turn York Place, subsequently renamed Whitehall, into a dwelling fit for a king. Henry enclosed the park for deer hunting and built St James Palace to initially serve as his hunting lodge. OnJames I's accession to the throne in 1603, he ordered that the park be drained and landscaped, and exotic animals were kept in the park, includingcamels,crocodiles, an elephant and exotic birds, kept inaviaries.[11]
WhileCharles II was in exile in France under theCommonwealth of England, he was impressed by the elaborate gardens at French royal palaces, and on his ascension he had the park redesigned in a more formal style, probably by the French landscaperAndré Mollet. A 775-metre by 38-metre (850 by 42-yard)ornamental canal was created as evidenced in the old plan. The king opened the park to the public and used the area to entertain guests and mistresses, such asNell Gwyn. The park became notorious at the time as a meeting place for impromptu acts of lechery, as described byJohn Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester in his poem "A Ramble in St James's Park".[12]
In the late 17th and early 18th centuries cows grazed on the park, and milk could be bought fresh at the "Lactarian", described byZacharias Conrad von Uffenbach in 1710.[13] The 18th century saw further changes, including the reclamation of part of the canal forHorse Guards Parade and the purchase of Buckingham House (now Buckingham Palace) at the west end of the Mall, for the use of Queen Charlotte in 1761.
Further remodelling in 1826–27, commissioned by the Prince Regent (laterGeorge IV) and overseen by the architect and landscaperJohn Nash, saw the canal's conversion into a more naturally-shaped lake, and formal avenues rerouted to romantic winding pathways. At the same time, Buckingham House was expanded to create the palace, andMarble Arch was built at its entrance, whilstThe Mall was turned into a grand processional route. It opened to public traffic 60 years later in 1887. The arch was moved to its current location at the junction ofOxford Street andPark Lane in 1851 and theVictoria Memorial was erected between 1906 and 1911.[14][15]
The national memorial toElizabeth II will be constructed in the park, designed byNorman Foster.[16]
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Media related toSt. James's Park at Wikimedia Commons
